Reptile & Amphibian Forums

D70 and sigma macro lens. Existing light. Either at ISO 800 or 1600, don't remember the other details.

RAW -> JPG then used photoshop LE to mess with levels, colors, saturation, layers, then finally convert to grayscale. Then I had to run it through Neat Image to reduce (but obviously not eliminate) the grain.

When I shot the other frog portraits in color I worked very hard to clone out glare - mainly because I shot in flash and felt the glare was an artifact or end result of poor shooting on my part.

With this one I felt the glare helped shape the frog and gave him an unusual shine.

Also in the other portraits the face was in the light and the rest fading into darkness. This has the opposite lighting but I think it still draws attention to the face and eye.

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-Doug Daly

"Dad, Can I scratch your Beard?"
"Did you finish your homework?"
"Yes"
"Well ok then."

0.1.0 Leucistic Texas Rat Snake (Elaphe Obsoleta lindheimerii)

Same camera, lens and post processing, but now the ISO is about 400, and the light is provided by a flash (in manual mode) bouncing off a bathtub.

Comments?

What kind of flash are you using with your d-70, and how difficult is it to get used to using a shoe mount flash?

Thanx,

Matt

I'm using a Nikon SB27 flash.

Even though it's a good TTL flash for Nikon's film cameras, I can only use it in A mode or Manual. In case you aren't familiar with it, A mode means you set the camera's aperture, and then set the flash to the same aperture. The flash then reads the reflected light and makes the exposure. Very old technology and very clumsy. Can't change apertures on the camera without doing the same on the flash - also have to set film speed, too.

Anyway, I had set the flash on manual with something like 1/4 power output. I had the flash on an extension cord (SC-17 I think) and pointed the flash down toward the white bathtub. I then viewed the image it produced on the LCD screen and decided if I needed more or less power. I do have a flash meter, but I didn't have the time to mess with that. The frog had limited patience for sitting on the soap tray for some reason :->

I'm going to get the Nikon SB600 digital-compatible flash sometime soon. Should make my life easier.

Chop-Chop in a pious mood:

The d70 is the first SLR I've used with a pop-up flash.

I prefer the shoe-mounted variety, especially if it has a rotating flash head. You can easily bounce the light off of the ceiling or other objects by pointing the head.

Plus a shoe mounted flash puts the light source farther from the lens. I sometimes have problems with the pop-up flash being blocked by the lens hood in close-up shots. Also, the closer the flash to the lens, the easier it is to get red-eye (or green-eye) in your subjects in dark conditions.

You do have to be a little more careful - you could inadvertently bust the flash off the top of the camera.

I like using a flash cord to move the unit off to the side when possible. I think with the SB600 I won't need a cord, since it can be triggered by the pop-up flash. That way I can use two flashes simultaneously.

Thanx for the info. The reason I ask is I am about to receive a d-70 as a gift from my mother. Bless her soul, I take back all the things I said about her when I was a teenager. LOL. Anyways, I bought the 50mm Sigma DG macro lens, and the SB-600 flash. It's a lot easier to justify spending the cash for quality components when I don't have to drop the grand on the body and normal lens I have been using 35mm SLRs, and PAS digitals for a while, so I think I will get the hang of the camera OK, but I have read that learning to use the hot shoe flash can be more frustrating then figuring out the camera!
I have found your frog posts very entertaining, and enlightening. Keep them coming. Thanx

Matt

Lovely shot... but why ISO 400 if your using a flash..... you should be able to get a quality shot at 200 w/less grain....

MDK
Link

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www.thegardensofeden.org

Why not ISO 200?

1) I was bouncing the flash off of the bathtub - so I lost some light

2) I was trying to get some depth of field, so it was a smaller aperture

3) I was experimenting, and next time I will go for a lower ISO if possible