Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Caught these guys in my yard. tell me what you think of the photos!

I like the chameleon photo the best of these two. A shallow depth of field can be attractive if the most interesting part of the photo is sharply in focus like the eye / head of the lizard. Also, the out-of-focus part of the subject should not be too prominent or placed in the foreground of the photo. In the Storeria shot, only the very small neck area and head are in focus, and the large OOF body is too prominent and distracting. Also, I can see the texture of the white material in parts of the photos. If you use white background, consider using something more smooth like paper or poster board. I've already mentioned the large letters in my reply below.

Just offering some constructive comments as you asked for. Please continue to post photos!

Cheers,
WK

Great photos Palazz. NEat you caught those wild and they posed for you.

Just a friendly note, that isn't a chameleon...

first of, thanks...they only posed because i lowered the body temp a bit by popping them in the fridge for a couple minutes(in a container of course)...just long enough so they sit still for about 30 secs. an old trick i learned about on the web...works for insects nicely too!

Oh... thats a really good trick. I'll have to try that when I buy a macro lense.

try buying a regular round magnifying glass...they are usually 2x or 3x magnification...get a filter that fits your lens...super glue the magnfying glass to the outside rim of the filter, let dry, then attach a as a normal filter...use manual focus...use about f16 - f32 aperature with a flash (due to the very shallow depth of field....you can get about 4 inches away and nearly fill the frame with an 80 mm lens...thats how i took these...if your pressed for cash..makes a great alternative to an expensive macro lens

Really? I have friends that even do neat stuff with the lense turned backwards at low appatures.

I have a Canon 35-80 Lense.

Thanks for the correction. I know these things are called green anoles. I just grew up calling them "chameleons" because of the color changing thing and will occasionally revert to childhood speak.

Cheers,
WK

yeah i know that, i mislabeled the photo...i had posted another of a veiled chameleon...gimme a little credit...thanks though...we have them all over texas

I think WillH was correcting me, not you, because I was the one who called the anole a chameleon. I don't think you labeled the anole anything. My reply was to WillH. Sorry for the confusion.

WK

your critique is appreciated, once again limited equipment is partly to blame,Yeah the depth of field is quite shallow because i have a canon 35-80 zoom lens...min. focus distance is about a foot...i rigged a magnifying glass to a filter ring and now i have a make shift macro lens..even with an aperature of f16 or better your sharp focus range is like maybe an inch...i think its a pretty cool lternative for around 5 bucks.

That's an interesting way to get a "macro" lens! Looks like it worked well.

Cheers,
WK