Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello Everyone

I was looking to purchase a new digital camera and I am specifically looking for one with a setting that I would use frequently. I am not sure what the setting is called and which brand I should use. If anyone out there can post a couple of samples and provide me with the brand of the camera and which setting it is I would greatly appreciate it....

Ok, don't want to come off as ignorant, just needing help from the experts!

When you take the picture, all you get it the actual "subject" the background is - I want to say - blacked out....

I had an Olympus - it's outdated and now doesn't work.... purchased a Canon, but tried every single setting - and nothing.

Please help!
Thank you
Maggie

Typically, the larger the aperture value (smaller number), the more blurred out the background will be. I am not sure about "blacked out". Most newer cameras have a portrait mode that automatically adjusts aperture and shutter speed to produce this effect. I can't see any way besides using creative lighting techiques to get a blacked out background. Maybe someone else here is more knowledgable and can help better.

Matt

Their isn't a "camera setting" to do this. You have to know how to use your camera.

The short (and not complete) answer is that dark backgrounds are created by having as short a shutter speed as you camera will allow with the flash firing. For some cameras this can be as slow as 1/60th of a second (Which won't black out much) and others can sync with much faster speeds (some as high as 1/8000th of a second).

To get the effect, you want a fast flash and fast shutter speed, little ambient light and a fairly dark background that is a distance behind the subject. I have achieved this by just hanging a black piece of cloth behind the subject and making sure my f/stop rendered the background out of focus.

Getting the flash off the camera and holding it at a steep angle across the field of view will also increase the chances of getting your effect. If your flash has a zoom setting, it helps to set it to as long a focal length as it will allow.

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Chris Harrison
San Antonio, TX

Thank you for your responses... I ask because a friend of mine took a picture of his lizard on a stick and the background was black... the only thing that showed up on the picture was the lizard and the stick... I asked him how he achieved that and he said it was his macro setting.... so I thought wow - that's it, just set my camera to macro and that's it? Wow I knew it was too good to be true as I tried it on my Canon - but nothing. So I thought - maybe if I buy an Olympus - that's the camera he has, but I am just really liking the black out background...

Thank you for the info
Maggie

Hey Maggie!
To my knowledge there is no such settings.. but there are ways to make that happen with most cameras. Fist off, you need to understand a little about light, and a lot about photography. That with a few simply and in-expensive props, you can make black backgrounds too.. Here are a few of mine with the black background and a brief description of how I did it. If you have any questions, feel free to to email me..
tposborne@xtremecombatsports.com

This is an emeral tree boa, simply shot in his cage with a black back wall.

Day Gecko, shot in a very dark room, using only a flash to light it with a relatively fast shutter speed. The shutter was not open long enough to pick up the surroundings.

Red Eye Tree Frog, Shot in low light, with nothing in background for several feet.. the little bit of color present is part of the plant the frog is sitting on.

RETF #2

Another Emerald Tree Boa.. again simply a black wall in the cage.

ETB again.. same as above.

For this guy, I used a different technique. I have set the snake on a piece of project board, with a second one upright in the background. It is a black board, made by Elmer's (the glue company) and I picked them up at Wal-Mart for about $2 each.

More foam board fun..

This one has two pieces of foam board.. but the bottom one is yellow.. dont be afraid to vary the colors.. I think the yellow really brings out the colors in alot of Herps!

This is one of my new RETF's.. she is about 10 days old now.. taken in very low light with a dark backdrop (back wall of vivarium. The pic is not the greatest.. but you get the idea.. noise is bad as well, this was at iso3200.

If you would like to browse my work, you can see more of my photos at:
Tim's Photo Gallery.

Emerald Tree Boa

Emerald Tree Boa

Day Gecko..

Day Gecko, shot in a very dark room, using only a flash to light it with a relatively fast shutter speed. The shutter was not open long enough to pick up the surroundings.

Red Eye Tree Frog, Shot in low light, with nothing in background for several feet.. the little bit of color present is part of the plant the frog is sitting on.

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photos.xtremecombatsports.com

Another Emerald Tree Boa.. again simply a black wall in the cage

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photos.xtremecombatsports.com

For this guy, I used a different technique. I have set the snake on a piece of project board, with a second one upright in the background. It is a black board, made by Elmer's (the glue company) and I picked them up at Wal-Mart for about $2 each.

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photos.xtremecombatsports.com

This one has two pieces of foam board.. but the bottom one is yellow.. dont be afraid to vary the colors.. I think the yellow really brings out the colors in alot of Herps!

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photos.xtremecombatsports.com

This one using only yellow for the back drop.. the black seems to wash the color out of the snake.. I think the yellow really brings it out..

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photos.xtremecombatsports.com

This is one of my new RETF's.. she is about 10 days old now.. taken in very low light with a dark backdrop (back wall of vivarium. The pic is not the greatest.. but you get the idea.. noise is bad as well, this was at iso3200.

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photos.xtremecombatsports.com