Reptile & Amphibian Forums

photographing herps. Any suggestions?

A couple more...

Before I, or anyone elses posts in reply... Are you looking for a pat on the back, or are you looking for critiques and genuine suggestions for improvement? Judging by some of the photography forums I've been on, you have to be prepared for what some people might say.
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Virginia Herping
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/VaHS
Virginia Herpetological Society online store
http://www.cafepress.com/vaherpsociety

"The irrational fear of snakes is the only excuse a grown man has... to act like a complete sissy" - Colchicine

Be genuine. I mean, I didn't set it up as a shoot, so, yes, the background is various parts of my bedroom-if I were doing it seriously I would probably do the classic white bg. But other than that, go for it. I really have no idea what I'm doing, and I'd like to learn.
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Kira

1.0.0 Giant Green Iguana (Monsieur Grumpypants, Caliban if I'm angry)
0.0.1 Amel. Corn Snake (Cordelia)
1.0.0 Cali. King Snake (Mitch)

>>But other than that, go for it. I really have no idea what I'm doing, and I'd like to learn.

I'm glad you're up for it! I'm no photo pro ("not much experience" either), but I can give you suggestions to start thinking more along the line of decent photos.

The biggest thing for me is the hand holding of the animal. Yeah, this scenario gets posted on KS here a hundred times a day I'm sure. It's a big yawn for most people. Like you said, a white background is a good idea since it limits the focus to just the animal (which is why we're here right?). And as you figured out, a distracting background is a negative, although it's nice to know that other people's laundry is piles as high as mine!

In addition, watch the focus! As a general rule you want the eyes of the animal to be in sharp focus. Try to fit as much of the animal in the frame, it is distracting to only see half of the body, and be looking for the other half.

Hope that helps some, otherwise keep visiting this forum and see how other people compose their shots. It'll take a while to get up to the level of chrish, WK et. al., but the more you watch others, the more you'll learn.
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Virginia Herping
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/VaHS
Virginia Herpetological Society online store
http://www.cafepress.com/vaherpsociety

"The irrational fear of snakes is the only excuse a grown man has... to act like a complete sissy" - Colchicine

Although this does have the backround of my room...besides that I really love this shot..this was after his fresh shed..but this pic was taken a few months ago

And this is my albino burm..although I wish there was more overhead light