Reptile & Amphibian Forums

This is my first post at this forum. I recently became fed up with my camera and took a trip to the camera shop. I was directed to the Nikon D40X and made the purchase. I am looking through some of the photos at here and I am absolutely amazed.

I have some extremely broad sweeping questions. I understand that the answers to these questions could be very expansive, so just being pointed in the right direction to get started would be great.

I will be taking a lot of macro photos and this is my initial interest.

Where is a good place to go to study up on equipment, settings, technique, etc.

If you are familiar with the camera I recently purchased, any start up tips would be great.

Any general information or info on essential equipment would be great.

Again, I am looking for a starting point. I understand that experience will bring the best results.

Thanks for any help.

Steve Ihrig

Hello. You should have a look at a good article series about close-up / macro photography linked here. The information there will answer many of the questions you asked.

Most people interested in herp photography want to take close-ups instead of true "macro" photos. Macro, in the truest sense of the word, means photographing at life-size or greater than life-size magnification. At this level, nearly the whole photo is filled with something the size of an eye or a few scales. For general herp close-ups, a macro lens in the 50mm to 105mm range should do the job. If you want to take close-ups of skittish or venomous animals, I recommend a longer focal length macro such as a 180mm or 200mm. I use a 105mm and 180mm. True macro lenses will photograph at life size or "1:1", meaning the space a photographic subject occupies on the digital sensor or film equals the actual size of the subject (for example, a 2 mm scale takes up 2mm of the sensor / film). If you want to get larger than life size, you will have to get additional equipment because you have a Nikon system. Canon makes a lens that goes 5x life unaided.

Anyhow, read the pages linked above. It's a good place to start. Below are some photos showing close-up and true macro herp shots.

Regards,
WK

Macro (twice life size) of grey treefrog eye. Nikon D70, 50mm lens reversed and stacked on a 105mm macro).

Close-up of a female broad-headed skink. I used a 180mm macro to get close enough for this uncropped shot. If I had used my 105mm, the lizard would have scurried off before I could get close enough to produce an image like this.

Close-up of an eastern diamondback. Once again, this is with the 180mm lens. A 105mm would probably have put me at risk for a bite to the hand if I had to get in range to produce this same image with it. This photo is also an example of using a wide aperture to blur the background. Doing this really makes the eye stand out from the busy body pattern behind the snake.

Try clicking this:

Close-up photo tips

Thanks Wasil! You convinced me to go with a 180mm lens for macro, rather than a 105. I'd been debating which Nikon lens to get.

MH

Hi Matt. The longer macros certainly have some advantages over shorter focal length lenses and, given your particular herp interests, I think these would fit your needs nicely. But I bet you may end up getting a shorter macro too. They are much easier to shoot hand held and have a few other pluses as compared to the big macros. I use my 105 and 180 about equally (the 105 serves as a decent portrait lens too).

As you know, Nikon does not make a 180mm macro, but a 200mm. My 180mm is a Sigma. I snagged it new off ebay for $439. A 200mm micro Nikkor would be much more $$ and only a slightly better performer. I hear the Tamron 180mm is also a sweet lens and comparable in price to the Sigma. I went with the Sigma instead of the Tamron because it seems more solidly built and shooting herps in the field can certainly test lens durability.

Regards,

Wasil