Reptile & Amphibian Forums

H. madagascariensis (juvy)

i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff7/otis07_bucket/1-1.jpg

i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff7/otis07_bucket/P1010195.jpg

i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff7/otis07_bucket/P1010177-2.jpg

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i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff7/otis07_bucket/faking-1.jpg

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A room of herps.
www.freewebs.com/kapoktree

These are some really high quality shots... my favorite is the first one. Were you using a light box for these?? They turned out amazing. Mind if I ask what kind of camera you use? I don't mean to sound like a noob, but how do you make the background fade out so well like that, while the foreground is so in focus?... I have the hardest time with it...
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Cheers!
• Chelsea Lynn Gardiner
(and Frank M. Wood)

Thanks Chelsea, the camera I used is a 5.0 olympus. It is a point and shoot camera, so no macro lenses were used, but it has a sweet macro setting that does a decent job.

As far as lighting, it's a "homemade studio." I am 16 so I don't exactly have the funds to make a "real" studio, but I just took a 10 gallon, covered in in white printer paper, and stuck a florescent on top. Using this method I could get the background color close to white, but my camera distorts the colors a bit so without editing the shots would have a pink or blue hue. So I edit them in a program called picasa (basic editing provided by google) to make the colors more realistic.

As far as focusing, I just experiment and see what looks good. What camera are you using? It really depends on the camera, and since mine is not a 35mm it does not have a manual focus (i.e. it does all the work for you).

Here is my online gallery, tons of shots on here. Feel free to email me at otis07_@hotmail.com if you have any questions.

picasaweb.google.com/mynameisMnM
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A room of herps.
www.freewebs.com/kapoktree

I have an Olympus too! LoL, it's the Stylus850SW. It's awesome because it's waterproof, shockproof, and extreme weather proof (so great for scuba diving and snowboarding), but not so great for artsy/quality shots. I'd have to agree that it does have a good Macro and Super Macro mode, but I'm trying to learn to be a better photographer and use what I have. The tank with printer paper idea is ingenious.

Your gallery is nuts!
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Cheers!
• Chelsea Lynn Gardiner
(and Frank M. Wood)

My friend has that camera, it is beast! She took it with her on a trip to costa rica where it was dropped and rained on, but alas, it is still alive .

I'm sure you will figure it out, I belong to a few photo forums and the people on them are really nice and help you out.

This one I don't dare post in, I just use the photos for inspiration. {url]http://www.fredmiranda.com/[/url]

And this forum has a bunch of really nice people that will help you out. www.thephotoforum.com/forum/
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A room of herps.
www.freewebs.com/kapoktree

Your gallery is beautiful! You are very talented and inspiring, keep it up!! I on the other hand, still haven't figured out how to make shots fade out in the background and be clear in the foreground, LoL. I'm still working on it.
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Cheers!
• Chelsea Lynn Gardiner
(and Frank M. Wood)

Thanks, and if you want me to edit some of your pics I would be glad to. I use a program called picasa (you can download it for free online) which included the basic editing tools.

You can send pics to otis07_@hotmail.com.
Seriously don't hesitate, it takes like 15 seconds per pic and I would be glad to walk you through the process.
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A room of herps.
www.freewebs.com/kapoktree

I use photoshop and live by it... I don't know if it has similar correction tools as the program you use... I couldn't imagine it not...
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Cheers!
• Chelsea Lynn Gardiner
(and Frank M. Wood)

You can do 100x as much stuff with photoshop. I just used the program at school so unfortunatly I didn't get a lot of time to work with it. Picasa is just basic editing, theres no special effects or anything like photoshop, which is good or bad depending on what you are trying to do. I just like picasa because its easy, quick, and free.
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A room of herps.
www.freewebs.com/kapoktree