This is a tough one, since we can't see the snake and determine what it really looks like.

The sensor on your 30D is very capable of capturing that snake accurately. While a 18% gray card will give you the correct white balance and exposure for that lighting, it can't correct for the saturation of the image and the contrast due to the dynamic range.

I suspect the white background is increasing the contrast and saturation of the image. Since a pastel snake is, by definition, less contrasty and saturated it could be that this is giving you the unsatisfactory results.

Check to make sure your camera isn't set to record the contrast/saturation at a higher level (there should be a saturation and contrast scale that can be set to plus 1, plus 2, etc - make sure it is zeroed). You could also shoot a RAW file and do the tweaking yourself.

Try putting something with a wide range of bright colors next to the snake in the photo for a test. This can help you determine where the problem lies (too much yellow, too little blue, etc.). I like using a color chart or even an old box of ektachrome slide film if you have any lying around.

Maybe try a black background or some other color to decrease the overall contrast of the scene and see if that allows you to pull out more color detail within the snake.

I don't know what the snake really looks like, but here is your shot -


and here is the same shot with about 10 seconds worth of photoshoping -


Probably not right still, but it is starting to look more "pastelish".

This is why I never trust photos of BPs in the classifieds - you can make anything into anything with a few photoshop tweaks.
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Chris Harrison
San Antonio, Texas

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