A Photography Lesson

[jjspirko]

Ever wonder why some pictures look so good and brilliant perhaps better then the snake looks to the eye. While others look so flat in color and washed out.

The biggest reason is lighting take a look at these two pictures, both taken with a very high end DSL camera (Sony Alpha). These are two pics of the same snake about 2 minutes apart from each other. One used some good over head lights on the snake, the other did not. The snake is a young red Tanzanian house snake.

Pic one in normal light,




Now same snake in good light, again same camera, same settings.



Hard to believe they are the same snake isn't it. Yet what if you don't have good indoor lighting to work with. Then use the best light of all, the sun. Here are three natural light shots.

First an olive house snake, L. inornatus, note the shine you just won't get that result in bad light,




The next one is a simple bull snake. Note the detail, the way the markings stand out. I am not a good photographer, this is just how good natural light effects a snake picture.




Next a striped Cape House Snake, L. capensis, look at the eyes on this snake, they look like polished brass.



Now again I am not showing off my photography skills just the effect good light has on your pictures. My wife and I are taking some classes this fall to learn how to use this fancy camera. All these were taken in point and shoot "auto" mode.

I have one more tip for everyone. It involves digital cameras. Have you ever noticed how there are more blurry pics today then in the old days of film. The enemy is those screens on the digitals where you hold the camera out in front and line up the shot and push the button. When you take a pic of a bunch of people at distance the camera is very forgiving but a close shot of a snake shows every tiny move. That is why so many shots are blurry, you push the button and the camera moves. The closer the subject the more the movement effects the shot.

So three things you can do, one stop using the screen with close shots and shoot looking through the view finder, this makes you more stable. It worked for years and years before digital cameras existed so it still does. Second you can use the screen but brace your elbows against your body for more stability and use a very slow easy motion to push the shutter. Third get some type of rest, a tripod is good but you can use a table, the back of a chair, a bench, a tree branch, etc.

These two tips will drasticly improve your pictures. By the way the over head lighting I use is just two cheap desk lamps, the kind you can bend to point where you want each with a 60 watt "reveal" bulb, total cost including the bulbs was about 15 bucks at Target.

The main reason I posted this is I know a lot of us are small time breeders that sell snakes online. When you do this a pic is your best sales tool, so go back to my first two pics, which snake would you be more likely to buy? Now remember they are the same snake. Hope this helps everyone take better pictures.

[Nate]

Great information!!

[Alice]

Thanks Jack!

[lord jackel]

Great points Jack...keep them coming. I have the Alpha as well and love it.

[jjspirko]

Thanks everyone here is a better shot of the L. capensis just more tightly cropped to show the detail of the eyes better,

[Holbeird]

Awesome post, I've noticed the lighting issue, but I've never quite figured out why I sometimes have to take 20 photos to get 2 that arn't blurry, I never thought of using the viewfinder


**feels stupid**

[DragonBallsx5]

Love it, I love taking pictures of my BPs and beardeds, this information is very much so improved my camera handling, and the way I view my pictures though the lense!
Thank you!

[Rapture]

Nice post! Lighting is really one of the most important factors in taking a high quality photo.

[joe2500hiss]

Nice pics