My New Lightbox Setup For Snake Photography + Lots Of Snake Pics

Hello, good people of BP.net! Long time/no chat! I've been missing hanging out and chatting with you guys, but between working and taking care of snakes, i've been sooo busy that I haven't had any time to do anything. Anyway, I finally managed to get setup properly for taking some half way decent snake photos and thought I would share this first batch of photos, along with perhaps a little insight with you guys. I had purchased a little 2' x 2' x 2' lightbox kit on Ebay for $25.00, which included 2 little tripod lights, a camera tripod and 4 different colored muslin backdrops. I quickly realized that the muslin backdrops were basically unusable, because they are packaged and shipped all folded up and as a result they have all kinds of creases in them, which defeats the entire purpose. I even tried to iron the creases out, but they still remained. Also, the little lights that came with the kit aren't anywhere near bright enough and also create undesirable shadows no matter how I position them. So, I contacted the seller about getting a refund and I agreed to keep the kit with a $15.00 partial refund, which I thought was fair, because I really like the lightbox itself. Here is the lightbox kit:

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...ghtbox-kit.jpg
So, then I purchased a Photography Studio 135 watt Softbox Continuous Lighting Stand Kit on Ebay for $25.99, which is VERY nice for the money and it makes all of the difference! As it turned out, this light sits perfectly on top of the lightbox and in doing so, creates an ideal shadow effect and it lights the lightbox up like a Christmas tree! Here is the lighting stand kit:

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...tbox-light.jpg

As for the backdrop in the photos i'm going to share, I simply used white construction paper. It worked well, but there are better solutions. As for the camera, all I used was the 8MP camera on my ancient Galaxy S3 cell phone.

Here are the original unedited photos from my first attempt at snake photography with this little $50.00 setup:

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...-1-5-18-19.jpg

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...-2-5-18-19.jpg

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...-1-5-18-19.jpg

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...-1-5-18-19.jpg

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...-2-5-18-19.jpg

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...-1-5-18-19.jpg

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...-2-5-18-19.jpg

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...-1-5-18-19.jpg

One last thing I have to say is, it is a HUGE pain in the a$$ trying to capture one single photo of these squirmy little stinkers! lol As soon as I sit them down in the lightbox, they are in perpetual motion! At one point I got so frustrated that I pulled one of them aside and told him that he had better settle down and sit still before I eat him! :O

hey Aedryan. good to see ya!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Aedryan Methyus

Hello, good people of BP.net! Long time/no chat! I've been missing hanging out and chatting with you guys, but between working and taking care of snakes, i've been sooo busy that I haven't had any time to do anything. Anyway, I finally managed to get setup properly for taking some half way decent snake photos and thought I would share this first batch of photos, along with perhaps a little insight with you guys. I had purchased a little 2' x 2' x 2' lightbox kit on Ebay for $25.00, which included 2 little tripod lights, a camera tripod and 4 different colored muslin backdrops. I quickly realized that the muslin backdrops were basically unusable, because they are packaged and shipped all folded up and as a result they have all kinds of creases in them, which defeats the entire purpose. I even tried to iron the creases out, but they still remained. Also, the little lights that came with the kit aren't anywhere near bright enough and also create undesirable shadows no matter how I position them. So, I contacted the seller about getting a refund and I agreed to keep the kit with a $15.00 partial refund, which I thought was fair, because I really like the lightbox itself.

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ha i bought one of those before. def not enough light and what little light gets hot to the touch! u can see me trying to learn to use mine here; also me asking for photog tips: https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...ummies-like-Me

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Aedryan Methyus

So, then I purchased a Photography Studio 135 watt Softbox Continuous Lighting Stand Kit on Ebay for $25.99, which is VERY nice for the money and it makes all of the difference! As it turned out, this light sits perfectly on top of the lightbox and in doing so, creates an ideal shadow effect and it lights the lightbox up like a Christmas tree!

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thanks! imma look into that.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Aedryan Methyus

As for the backdrop in the photos i'm going to share, I simply used white construction paper. It worked well, but there are better solutions. As for the camera, all I used was the 8MP camera on my ancient Galaxy S3 cell phone.

Here are the original unedited photos from my first attempt at snake photography with this little $50.00 setup

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looks very good w/ your super ancient S3. i have an almost ancient S9 and can't take good pix lol.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Aedryan Methyus

One last thing I have to say is, it is a HUGE pain in the a$$ trying to capture one single photo of these squirmy little stinkers! lol As soon as I sit them down in the lightbox, they are in perpetual motion! At one point I got so frustrated that I pulled one of them aside and told him that he had better settle down and sit still before I eat him! :O

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cover them with a hide or bowl for a few minutes and they ball up or calm down. uncover and u will have 2minutes max to take pix before they start trying zoomin' away again.

Thanks bro! I don't think they're too bad for using such a crappy camera... lol The photos are definitely very soft, I guess you would say... And, yes, I have seen that tip before about covering them up with a bowl. I definitely should have taken the time to try that. It could have saved me a lot of frustration! lol