Having issues getting crisp snake pictures...

Hey Guys,

I've recently gotten a Canon Rebel T3i 600D camera, and i've been messing around trying to get the perfect crisp snake on a white background with the new soft box, umbrellas and flashes i bought....

I'm a little shaky with the camera, so i'm going to buy a tripod as well

I'm wondering what you guys would suggest i put my ISO Settings and other settings to in order to get a better crisp picture?

Here is what i've gotten so far,

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u...rr/file-77.jpg
http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u...rr/file-76.jpg

Not only have i got the blue look to them, i've also got a pink look to them in another test set that i've done ...
Any pointers?

Nice pictures. Hopefully I can give you some suggestions. I would definitely get a tripod if you want clearer pictures. Use a low ISO if you have the light as well as a bigger F-Stop (smaller aperture) as light will allow. As far as the blue, you can try to change the white balance on your camera settings or you can use photoshop to change it after. One method in photoshop elements is to use Enhance>Adjust Lighting>Levels> then select the white dropper and point it to the white surface. However, it might be difficult to use that technique with a white snake. You may want to take pictures of those snakes on a darker or black background.

Good luck!

I think you need a lot more light. Also to get rid of that blue color you need to either set the white balance manually or shoot the pictures in RAW format. That way you can edit the white balance in photoshop/gimp etc.

Up up up the lighting! It's hard to shoot something white on white. For a white on white, you may want to set the contrast a slight bit higher to emphasize those shadows.

Thanks guys, I have always been shooting in RAW Format, I tried cranking my lights up and got the pink colour instead of the blue
I will mess around with my settings again and go from there, I think i had my ISO Set at 800, F ( 5.6 ) I tried, And i think i'm going to have to buy one of those white balance setting cards from the photography shop, I can never seem to get a good white background for setting my white balance...

I don't think you need those cards if you're shooting in RAW. You can edit the white balance completely with GIMP without losing any picture quality. I think your problem is 100% lighting because it looks like you only have 1 light shining from straight above the snake and that isn't nearly enough. It also washes out the middle of the pictures.

My light boxes have two on the side, and I put it under an overhead light and use a flash with a few coffee filters wrapped around it (can you tell I'm cheap? :P )

Quote:

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Originally Posted by CherryBlossom

Hey Guys,

I've recently gotten a Canon Rebel T3i 600D camera, and i've been messing around trying to get the perfect crisp snake on a white background with the new soft box, umbrellas and flashes i bought....

I'm a little shaky with the camera, so i'm going to buy a tripod as well

I'm wondering what you guys would suggest i put my ISO Settings and other settings to in order to get a better crisp picture?

Here is what i've gotten so far,

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u...rr/file-77.jpg
http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u...rr/file-76.jpg

Not only have i got the blue look to them, i've also got a pink look to them in another test set that i've done ...
Any pointers?

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ISO 100 lower if yours will this is the lowest ours goes. Start at F/8 and work to about F/12 to see which works better but should be right in there.........shutter speed by hand without much shake is I believe 1/60 for most people so I wouldn't go lower then this if you don't have a tripod yet. RAW photos white balance easily fixed without really editing so not a big thing to worry about anymore. Dang I just realized I must actually be listening when my wife is yapping in my ear when were out doing her photography. :)

Thanks guys! I'll have to mess around with it again and see what I can do... Hopefully it turns out better! Haha without the pink or blue colour on them

You shot this at 1/60 of a second at F/4.6 with a flash iso 400. (metadata tells all) The issue is depth of field, you need more. If you think of F/number as a fraction it is easier to understand. I'll relate to pie as I male :). 1/2 is a very large piece of pie (F/2 is a very large opening) where 1/22 of the pie hardly counts as a piece. (F/22 is a very small opening) have you ever watched some one with poor eye sight look for the glasses by squinting? The small opening creates a sharper picture. If you were glasses you can look though a bit of cardboard and see a sharp picture through it. This is depth of field.

With a flash you should be able to get much more by just controlling the output to a higher amount. If you are using TTL flash (it talks to the camera and you don't need to deal with it much) then you should be able to change the aperture (means hole) to a smaller opening. F/16 perhaps F/22 or greater. The depth of field with out getting needlessly complex is not as much when you are close focused so you need a smaller aperture than you would shooting a landscape.

White balance, your photo is quite blue. I is the background blue white? If so this is bouncing colour onto the snake. If not the balance has shifted raw is slippery when it comes to colour. Every converter shifts a bit and most fail to tag ICC profiles correctly or at all. (adobe!) So editing is done before the computer starts managing colour. depending on the profile you choose to tag the colour can shift dramatically. Monitor colour also plays in too. umm I'll stop here it is a huge discussion insanely complex and technical it is what I spend a ton of time professionally on as I calibrate colour management systems (monitor/ printer and people lol)

I have never seen an RI before. But is that much "stuff" in that snakes mouth normal? It looks like there is some goop/mucous in his mouth. More so in the second shot. Am I the only one that noticed that? Maybe its just the picture?

Sent from my ADR6410LVW using Tapatalk 2

Quote:

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Originally Posted by DrDooLittle

I have never seen an RI before. But is that much "stuff" in that snakes mouth normal? It looks like there is some goop/mucous in his mouth. More so in the second shot. Am I the only one that noticed that? Maybe its just the picture?

She's 100% fine, has no RI... She was drinking when I grabbed her out to take pictures... That may be why the strings of goop is there

Sent from my ADR6410LVW using Tapatalk 2

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I have the exact same camera.
To my mind if you want the photo's whiter you can increase exposure time. This will add blur to a flicking snake tongue and allow in more light for.
Or a larger aperture can allow more light but that also can change the depth of field. And, personally speaking I would consider increasing depth of field a bit.
Another option is to increase light overall with a flash or other light source.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by DrDooLittle

I have never seen an RI before. But is that much "stuff" in that snakes mouth normal? It looks like there is some goop/mucous in his mouth. More so in the second shot. Am I the only one that noticed that? Maybe its just the picture?

Sent from my ADR6410LVW using Tapatalk 2

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No that is normal. Like the inside of a human mouth they have saliva and wetness to keep the tissue lubed. This is a retic with RI there is so much mucus it is bubbling when it breaths. Sorry no open mouth shot cranky 16 footer I was not about to try.

http://images14.fotki.com/v380/photo...Reticri-vi.jpgHosted on Fotki