A Time for Reflection **Dial-Up No-No**

I was screwing around with some backgrounds, and found one I kinda like... I'm not fishing for snake compliments, I already know he kicks butt.. :) But critique of the image would be nice..

http://www.blackjackpythons.com/imag...et/mirror1.jpg

Thanks for looking!

It's alright......j/k - it ROCKS! I love it!!!! Well done!

nice snake/pic ken, a little more light on the dorsal to capture more detail, imo.



vaughn

Yeah, that was just ambient room light with flash... I'd like to get a lighting setup, or maybe even try the same pic outdoors.... We'll see...

outdoors in the shade, or on a slightly overcast day will give you rich colors.



vaughn

Well, with the Axanthic... I'd rather not have much color.. :) Just the best conditions for bringing out his true lack of color. Those pics look kinda brownish... and he doesn't have ANY brown on him.. Now I know why people say pictures of Axanthics don't turn out well. :)

yeah ax's are better off seen in person,imo. but if he has alot of silver/gray that will show through also. alot of ones like cinnies,yb,granite,ax's don't always photo well.



vaughn

I think it's a good photo, but I think it would kick major butt if you you followed Vaughn's suggestion about lighting.

One simple word...

JUNKY

:carouse:

Good stuff! If you are gonna do it outdoors, use the early morning or evening light. Indoor photography, try reflecting the light off of something instead of direct exposure. The angle of the shot is a nice touch. Are you using a tripod? Did you crop that pic or is that an original. Try and leave some room on the sides so the snake doesn't appear all boxed in(tip I got from a pro for shooting a full body shot).

Forgot to mention that you can get natural sunlight bulbs in the stores. If you get those, try taking the pics without the flash.

Beautiful shot, Ken! Is the snake laying on a mirror??

I thought I'd mess around with the color balance and levels in Photoshop, see if I could help remove some of the brown in this image and lighten her up a bit...

The original:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ddbjdealer

http://www.blackjackpythons.com/imag...et/mirror1.jpg

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After color balance (removing some yellow and red):
https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...2/6/color1.jpg

And then readjusting some levels:
https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...2/6/color2.jpg

I'm guessing the colors are still wrong. Since axanthic are supposed to be without yellow, maybe try indoor photography using daylight bulbs, since regular light bulb cast a warm, yellow light on things.

Oh, PS, these pictures are in my gallery, which I will take down in a few days. =D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by iceman25

Good stuff! If you are gonna do it outdoors, use the early morning or evening light. Indoor photography, try reflecting the light off of something instead of direct exposure. The angle of the shot is a nice touch. Are you using a tripod? Did you crop that pic or is that an original. Try and leave some room on the sides so the snake doesn't appear all boxed in(tip I got from a pro for shooting a full body shot).

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Yeah, its cropped... It's taken on a mirror with borders... and I didn't want the borders to show up. I'm getting a mirror with no borders later on this week... so I'll try that... the problem with not cropping them, is that they reflect EVERYTHING... lol... So I'm going to have to get the mirror into a "blank" room or outside in the open in order to not see EVERYTHING in the background...

I feel your pain, Adam! And you're just using acrylic!! lol

Ken, nice photo. And I told you those Axanthics are hell in pictures. I think you did great. Nice snake by the way, even though you already know that.

These pics are really cool. I'm still trying to figure out where I can get some acrylic.. I want pretty reflecty pics too!

A couple of things I do for lighting that work pretty well for me are:

find a room with a light colored ceiling and "bounce" the flash off the ceiling - it gives a much more "eye like" lighting to the photo (imo).

And I'm a huge fan of doing off-camera slave flash. My camera supports taking the flash-gun off the camera and putting it on the tripod, then I can crank it down and tip it directly over the subject without it appearing in frame.

I think I took 412 pictures of a lapel pin one night while playing with lighting and a macro lense.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Shelby

These pics are really cool. I'm still trying to figure out where I can get some acrylic.. I want pretty reflecty pics too!

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Check for a plastics store; we have a local shop that literally just sells acrylic and plastics (sheets, custom cuts, boxes, etc etc).

You might also try a picture framing/paint store or perhaps a Lowe's, etc.

Oh ok. I will look around. Thanks.