Photographing Animals

[Mrs Insane One]

More specifically photographing reptiles of the legless variety.

My husband and I just upgraded to a 'real' camera last month and we've been trying to learn as much as we can while shooting our animals and children to just practice getting certain effects.

We have a Nikon D50. No new filters, other then a polarizor, at the moment though because we're on a tight budget and trying to save up for what we need and determine what we need for what we plan to photograph.

I realize this is probably boring to read, but a little background might actually help provide the answers I am looking for.

We purchased the camera with one main focus in mind - photgraphing our large collection of critters and furture critters that we will in time breed and sell. Our old camera, a sony cybershot, just wasn't cutting it.

Now the trouble I am having, besides the problem of the animals moving too much, is that I'm getting a lot of excess glare on the scales of the snakes and sometimes thier eyes. Part of the problem is lighting, but part of it has to do with the color of the snake as well. (The albinos are much harder to capture then the normals)

What I'd like to get are some suggestions of lighting set ups, lenses or filters that can be used, and any photoshop tricks that might help. (Though I've been using a few of my own already.)

Here are a few sample pics:
This one is of a snow corn...
Snow pic (http://designedinsanities.com/TandJs/images/Snows/pearl2-1-07(7).jpg)

This is one of the normals, and you can see how the glare washes out several sections of his coils.
Normal Pic (http://designedinsanities.com/TandJs/images/Normals/granite2-1-07(4).jpg)

The last one is of one of our bloodren corns, and the glare is on his nose in this close up I took of him:
Bloodred Pic (http://designedinsanities.com/TandJs/images/Diffused/hematite2-10-07(5).jpg)

Thank you for looking and any suggestions are welcome!

Jenn

Edit: I don't know why the pics didn't show up, they might have been too large, but I edited in the links to the pics. Jenn

[Edited on 3/3/2007 by Mrs Insane One]

[Edited on 3/3/2007 by Mrs Insane One]

[JimG]

I have looked at your pictures and see the problems you are having. The first thing I can suggest is for you to turn off the flash, in fact any time that you are taking pictures of your animals you should have it set not to fire. Set up some lighting or even a small area as a "snake studio" A light tent would work great in this case. Not only would it keep the snakes confined in a small area for you it will also diffuse the light eliminating virtually all of the hot spots and glare that you are having problems with. It would also eliminate the flash being used which probably not only frightens the snakes but causes those ugly harsh shadows.

Light tents can be purchased just about anywhere, camera stores will most likely have various sizes and will offer you some lights to go with them. You don't need the "special lights" as you can set the white balance on your camera for any lighting situation. You can use desk lamps for example, or those inexpensive clip on lamps, fluorescent bulbs would keep you and your snakes from getting to warm while working.

If you find that you must leave one of the critters in a glass aquarium use the polarizing filter that you already have and cover the aquarium with a white bed sheet, place your lighting equipment around the aquarium so that the light is once again diffused leaving no harsh shadows and no hot spots.

With a little practice you will get the hang of it and get some great photographs in the process. Just remember to set the white balance any time you change the light and your colors will come out correct.

[Edited on 3/3/2007 by JimG]

[Edited on 3/3/2007 by JimG]

[Mrs Insane One]

Thank you so much for the suggestions. I'd already considered the light tent, as I'd read about it in another topic about photographing glass bottles, cups, etc. The lights shouldn't be any trouble, as I've always used fluorescents to keep the heat down, and I have the clamp style lamps to hold them where needed.

You'd mentioned the white bed sheet, for covering a tank, does the material of the sheet make a big difference? There are a few frabric stores that I know of that aren't too far, and that might be better then just using whatever the local Wally World (Walmart) has to offer.

The light tent would also be an answer, I think, to taking the mirror shots that we've had trouble with in the past too. Because it would eliminate the reflection of the light off of the mirror.

You've given me quite a bit to work with! Thank you again, now I have to go back and read my camera's manual to familarize myself with some of the more technical aspects of our Nikon. (Well worth the effort, just not my favorite type of reading! lol)

Jenn

[JimG]

The material should be thin enough to allow light to pass through, and the color should be white. Any color other than white can be used but it will cause a color cast in your photos. You will also want to stay away from material that is reflective such as silk or some nylons and polyesters.

As far as reading the manual just take it one step at a time, don't try to read it as if it were attempting to tell you a story. Instead use it as an exercise book. For example if you want to learn about white balance. . .look up white balance in the index, flip to that page and use the instructions to set the white balance while using the camera to take a few pictures with each new setting. You will get a benefit in not only coming to know where and how to use these settings but exactly what the settings mean to you as far as what they do to your pictures.

[Edited on 3/3/2007 by JimG]

[Mrs Insane One]

Thank you again! I did a bit of shopping yesterday and picked me up a white sheet (free of cat hairs) and plan to set aside a few hours this afternoon to see if I can't play around with making a light tent (I've already have a few solid plans that I think will work and won't be too hard to put up and take down.)

I'll let you know how it goes, though given my pension for being blonde - it may take me a while to get it right. It'll give me some quality time with the camera though, so I'm not complaining. :D

If all goes as planned, I'll post some links of what I come out with either later tonight or sometime this week when I have a few minutes peace.

Jenn

[digital_demon]

I agree with Jim on this - make certain you do not use the onboard flash when shooting. If you need aditional light use a reflector to divert the natural light.
I shoot a lot of wildlife and the hardest thing to do is set up on an animal in the wild and get the correct side and back lighting, so the above is offered when you have some control over the subject.

This image http://www.bayouvisions.com/gallery/Fgallery2-7.jpg I used a reflector on and no fill flash. I wanted to get some motion blur in the image to show the snake was striking. Cottonmouth Moccasins are very agressive and this was a very dangerouse shot - so the obligatory disclaimer comes with this... DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME!

[Edited on 5/6/2007 by digital_demon]