More light tent trials

[desertanimal]

If anyone has any expertise to share, I'm all ears.

1) How do you get your snakelings to stay in nice coils? I think maybe this is why ball pythons make good subjects . . . I tried putting them under a bowl for a while, but the adults didn't really care about suddenly being in the light.

2) I've also discovered that one reason a store-bought light tent might be better for snakes is that you can shoot from more angles without getting a brown box part in the photo. That would be nice. These DIY things cardboard box types are great for being free and great for still objects. But they have their limitations with live, moving creatures.

3) I still have to brighten my photos in photoshop. I'm currently using one CF full spectrum bulb on each side (each equivalent to 100W bulb), but I have nothing in the front or on top.

4) I know there's something I'm supposed to do about setting my white balance before shooting, but I don't really quite understand what that means or how to do it. I have only a Panasonic lumix fz-30, so I don't know if I can do that with this camera.

5) But even so, it's a heck of a lot better than I've been able to shoot before except for outside on cloudy days.

Here are tonight's experiments. First is Judas the now-kinked hypo blood. The rest here are Gregor the blood.

 

[desertanimal]

These are Colorado the Miami. It IS a relief to just be able to take a picture of him without him looking all weirdly yellow in it.

 

[desertanimal]

And last but not least, my ever-present little helper for any and all snake-related activities. He now knows the sound of a bin being pulled out and comes running from wherever he is. He kept a supervisory eye on all tonight's picture-taking.

 

[Nanci]

I have to learn how to do that. Colorado is looking amazing, as always!

 

[desertanimal]

I have to learn how to do it better! But it's fun trying!

He is a good-looking snake, that one.

 

[ssssinful-1]

ME LIKEY! Nice job.

 

[CALIVIK]

Awesome job!! Goodlookin' gang!

 

[MysticExotics]

Gorgeous snakes (& kitty too)
I have to say, I want to steal Colorado!

 

[desertanimal]

Thanks guys!

 

[Blue Apple Herps]

I gave up trying to get pictures of the cornsnakes in a light tent or similar. I just take their picture in their tub.

I do remove their tub and try to set it up with decent lighting. Then I remove the hide and snap pics before they realize what is happening and start moving.

While they don't turn out as "artistic" as my bp pics, I can still manage to get, what I think are OK, pics, that show the snakes true colors/patterns/etc. For me, I'd rather capture their true colors over an "artsy" pic. Especially when taking pics of animals I'm going to sell - I want their colors represented as best as possible.

Here are some examples.

 

[Blue Apple Herps]

Oh yeah, here's another tip I forgot about that helps:

Can you get a remote for your camera? If you can, then get one. This way you can stand right next to the snake while you try to pose it and once its posed, you can quickly hit the remote to trigger the shutter so you don't have to run back to the camera before the snake moves.

If you do this though, you'll also want a tripod to hold the camera. Even not, a tripod can still be helpful as you can pose the snake, then just reach to the shutter without having to get the camera up and hold it, and focus it, and so forth. This still buys you time from posing the snake to taking the picture.

Also, if you just want better lit pictures of your snakes, other than room light or direct flash, you might want to consider an external flash that you can bounce. This way you can bounce it off the ceiling, get good fill, and not have to mess with a box, that can be cumbersome when dealing with a live animal that won't stay put. Just lay a piece of posterboard against the wall, so it curves to the floor and use bounce flash.

Here's an example of me using tripod, remote shutter, and bounce flash. The entire time I was right next to the snake and didn't have to move back and forth. So I could constantly try and pose the snake and once he was posed I could get a pic or two before he tried to move. If I had to hold the camera and take a pic, he would have started to crawl off before I had a chance to get the camera, focus, take the pic, etc.

I haven't tried this way with the corns yet, so I may give it another try with them since I've managed to get eliminate the time from posing to camera picture.