Photographing Reptiles and Amphibians

Photographing your pet reptiles and amphibians islevel on your camera (if you can adjust this). The
something every exotic animal owner loves to do.higher your ISO is, the more noise you're going to
But, a lot of the time it can be difficult to work withhave in your photo, but you're also going to be able
the animal and the shots just aren't coming out theto shoot in darker environments. The lower the ISO,
way you were hoping. Well, I'm here to help! I'vethe cleaner your photo is, but you're not letting as
been photographing reptiles and amphibians in the wildmuch light reach your sensor, so you're not going to
and in captivity for close to 5 years now and havebe able to shoot in as dark an environment as you
won several contests with my shots. I've workedmay like.
with Corn Snakes, Ball Pythons, Boa Constrictors, andSo, I always try and shoot between ISO 100 and
many more venomous and non-venomous snakesISO 400 if possible, but depending on the type of
over the course of my photography experience.camera you have, you may be able to get away
Now, I'm going to give you the secrets to mywith ISO numbers all the way up to 1600 before
success!seeing a lot of noticeable noise. Finally, we need to
Taking great photos of these magnificent animals is atalk about shutter speed. Depending on your shutter
scientific and artistic mixture of several differentspeed, you can let it more light but you can also pick
ingredients. It takes a great eye for composition andup camera shake (the natural shake in your hand)
lighting, knowledge of the animal in front of you (i.e.and the movement of your subject, leading to blurry
behaviors, tendencies, etc.), and most importantlyimages. So a balance must be found. I normally try
PATIENCE! Remember that unlike a human subject,and shoot at shutter speeds between 1/125 and 1
reptiles and amphibians (we'll refer to them as "herps"250 when I'm working with artificial or naturally
from here on out) don't know what you're trying todiffused light as I find this gives me the best amount
do and can be very rambunctious frustrating - justof light into the photo while allowing me to still work
hang in there!with fidgety snakes and lizards. When I'm working
Great shots don't happen on the first or second clickwith a tripod and a calm snake, however, I've used
of the button (unless you're lucky of course) whichshutter speeds as slow as 1/4 of a second! It all
brings us to our first photography tip - use a digitaldepends on how much light you need to allow into
camera! Most film development centers are going outyour photo, and how much movement is occurring in
of business anyways and digital is the easiest way tothe photo. This is a balancing act that takes a lot of
take and store thousands of photos for you andskill and practice to get right, and is dependent on
your family. My preference is to use a Digital SLRyou and your animal. There is no perfect solution that
(Single Reflex Lens) camera body and a series ofworks across the board!
interchangeable lenses as they give you the mostNow that we've covered you and your camera
control over your photographical subject. If you'resettings, let's talk about something that can be the
not willing to spend the money, however, a Pointmost difficult task of all, working with a herp! There
& Shoot Digital camera works great as well. Justare lots of different techniques that people use to
remember, the more manual control you have overcalm down their animal and get it ready to
the camera the better!photograph ranging from just letting the animal move
Now that we have our camera selected let's focuson a twig or in the grass and just firing away, to
on what truly makes a good photograph and whatholding the animal with one hand and photographing it
photography truly is - painting with light. No matterwith the other. I prefer to hold the animal for about
what the subject is, we're trying to use light in a way10 to 20 minutes before the shoot to allow it to
that portrays the subject the way we imagine it inwear itself out and slow down a little bit. After that,
our mind. The camera sensor is not as good atit depends on how I'm wanting to use the snake in
distinguishing between different intensities of light,the photo I'm imagining. If I want to shoot it climbing
and in order to get all of the detail in the photo thethen there isn't much more I can do than let it go
way we imagine it, we have to understand theand try and direct it with massive amounts of
interaction and difference in light intensities. In doingpatience and time. These shots are normally beautiful
so we see the detail in the highlights and shadowsif you have the patience to work with the snake, but
that could otherwise be lost, and take away fromaren't always the best for people hoping to get a
the image you're trying to create. Playing with deepquick shoot in before going to softball practice.
shadows and blown out whites can be fun in anAnother great way to shoot snakes on the ground
artistic point-of-view, but when going for a trulyor some sort of litter is by using an appropriately
natural looking shot, it will hurt your image.sized bowl or dish. Place the bowl or dish upside
So, try and keep all of your images within 3 stops ofdown over the snake giving it a nice, safe, dark
light from the brightest to the darkest, giving youenvironment that it can calm down and coil up in.
contrast and detail in the same image! The bestLeave it this way for a few minutes and set up your
ways of doing this are shooting with diffused light.camera and figure out your settings while you're
Direct light is very harsh and created areas of deepwaiting. Now, you have to be somewhat quick, but
shadows and blown-out highlights, so we want toremove the dish and photograph your snake in a
diffuse it and make these areas of shadow andnice, coiled, comfortable position showing that
intensity blend together and soften accordingly. Wantbeautiful, iconic coiled snake the way you dreamed it!
to know the cheapest way to create great light?This can be done with bags and other objects as
Naturally! Shooting outside on days that are overcastwell, as long as it give the snake a nice, snug, dark,
or in the early morning and late evening hours whensafe place to relax and calm down for a short period
the sun isn't as intense and the light is a brilliantof time. Experiment with what works best with your
orange color can be some of the best times foranimals, and never forget to have patience!
photography, and it's absolutely free! Finally, whenRemember, with digital photos, taking the pictures is
shooting inside, the greatest way to utilize naturalonly half the fun. You can do many different
light is by photographing your subject near a window.photographic manipulations on the computer and this
Window light can give a magnificent diffusivity to lightis just one more of the many reasons to move to
and create beautiful shadows and contrast in thedigital photography. We're not going to get into
photo. In order to harness this great light, however,photograph manipulation much today, but one thing I
we have to know the proper settings on our camera!want to make you aware of is White Balance. White
When trying to find and compose your image,balance is of utmost importance when photographing
remember the rule of thirds and compose based onanything! Different types of light have different
this photographic rule (divide the image into threecolors and this can leave the picture looking anything
columns and three rows, the points of intersectionfrom orange to green to purple depending on the
should be close to where the main subject of yourlight source. Always make sure you're photograph is
image is focused). You want to make sure the eyecorrectly color balanced and that the colors are a
of your subject is also your focusing point, and thatgood representation of the animal you are
your depth-of-field is deep enough to keep most ofphotographing. Beyond that, have fun with your
the animal in focus. To accomplish this, keep yourphotos and share them with the world via blogs,
aperture around f/5.6-f/8 and you should have aforums, and print because that is what photography
very good range of sharpness in your photo. Tois all about!
keep the noise low in your photos, watch the ISO