photography tricks

italian chameleon

italian chameleon

New Member
hi!
I saw really stunning pictures on this forum!!
do you have any trick\advice to share on how to take the best pictures of your cham?

which settings do you use on your reflex cameras? and on your compacts?

thanks

A.
 
Camera settings depend on the lighting situation at capture really. The best advice I could possibly give to a begginer though would be to get yourself a good and fairly recent photoshop program and take your time to learn as much about how to use it as you possibly can. Join a photography forum too. Try to ask specific questions and the members can help a lot better. There are free photoshoppy type programs you can download too. "Gimp" is a good one. Search and you'll find a handful of free ones......
 
Feebo said:
Camera settings depend on the lighting situation at capture really. The best advice I could possibly give to a begginer though would be to get yourself a good and fairly recent photoshop program and take your time to learn as much about how to use it as you possibly can. Join a photography forum too. Try to ask specific questions and the members can help a lot better. There are free photoshoppy type programs you can download too. "Gimp" is a good one. Search and you'll find a handful of free ones......
Click to expand...

Right, thanks for the advice! I'll try and download Gimp!
So basically you're saying if you're not a good photographer, at least be a good photoshopper! makes sense to me :D

anyway, what I initially meant was how to get good pics in both sunlight and artificial (spot\uvb) lighting situation,

for example, using MACRO settings ?

thx
A.
 
italian chameleon said:
Right, thanks for the advice! I'll try and download Gimp!
So basically you're saying if you're not a good photographer, at least be a good photoshopper! makes sense to me :D
A.
Click to expand...

You can use gimp for quick white, black and gray balancing. You can use it for other things as well, but the white & black balancing are possibly the most important.

Have you seen the sample paint cards at the hardware store? Grab one that has white through gray to black paint (hey, grab a few, they're free!).

For the first shot, put the card in the shot. Take it out. Then take more pictures.

In gimp, open the first picture (with the card in it). Set your white and black to how you want it: white for white, black for black if you want true colors, or choose grays or other colors to see what the effect is. When you're done playing, you can save the color balance, and apply it to the rest of the pictures you just shot.

Hope that helps.
 
kschmitt said:
You can use gimp for quick white, black and gray balancing. You can use it for other things as well, but the white & black balancing are possibly the most important.

Have you seen the sample paint cards at the hardware store? Grab one that has white through gray to black paint (hey, grab a few, they're free!).

For the first shot, put the card in the shot. Take it out. Then take more pictures.

In gimp, open the first picture (with the card in it). Set your white and black to how you want it: white for white, black for black if you want true colors, or choose grays or other colors to see what the effect is. When you're done playing, you can save the color balance, and apply it to the rest of the pictures you just shot.

Hope that helps.
Click to expand...

It does indeed! :) I just downloaded gimp and I'm gonna try it as soon as I go back home with the paint cards! any other suggestions for great cham pics?
 
What kind of camera do you have? I have a blog on here about basic color and composition and a little blog on light (its not very technical though, its just something to think about)

I think your best bet is going to be to - make sure you have enough light (inside or outside), "fill the frame" (get close so your cham takes up most of the picture, pay attention to your composition (and background, and colors) and make sure its in focus!.. if you have a crappy picture photoshop might be able to mask it but if you want to take the best pictures you can, do it in camera. then try to make minor edits in photoshop.
 
heartben said:
What kind of camera do you have? I have a blog on here about basic color and composition and a little blog on light (its not very technical though, its just something to think about)

I think your best bet is going to be to - make sure you have enough light (inside or outside), "fill the frame" (get close so your cham takes up most of the picture, pay attention to your composition (and background, and colors) and make sure its in focus!.. if you have a crappy picture photoshop might be able to mask it but if you want to take the best pictures you can, do it in camera. then try to make minor edits in photoshop.
Click to expand...

very good, thanks! I have a nikon compact and my dad has a reflex which I'm allowed to use (at times )

I have a major focus problem with the compact, 90% of my cham pics are out of focus, especially if I shoot from outside the vivarium.

i'll definitely try the "fill the frame" technique , tho

cheers
A.
 
morpheon said:
What kind of reflex does your father have, along with what lens he has?
Click to expand...

nikon d70 he has many lenses, the one he uses normally is a sort of "multi purpose" one, something between zoom and wide angle. sorry for the extremely inaccurate description I'm not a big photo expert :D
 
Must be a 18-55mm or something like that. Maybe 18-105mm.

If i were you, i'd look for a lens that is labeled "micro" or "macro". If you have the choice, i'd use a macro lens that has a fixed focal (ie: only one number: 85mm, 105mm, 55mm, but not 18-55 for example). These will give you more details, along with the chance to take pictures of your chameleon from closer. Moreover, since you don't seem to know much about photography, I'd start with the macro mode of the D70 (the flower). Finally, show us some pictures and people will be able to give you some comments! :)
 
morpheon said:
Must be a 18-55mm or something like that. Maybe 18-105mm.

If i were you, i'd look for a lens that is labeled "micro" or "macro". If you have the choice, i'd use a macro lens that has a fixed focal (ie: only one number: 85mm, 105mm, 55mm, but not 18-55 for example). These will give you more details, along with the chance to take pictures of your chameleon from closer. Moreover, since you don't seem to know much about photography, I'd start with the macro mode of the D70 (the flower). Finally, show us some pictures and people will be able to give you some comments! :)
Click to expand...

ok I'll see what I can do! unfortunately you will have to wait for the pictures cause I don't have my cham with me here in the UK I left it at home in Italy! :( I'm going back home for the christmas holidays so in a month or so I ll be flooding the forum with pictures of my (now full grown) veiled :cool:
 
Learn the camera. Not the software.

If you know how to take good pictures, you dont need to re-touch after. Light is the most important factor. If you have appropriate light, you can have a fast shutter speed to limit blur from cham movement or your unsteady hand.
 
Normally, in photography, the goal is to have to retouch your picture as less as possible. In other words, if you can get some effect with your digital camera, you better do it that way than doing it with photoshop. However, really learning a digital camera is something that takes a lot of time!!
 
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