How I get my shots...

[EddieA]

Ok, I am by NO means a pro. I just figured this out by trying different things and it gets an effect that I personally like, so I have stuck with it.

The equipment I use are Pentax K10D and K7 cameras, Vivitar 285HV flash, and my little homemade snake studio. The "studio" is an old molded plastic guitar case that I lined with black coat wool (very non-reflective), and even glued a small cardboard box under the wool on the left side in case I want to take a shot that is a bit higher than the case floor. It is also cool that I can store some of my props in it.

Here's the studio:
http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc198/lespaulspecial/snakes/Horatio/horatio28sep092.jpg

Up close with my technique, I get something like this:
http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc198/lespaulspecial/snakes/Horatio/horatio.jpg

And this:
http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc198/lespaulspecial/snakes/Ghosts/0gblood3.jpg

I start out with the F-stop around 4 and a shutter speed of 125 or so and adjust from there. The other thing I do is I mount my flash backwards (full power) and angle it 45 degrees over my shoulder and bounce the light off the kitchen walls. I also find that manual focus works better for me when doing snakes. You have to be fast sometimes though!

[toxiclight]

What a fantastic idea :D I've been planning to make a light box, but as half my snakes are very pale morphs, I worried about them bleeding into the background. I love the black background...now to find something around here that will serve instead of a guitar case (since I don't happen to have one :/)

[azhketh]

Forget the tips, I want that first snake! ;) That second pic is awesome, looks very professional.

[Miqote]

I love the definition on the scales. Very beautiful!

[idloveaguinness]

I start out with the F-stop around 4 and a shutter speed of 125 or so and adjust from there. The other thing I do is I mount my flash backwards (full power) and angle it 45 degrees over my shoulder and bounce the light off the kitchen walls. I also find that manual focus works better for me when doing snakes. You have to be fast sometimes though!

Nice shots.

ISO?

[idloveaguinness]

Oh....and do you use a tripod with a remote? I think that's what I'll probably try once I start taking more pics of my sons snake. I figure with a little setup like that, you can frame the shot ahead of time and just finesse the snake into position, then hit the remote trigger. Or have another person finesse the snake....

I'm finding that a wider DOF is probably better for whole body shots with these guys as they move around a lot .

[EddieA]

ISO 100, no tripod. Too busy constantly focusing!

[idloveaguinness]

ISO 100, no tripod. Too busy constantly focusing!

Oh....you're totally old school. Nice. A prime lens, I presume? I've gotten lazy - especially with the focus tracking that the D7000 has. I only manually focus when I have to, like when the snake is hiding in vines and all the camera wants to do is lock onto those instead.

Anyhow....again, great shots. Looking forward to more sometime soon.

[EddieA]

50mm f1.4

Auto focus is excellent on the K7, but I still prefer to do my own focusing.

[idloveaguinness]

50mm f1.4

Auto focus is excellent on the K7, but I still prefer to do my own focusing.

Fast lens....you have a nice setup.

[ceduke]

Thank you for this Eddie! I've always admired your pictures!

[EddieA]

Thanks, Catherine!

[OhDeer]

Wow, great photos! I'm definitely no pro either, but I love photography and want to try taking some pictures of my snake. Maybe I'll try setting up a little "snake studio." ;)

[Faenaria]

Really impressive shots, i've been trying to figure out the best setup for my snakes - I have extra fabric from my people portrait setup that I'll probably end up using.