Best situation to capture true colors.

Gauge shed today and he is showing some WICKED pinks and markings on him. I can't seem to get a decent shot of him with horrible lighting and stuff. (Tried taking some at night in a bedroom with amber lights.) Anyone got a standard for 'photo shoots' that helps them capture true colors? I'd like to set up some sort of photo area with natural lighting. Any pointers? This is the camera I have.

Lighting and background color can dramatically affect how a photo will show the color of a snake. I've found that taking photos outside in the shade with natural backgrounds (browns and some green) or inside (I like the bathroom as the lighting is best there without having to use extra lights) again on a background with natural colors (browns and some green) gives me the best photos showing true colors with the minimal amount of tweaking in a photo program.

Lighting and background color can dramatically affect how a photo will show the color of a snake. I've found that taking photos outside in the shade with natural backgrounds (browns and some green) or inside (I like the bathroom as the lighting is best there without having to use extra lights) again on a background with natural colors (browns and some green) gives me the best photos showing true colors with the minimal amount of tweaking in a photo program.

Depends on the color of the snake. If they're a light colored morph, I like to take pics of them outside on overcast days, or indoors with a light tent surrounded by full spectrum compact florescent bulbs. For the darker colored morphs outside, I'll use a partially shaded area or filtered sunlit area, (screened porch, etc.), or have the sun at my back. Indoors, I'll use a room that gets lots of natural light and supplement with the full spectrum bulbs...

To show true colors you will need to have the correct white balance. Depending on your camera you should be able to set this by first shooting a neutral gray card then setting it as your default. Or a simpler way is to do as Captbogart suggest and get some full spectrum (available at home depot and Lowes) fluorescent light bulbs then set your white balance to match the color temperature (5500K I think). You can also buy some very inexpensive reflectors from home depot and Lowes and put the bulbs in them. Shine the lights on the snake and turn off all other lighting. Shoot the pic and it will turn out nice.

The worst lighting is if you are trying to shoot in a room with blue or orange cast fluorescents it is almost impossible to get a correct white balance. A mix of different lighting also makes it hard. I have found natural sun light to be tricky as well since depending on your back ground and surface you can get color reflections that throw off the white balance.

That all being said if you have a good camera you can use its preset white balances(flash, natural sun, auto white balance, ect) and then tweak the picture in light room, Photoshop or some other similar photo program to match the correct color.

Here is an example of camera controlled white balance. I took this pic with my Canon 50D and on camera ex 580 speedlight with gary fong diffuser attached. The snake is over an ink blotter on my desk. I set the white balance to "flash" and shot the pic. I then processed the raw file in light room however I did not have to adjust the white balance at all it came out exactly correct.