Capturing Colors

It drives me UP THE WALL when people take a picture of a pale snake on a pale background. it is very unflattering to the snakes colors.

when photographing a light snake (snow, blizzard, peppermint) place the snake on a dark background ( i use a dark sand stone rock or a black pillow case) it contrasts with the color of the snake and is much more flattering.

dark snakes, photograph fantastically on a light or white surface, but also photograph well on neutral colors, i use either a white pillow case or a simple grey rock.

i get so tired of seeing red snakes photographed on a red back ground or with some funky yellow lighting. blehk
-studying to be a photographer. i use a nikon d3000 in manual focus macro mode.
(out of order) V
amel on a red background.... taken with a phone.
black striped king on a sheet of paper
white snake on a sheet of paper
black striped king on neutral background

this was very helpful! I have the hardest time with my Hypo lavender and Coral Snows. But when I put them on a dark background, the flash bleaches them out? I don't have access to a good camera right now, just a point-and-shoot kodak easyshare.

the only time I get good pics of them is when I borrow my boyfriend's Canon Rebel

try something kind of pastel colored, like a light pink pillow case. sometimes when colors are hard to catch on camera, putting them against a similar color brightens it. i have an awful time catching the yellows on my coral snows.

i forgot to add a picture of a light snake on a dark background! OOPS
this is my blizzard, he has a faint pattern that is difficult to capture.
with coral snows, i have had the most luck with no flash in natural light catching their colors, the second pic is my "coral" snow (not proven) Blossum

EDIT:the white snake on the white background is the same snake on the dark background

Thanks for the info! I have to admit I just highly prefer sun lit photo's over photo's taken in the shadows or when clouded. For me the problem with a light snake on a dark background in the sun is, that the camera either sets exposure time for dark or light colors, which usually leads to over exposed snakes with litte color. That is why I manually decrease exposure time with one or two steps. This way I finally captured the true colors of my opal:



And my coral snow:



It's a pity these photo's loose sharpness though with every step decreasing exposure time...

Further sometimes finding similar colors for the background brings out the difficult to capture hues, like the steel, almost blueish grey of this corn:

The red colors are also very nice on a black background!

Hee leuk, jij ook hier Karlijn?

Motley is met een t

LOL sorry for the Dutch, I just welcomed someone whom bought a snakelet from me

Great thread, I know I had trouble at first with my photos looking washed out but then I did the same and started looking at darker backgrounds and they made Rapunzel's colors show a lot better and truer to her natural shades.

Outdoor photos taken on an overcast day are hard to beat: