close up shots with a digital camera?

I'm trying to get some close ups taken of scale patterning and eye color of my corn snake but everything just goes blurry. Does anybody know is there good method to taking close up shots with a digital camera or would it just be better to go bribe my sister into doing a photo shoot for me with her nikon as I know it takes great close up photos.

You need to know what the minimum focal distance of your macro setting is, and not go closer than that.

And then you need good photo processing software to bring out the most detail from your initial image.

Thanks again Nanci!

Along with that, using a editing software zoom in as much as possible.

Originally Posted by Jdog3131

Along with that, using a editing software zoom in as much as possible.

This will deteriorate your image quality very quickly. Unless you are using something like Genuin Fractals which can extrapolate image data and create good enlargements, I try to avoid removing pixels at all costs. Digital zooms essentially "crop" the photo, but enlarge it to cover the same area size. *Most* standard editing software cannot extrapolate information well enough to produce a quality enlargement. Genuine Fractals does a decent job, and there are a few others...but you still lose quality.

I like to take the largest picture my camera will allow. Then, I can crop it down to better highlight what I was taking a picture of. Also, I don't have to worry about losing quality by zooming in using software if I want a large picture. And if I want a smaller picture, I don't lose quality in zooming out. I hope that made sense...

Originally Posted by VampMN

I like to take the largest picture my camera will allow. Then, I can crop it down to better highlight what I was taking a picture of. Also, I don't have to worry about losing quality by zooming in using software if I want a large picture. And if I want a smaller picture, I don't lose quality in zooming out. I hope that made sense...

If you only plan on posting and sharing online, you don't need much more than 800 pixels per side for a reasonable viewing size, so you can get away with a fair amount of cropping. But at 100ppi and 800 pixels on the longest side("standard" web size), the largest print you'll get of reasonable quality is about 2X3 inches.

My full resolution images on my hard drive are about 250ppi and 3648 on the longest side. I can print 16x20. I couldn't get quality prints that size if I cropped out large portions and zoomed in.

So it really depends on what you plan on doing with the images...

I plan on just posting online, but the software you guys are talking about what's the cost on it? I'm not looking at buying a high price photo editing software either if that's the case I can just go out and get a new camera set up.

Originally Posted by yojoe05

I plan on just posting online, but the software you guys are talking about what's the cost on it? I'm not looking at buying a high price photo editing software either if that's the case I can just go out and get a new camera set up.

Are you looking to blow up 48" landscapes or 8X10 for the home and family? If you're just looking to make a 2X3 into a 5X7 there are free programs available online that *should* suffice. If you're looking to make quality prints at large sizes without investing in a full frame, professional DSLR camera, the software's gonna cost a couple hundred. It can get pricey. Most of them are "plug ins" for Photoshop, so you need to start with a more recent edition of Adobe Photoshop. Most likely, CS2 or better...

Not really planning on printing out I just need something to get close ups on my snakes while they're younger so patterning and eye color and such can be seen better.