any tips to better my photos?

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axeman2729
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any tips to better my photos?

Post by axeman2729 »

here are some of my best photos
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Soopaman
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Re: any tips to better my photos?

Post by Soopaman »

What are you currently shooting with, and what sort of goals do you have regarding your herp photography (ie. voucher shot, field guide style shot, something artistic, etc)?
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axeman2729
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Re: any tips to better my photos?

Post by axeman2729 »

i am shooting with a 14.1 megapixel camera with a 15x wide aspheric lens 4.9-77.5 mmand i just want to have higher quality pics
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justinm
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Re: any tips to better my photos?

Post by justinm »

My advice is think about the shot, then set it up and you have the hardest part done. Knowing your equipment well enough to pull off what you have in your mind and have setup is the next challenge. Your compositions are part of this issue. That's where I would start.
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chris_mcmartin
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Re: any tips to better my photos?

Post by chris_mcmartin »

justinm wrote:My advice is think about the shot, then set it up and you have the hardest part done. Knowing your equipment well enough to pull off what you have in your mind and have setup is the next challenge. Your compositions are part of this issue. That's where I would start.
I second this comment. I'm no great photographer, but in order of your shots:

1. Subject facing away from the camera.
2. Wipe the debris from subject's face before photographing.
3. Dried leaf in foreground partially obscures subject and detracts from photo.
4. Subject is too small to be photographed in the grass...the "busy-ness" of the grass overpowers the subject.
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axeman2729
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Re: any tips to better my photos?

Post by axeman2729 »

thanks guys
:thumb:
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Kevin Price
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Re: any tips to better my photos?

Post by Kevin Price »

Hi axeman2729,

As justinm and Chris McMartin said, think about the shot before you take it and how you want it to look. Looking at your photos it seems that you need to look at all aspects of how the image will appear. That takes practice and patience, especially with a fast or constantly moving animal.

In the first shot the salamander is too centered; you should try to incorporate the entire animal in the frame. The head should be positioned lower in the frame. That would show more of the tail and be a better shot compositionally.

The second shot suffers from the same type of thing; it’s too centered. The amount of branch in the foreground is very distracting. By having the animal lower in the frame you open up what is behind it and utilize the lines of the branch in the composition.

The third shot is also “centered”, but that leaf is a huge distraction. Looking at this, if you would have moved maybe six inches to the right that leaf would never have been seen.

The last shot is what Chris said, the grass dominates the image and detracts from the toad

Other aspects of your images are fine; your subject is in focus, the lighting is good, I especially like the light in the third shot, and you’re thinking about how it will look but you’re just not “seeing” it.

None of these issues are camera related; they are the products of how the camera is used. The fact that you are asking for advice is a big step in improving your photography. What I’ve done in the past (and still do to this day!) is look at other photographs, especially ones you really like or admire, and ask yourself why it stands out to you. Find out what it is about that photo that makes it stand out. Chances are it’s not the type of camera used or even the subject, it’s the way the subject is composed within the frame. That is one of the key features of this forum; some of the best herp photography I've ever seen has been right here.

I now take longer shooting something I really want to shoot. As I set up my shot I am also looking around for any distractions that may appear in the image, like your leaf, and work through the composition in my head as I’m going. I find that to be a very rewarding aspect and I enjoy the challenge.

Here’s a good case in point. I was with another forum member last September shooting in Arizona. We came upon an adult Black-tailed Rattlesnake, and since they don’t occur where we live, we both wanted to take some time and shoot it. But the snake would not stop moving no matter what we did and all I could ever manage were lousy shots like this:

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For about 10 minutes we did everything we could think of to keep the snake in one place but it would have nothing to do with us. It kept trying to get into this very large thorny bush, and I finally just let go its way. It’s well-being was more important to us than the shots we were getting. As soon as it got into the bush it calmed down and crawled almost eye level with us. Now we were able to shoot it as much as we liked and from any angle. The snake was totally calm and I got shots that I never would have considered.

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By letting the shoot evolve and go its own course, we got good shots that were unique to us and much less stressful on the animal. Working with animals, especially venomous ones, can be daunting. I always try to learn from every photo shoot and trip I go on and this one taught me another lesson.
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chris_mcmartin
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Re: any tips to better my photos?

Post by chris_mcmartin »

Like Kevin said, good photos are generally NOT the result of equipment, but the photographer. A good photographer can get respectable, even great, photos using a cell phone camera. Note: I am not a good photographer... 8-)

It's the same with musical instruments. A good guitarist can make a great sound on a lousy guitar, but a bad guitarist will still stink up the joint no matter how fancy or expensive his guitar is.

Practice your photo composition, take a LOT of shots, and see which you like best. Then analyze why. Once you do this a LOT, you will be able to start determining what, if any, new/additional equipment may enhance your work.

But I must say, a common trend around here to improve your shots is to include money in the photo. Coins are great; paper is more so--the larger the denomination, the better. :lol:
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axeman2729
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Re: any tips to better my photos?

Post by axeman2729 »

here are some photos i took of my old kenyan sand boa i think are pretty good
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roosters977
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Re: any tips to better my photos?

Post by roosters977 »

Do you have a DSLR? I just got one for Christmas. I used a point and shoot all last year and the capabilities of point and shoots might surprise some. Whenever I got a specimen, i just took as many photos as I possibly could in a few minutes and then reviewed then. Here are some shots from the point and shoot;

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axeman2729
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Re: any tips to better my photos?

Post by axeman2729 »

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chrish
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Re: any tips to better my photos?

Post by chrish »

axeman,

Your sandboa shots are OK, but they also suffer being a bit "soft". This means they aren't sharply focused.

Compare your head shot of you sandboa to this one:

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versus

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Notice that in the second shot, the eyes and scales of the head are clear and sharp. Yours are not. Even though I wasn't as close as your shot, I got more visible detail.

There can be several reasons for this:

1. Your shutter speed can be too slow.
2. You are focusing closer than the minimum focus distance of your camera.
3. Your camera is focusing somewhere other than the eye/head.

The best advice I can give you is take lots of photos and look at lots of other people's photos. Figure out what is good about photos you like and figure out how to make that happen. Pay attention to what you don't like and figure out how to avoid that in the future.

Digital photography is pretty much free. No cost for film, no cost for developing. Shoot LOTS of photos of herps, shoes, feet, postage stamps, coins, whatever to gain mastery of your camera. Be your own harshest critic. Then apply what you have learned to your herp shots.

Chris
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Stohlgren
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Re: any tips to better my photos?

Post by Stohlgren »

Lots of good advice so far, which can be tough to digest. But this statement by Chrish, other than learning how to use your camera, is the most important step in learning to take better photos.
chrish wrote:The best advice I can give you is take lots of photos and look at lots of other people's photos. Figure out what is good about photos you like and figure out how to make that happen. Pay attention to what you don't like and figure out how to avoid that in the future.
To learn to critically deconstruct a photo to determine what you like or dislike about it, is an important step in figuring out how to achieve better photos.

Lets compare your first photo to a recent photo of mine. Not saying my photos are great, or that there is necessarily a correct, or better photo, but using this as a comparison to help you figure out what you like in a photo composition-wise.
axeman2729 wrote:Image
My opinion on your first shot is that the angle is too steep, it is under exposed (i.e. too dark), the tail is cut off, the pose is not all that flattering, and the rock is too dominate in the frame.

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1/125sec, f/8, ISO 100, flash, tripod.

In my shot I used a much lower angle, the salamander is posed in the typical "field guide" style, posed on an attractive moss covered rock (though some hate the salamander-on-moss photos), I used flash to properly expose the subject in dark (night) conditions, and I also composed the shot so that the subject would be dominant in the frame. This is not a necessity, but shots taken at a wider angle are more likely to introduce other elements that may distract from the subject. My main problem with the shot is that f/8 was not a small enough aperture to get the entire body of the salamander in focus, though the shot still works due to the eye and head being sharp. (note that in a point-and-shoot, the aperture values are not comparable to a DSLR)

I want to stress that what I think makes a good shot, may not be what you think makes a good shot. So you need to examine lots of photos and try to figure out what you like. You may hate the field guide style shots and maybe a portrait like in this link below, is more your style.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/hyla/61382 ... hotostream

Here are some more flickr links to follow if you want to see more great salamander (and other herps) shots. Take some time to examine and deconstruct the photos you like:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/twpierson/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nclarkii/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kwray/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mabuckingham/


On the technical side of things, it is helpful to us, if you include the shutter speed, aperture, and ISO values for each photo you post so we can better analyze the shots.

In my experience, when using a point-and-shoot, if you are in some sort of auto mode and not using flash, the shutter speeds tend to be way to slow to get crisp shots while hand holding the camera, which I suspect may be the reason many of your shots are not crisp, like Chris' sand boa. Also, they have a tendency to not focus where you want them too (which is usually on the eye of the subject). Most point-and-shoot cameras are not all that conducive to the operator making decisions about the exposure, and because of this, I personally didn't get better until upgraded to a DSLR and actually started consciously making decisions about the shutter speed, aperture, ISO, and flash levels.

If you are going to keep using your current camera, then what you must figure out is 1) how to get sharp photos in various lighting conditions (from bright sunny days, to complete darkness) and 2) how to get the proper exposure in those same lighting conditions. If you pair a pleasing composition with a sharp, well exposed photo, you will be happy with the results.

-Kevin
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axeman2729
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Re: any tips to better my photos?

Post by axeman2729 »

again thanks guys! I do not know the specs of the pictures sadly... and i think the sand boa pictures came in soft because i cropped them to get a better zoom
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chris_mcmartin
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Re: any tips to better my photos?

Post by chris_mcmartin »

Stohlgren wrote:Most point-and-shoot cameras are not all that conducive to the operator making decisions about the exposure, and because of this, I personally didn't get better until upgraded to a DSLR and actually started consciously making decisions about the shutter speed, aperture, ISO, and flash levels.
Also keep in mind that for the person of limited fundage, there are "in-between" cameras bridging the gap between simple point-and-shoot and DSLR. I currently use a several-years-old Canon SX20 and it lets me control (or automate) any or all of those settings. I'm sure there are even better iterations of the Canon line available now.

I'm generally very happy with it; most of my "bad shots" now consist of me not taking the time to dial in the most appropriate settings, or just bad composition.

Edit: Holy smokes--just checked the online price; for whatever reason it's double what I paid for it 4 years ago.
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axeman2729
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Re: any tips to better my photos?

Post by axeman2729 »

im happy with the camera i have right now which i think is an inbetween camera
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chrish
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Re: any tips to better my photos?

Post by chrish »

axeman2729 wrote:im happy with the camera i have right now which i think is an inbetween camera
The camera is only the tool. A good photographer can take good photos with any camera. Learn the skills and the camera won't matter.

I could argue that having a camera with limited capabilities makes you have to become a better photographer. My first digital camera was an Olympus C-700UZ, a 2.1 MP point and shoot with an awful viewfinder, slow focus, terrible shutter lag and a lousy lens. To get a "good" shot with that camera, I really had to plan and think out the whole process more than I do with my current camera. I still managed to get some usable shots with it.

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Frankly, it is easy to get a good photo with the current generation of DSLRs. Getting a good photo with your phone is a lot more challenging.
Matt Buckingham
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Re: any tips to better my photos?

Post by Matt Buckingham »

There is great advice here. I think the best thing you can do is practice with your camera, a lot. I've taken hundreds of thousands of shots over the year. The fun thing about photography is that the more you do it, the faster you progress, and it's easy to see your progression. Find a scene or subject that you like, and take dozens of pictures of it. Change up the composition, use different shooting modes, use different settings in manual mode, different ISO's, different apertures, different shutter speed, different white balance modes, etc. Eventually you'll see what you like and jumbling with the settings will become second nature to you.

I'll also echo the importance of looking at lots and lots of pictures. Find images that you really like and do your best to emulate them. It's always fun to look at photographers photostreams on Flickr and you can see their improvement throughout the years.
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axeman2729
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Re: any tips to better my photos?

Post by axeman2729 »

AGAIN thank you guys SO much for your encouraging and helpful words. I will definately take them all to heart!
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Biker Dave
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Re: any tips to better my photos?

Post by Biker Dave »

axeman

First let me put out his disclaimer : I am NOT a well versed photographer. I have spent most of my herp career with a cheap point and hope camera. Only last year did I finally get a DSLR.

From my own personal experience what the guys above me have said is true. Its really not the camera (but it helps) that makes a great picture, its the artist inside you that makes the great picture. Think Ansel Adams... talk about a point and shoot camera! And his photos are true masterpieces!

Take the time to think in your minds eye what you want the photo to look like. Then compose your shots to try to get there.

In the below series of photos I took a total of 22 photos of the neo helleri. Here is a progression of four from that shoot. Are they perfectly lit, nope - I was still in the early stages of learning my new camera. Practice makes perfect.

The first shot I took I thought was a good one.... until I looked at it on the camera's preview screen and noticed the stick in the way.

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So I moved the stick (very carefully!)

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I still wasn't completely happy with the shot ... it didn't feel right to me. So here I tried for a closer up ....

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Then I got a spark of imagination and settled on this one which I like better than the others, even if the lighting isn't perfect. Its just slightly off center left to right and uncentered from top to bottom. For me, it shows (sort of) how cryptic these little suckers can be, and it also gives a better feeling (IMO) of the environment it was found in.

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Will everyone think this is the better shot, probably not. But I do these photos to make me happy...not them!

Keep practicing


Dave Weber
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chrish
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Re: any tips to better my photos?

Post by chrish »

That's a great example series Dave, but that horizontal stick behind the snake is distracting. :lol:
Will everyone think this is the better shot, probably not. But I do these photos to make me happy...not them!
That's really all that matters! :beer:
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Biker Dave
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Re: any tips to better my photos?

Post by Biker Dave »

Oh sure! Now that you point out the stick and draw everyones attention to it!
:lol: :lol: :lol:
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Kevin Price
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Re: any tips to better my photos?

Post by Kevin Price »

It's funny how you don't notice things like that! Caught up in the moment and the most obvious things become invisible. We've all done it. Goes back to just taking some time and setting up the shot how you want it, if possible, and seeing the big picture. I keep this terrible shot of a sidewinder from several years ago as an example of this:

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Look at that huge stick in front of the snake. I was trying to set the snake up how I wanted it, plan my composition, lighting, and camera controls. Never saw the stick until I downloaded the images onto my computer. To this day I don't know how I could have NOT seen it!
millside
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Re: any tips to better my photos?

Post by millside »

I have nothing to add but this. as far as forums go. You guys are the best. nothing but good honest advice from all. :thumb:

well okay, one thing garret. take lots of photos and only show people your best shots. unless you are asking for honest opinions like you did here.
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