RRS Update (opinions needed)

[yellermelon]

Shaun, Paulnj gave me a good tip that helped me with a prob I see you have. Take a step back, then shoot the pic. that way it auto focuses on the whole gecko. Then you can crop the gecko. Be careful thought to far back and itll look pixlley to close, and part of the gecko gets blurry lol.

 

[SteveB]

Go dig up the manual... read about setting a custom white balance and use it. That'll be a good starting point.

I would think the white used in most of the tents is intended to be fairly neutral, so you could even try setting the white balance using the inside of the tent with the lights on...

You probably still want to use a gray card to set the white balance if you're going to be using colored backgrounds.

 

[PrototypeGeckos]

Go dig up the manual... read about setting a custom white balance and use it. That'll be a good starting point.

I would think the white used in most of the tents is intended to be fairly neutral, so you could even try setting the white balance using the inside of the tent with the lights on...

You probably still want to use a gray card to set the white balance if you're going to be using colored backgrounds.

Here is some pics using the custom white balance on the camera, using the white background in the tent with the lights on as reference.

 

[paulnj]

The previous white background image at +1ev is damb near perfect! Try +1.3)or 1.5) and see if the white gets blown out.

 

[SteveB]

focus and image noise are also issues that need to be overcome... brighter bulbs would help with both...

 

[PrototypeGeckos]

focus and image noise are also issues that need to be overcome... brighter bulbs would help with both...

Ok, I will pick up some brighter bulbs, there are two lights, but have 100 watt bulbs. Thanks.

 

[paulnj]

I assure you that image noise comes from 3 things. They are high ISO settings, tightly cropped and magnified images and underexposure.

100 watt bulbs are more than enough with a white BG to let you use a somewhat low ISO, shoot with plenty of focus and be damb near noise free. See if you can control the aperture in a mode (AV?) and remember that the close you are to the subject, the shallower your sharp focus will be at a given aperture value.

 

[SteveB]

Paul, granted.

But he's shooting in auto. The camera appears to be selecting a high ISO, and there still appears to be some blur from his hands shaking, although it also isn't focusing properly on the gecko...

More light could help overcome these problems if his camera doesn't have priority or manual modes...

 

[paulnj]

Steve, when I get "good" images of a gecko I use a standard 60 watt bulb and a crappy fuji digi on a tan BG(nearly 18% grey). They come out sharp and focused fine on auto. I think he is in macro mode and too close or possible zoomed in tight?

Oh BTW, I have been a moderator of a photo site for years.....hahaha, but I hate it and do it pretty lame lately.

 

[PrototypeGeckos]

I have been using macro mode without zoom at all, just getting close to the gecko, probably 6 inches or so, now on the last set of pictures I put the exposure setting back to zero, it wasn't at +1 anymore, I just used the custom white balance there. I am going to shoot more tomorrow, I have been hitting the manual pretty hard. I am going to set the auto timer to 1 second that way I can get the gecko in focus take the shot and make sure my hands are perfectly still when the shot is taken. I will raise the exposure a tad, and maybe get a little softer background material, maybe some felt and try those things out, with and without the rock. I'll post more tomorrow evening, I really appreciate all the feedback everyone, it is helping a great deal.

 

[paulnj]

Get back farther and lose the macro mode. Try that and macro mode from say 12 inches and 18 inches . You are so close that slight movement becomes a blur problem and also gives you a shallow focus range.

Trial and error is the best learning tool because every camera model is different.

 

[SteveB]

Steve, when I get "good" images of a gecko I use a standard 60 watt bulb and a crappy fuji digi on a tan BG(nearly 18% grey). They come out sharp and focused fine on auto. I think he is in macro mode and too close or possible zoomed in tight?

Oh BTW, I have been a moderator of a photo site for years.....hahaha, but I hate it and do it pretty lame lately.

Fuji cameras are known for having low noise at high iso settings...

I have a Fuji F700, S20, and S3

 

[Golden Gate Geckos]

Fuji cameras are known for having low noise at high iso settings...

Hmmm. I have a Fuji FinePix S5100 and I HATE it. I can never get the colors to be accurate, no matter what type of lighting or background I use.

 

[SteveB]

all taken with various fuji cameras...

 

[paulnj]

My fuji is a POS too:main_laugh: It's a fuji A340

I use the tan background and ALWAYS adjust the saturation down, the exposure down and sometimes need to set the white point too..... garbage camera that cost me $125 new about 4 years ago.

Canon , Nikon and Sony are my favorites, though many others are just as good these days.

 

[yellermelon]

Is that a dwarf puffer? I LOVE dwarf puffers~

 

[SteveB]

I don't recall specifically... Taken at the Baltimore Aquarium 2 years ago... with the S20

That first gecko picture was taken with my friend's A320 or A340 back before I had any digicams...

 

[Jenna4Herps]

I have a question... I've mostly been in the chameleon world and I have always been more of a "naturalist" when it comes to taking photos. Of course, chameleons shoot great in plants and trees. Unfortunately, I'm re-building my website and currently working on my photo galleries, so I don't have any up right now to show. But, I have noticed that most all take photos of their geckos with the white background instead of a more natural background. Natural meaning like with rocks, plants, driftwood... that sort of thing.

I have been taking photo shoots of my geckos to put up on my site too and I made a more naturalistic photo shoot area to do it in so the geckos can't escape while I take their photos. I guess my question is this... Is there a reason why most all take their photos on just a white board background? I got some very nice photos tonight using my setup I made and just wondered.

By the way... I agree with you Paul on the Macro suggestion. I notice when I use my macro lens it doesn't work well for full body shots as the lens wants to focus on one area. I change my lenses depending on what type of shot I want - eye shots or face shots I use my macro. Full body shots I use a 28-90mm lens and I have less problems with blurry images on full body shots.

Anyway... So why do all use a white background?