New Rebel XT owner first post

[ErikM]

Just purchased this camera today with a SIGMA 17-70mm. This is a picture of my male red mountain racer. I am trying to figure out how to get his entire body in focus however I am having trouble. This was taken at 70mm @ f4.5

All comments and suggestions welcome!!!

http://www.netengine.ca/snakes/coximaledec26.jpg

[gkuenning]

Welcome to the forums, Erik! That's a gorgeous snake.

For something that close you're going to need a fairly narrow f-stop, perhaps f/8 or f/11. You can also focus a bit towards the middle or the back of the snake, since depth of field will give you some sharpness in front of where you focus. One of the problems with autofocus is that it likes to pick the closest thing. You may have to try the focus-recompose trick, or try manual focus. You can also bracket your focus (set it to manual, take a shot, twist the focus ring slightly, and shoot again, for several shots) to make sure one comes out right.

There seems to be a reflection from his cage. If you have an off-camera flash, you might see if you can figure out a way to have the flash above the tank rather than in front of it. Another option, if he's holding still, is to use available light and a tripod.

[D. Craig Flory]

I agree .... you used way too open an aperature. At the very least you should be closing down to F8.

I'll assume that you used either the built in flash or an external flash on a bracket. Try using bounce flash instead so that the sheen of the snakes body doesn't have the details blown out.

If you used auto-focus, next time focus manually and focus on the snakes eyes.

[ErikM]

Thanks for the replies guys. I figured out later last night that if I went to around f/8 I could get a whole lot more in focus.

For now I am using the built-in flash but I will be purchasing an external flash ASAP. I understand bounce flash, but is this effect possible with the built in flash?

This picture was taken using AF. I will try MF tonight after work :) I also purchased a tripod but this picture was not taken with it. I think I will try the available light/tripod setup that way I don't wash away the colours like I have done at the front of the snake with the flash.

Thanks for the help. I will post some more shots after work tonight!

[Mike_Canon5D]

That's a pretty snake, great colors. I agree that an aperture of F8 will do the trick. BTW welcome to the forum, have fun with your new camera and keep posting.