Black Snake

Only got one shot. The little guy was camera shy

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Those rocks look darn sharp!

The focus is way off, but that does not mean you have to quit! try again and watch where your focus point is and aim for the snake.

Nice Black Racer. You almost have to catch them. Let them bite the crap out of you until they calm down. Then they are easier to photograph.

I think I,ll pass on that method

HoosierHorridus wrote in post #9277187
Nice Black Racer. You almost have to catch them. Let them bite the crap out of you until they calm down. Then they are easier to photograph.

LOL, think most will pass on this method!

Racers can be quite moody, but if you're gentle you can usually pose them quite well. Some examples from northeastern Ohio (where they may be bluish)...

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not to hijack the thread:

Black Racers are fun to photograph!

If I can ever catch the big racer in my backyard when I have a camera haha. I have had a 5-6 fter stalking the mice in my woods for a few years,, itll raise up out of the tall grass when the mower drives by once in a while but as soon as I make a move toward it it bolts.. oh well. racers are such cool snakes. really want to find a rough green snake this year..
mike

lol mate, you wouldn't last very long in Aus if your going to get tagged that many times. Good to see some American reptiles on here, way to many fluffy things for my liking (don't get me wrong i like fluffy things but wildlife consists of more than just mammals). I noticed in the youtube clip that your just using the pop up for fill. If you use some sought of diffuser on a shoe mount or off camera strobe you don't get as many hot spots on the scales. your already going all out and posing them etc so an extra bit of effort in regards to lighting and you'll lift your shots another notch.

Jeremy87 wrote in post #9280677
lol mate, you wouldn't last very long in Aus if your going to get tagged that many times. Good to see some American reptiles on here, way to many fluffy things for my liking (don't get me wrong i like fluffy things but wildlife consists of more than just mammals). I noticed in the youtube clip that your just using the pop up for fill. If you use some sought of diffuser on a shoe mount or off camera strobe you don't get as many hot spots on the scales. your already going all out and posing them etc so an extra bit of effort in regards to lighting and you'll lift your shots another notch.

Actually I was the one video taping the snake encounter. I later took the photo above with out the use of a flash. The area we were in was partially covered with trees, and the snake was placed in direct sunlight. The guy in the video is my snake guide, he knows where to find them down in southern Indiana. I noticed that he was using his pop-up flash a lot, which resulted in a washed out photo which can be seen by clicking the link below.

http://www.flickr.com/​photos/jakeseals/37976​15103/

HoosierHorridus wrote in post #9280784
Actually I was the one video taping the snake encounter. I later took the photo above with out the use of a flash. The area we were in was partially covered with trees, and the snake was placed in direct sunlight. The guy in the video is my snake guide, he knows where to find them down in southern Indiana. I noticed that he was using his pop-up flash a lot, which resulted in a washed out photo which can be seen by clicking the link below.

http://www.flickr.com/​photos/jakeseals/37976​15103/

Yeh the light is too uneven. When filling with flash its better to do the opposite and put the subject in the shade where the light is more even. You also need a better understanding of manual settings, if you use a correct exposure and then fill with flash you will inevitably end up overexposed. you need to be about 1-2stops under. the lighting in your shot is better but both could be improved with some diffused flash. I shoot alot of frogs and skinks but do the odd snake as well. In Aus there is too much to risk handling alot of elapids so until i get a bit more handling tuition I don't touch anything other the pythons and the odd collubrid.

Heres a couple of shots I took a few days ago using different lighting techniques. The first is a Carpet python lit with an on camera bounce and an off camera umbrella. The bearded dragon is lit with an on camera bounce so i could underexpose the background.

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Very nice work Jeremy87! I took a 35mm B&W SLR photography class in high school. I have a basic understanding of photography, using shutter speeds, ISO, F-Stop adjustments. I admit I need to practice with my speedlite more.

HoosierHorridus wrote in post #9283521
Very nice work Jeremy87! I took a 35mm B&W SLR photography class in high school. I have a basic understanding of photography, using shutter speeds, ISO, F-Stop adjustments. I admit I need to practice with my speedlite more.

The strobist blog is your friend then;
http://strobist.blogsp​ot.com/2006/03/lightin​g-101.html
If you already understand the basics of how an slr works then its just a continuation of that. An hour reading through that tought me more than in 6 months of owning a speedlight. Its all about off camera work but the principles are still the same for actually applying fill flash properly. your taking good pictures already anyway, the biggest difference is when you don't have enough light and have to make up f-stops with strobes. Btw if you want a really good tounge freeze then using the flash to freeze it will give you the equivelant of at least a 1/2000th of a second shutter speed (faster if you reduce the lfashes power output) If the weather holds i'm going for a herp tonight, I'll throw some pics up if we get anything.