Lightbox shots

Captive care and husbandry.

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justinm
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Lightbox shots

Post by justinm »

I got a new lightbox and did a quick fast shoot. I later realized I have a dirty lens on the macro. At any rate these aren't that great I'm going to learn to use this setup. It's also super hard shooting solo in this situation.

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Kunishar Island Rat Snake by Justin.Michels, on Flickr

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Ball Python by Justin.Michels, on Flickr

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Ball Python by Justin.Michels, on Flickr

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Pinstripe Ball Python by Justin.Michels, on Flickr

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Mexican Variable King (Thayeri) by Justin.Michels, on Flickr


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Eastern Chain King by Justin.Michels, on Flickr

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Mexican Rosy Boa by Justin.Michels, on Flickr

More to come soon.
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jamezevanz
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Re: Lightbox shots

Post by jamezevanz »

The little black spots on the image are from dust on your camera's sensor. Camera shops will clean them for a price or, if you have a DSLR, you can buy sensor cleaning kits. Just be very careful, a scratched sensor is a major bummer.

Do you have any remote capabilities with the flash you are using? Anything you can do to get that light away from the lens axis, bounce it around, and diffuse it will add serious "POP" to white box photos. This can be done on the cheap with mirrors, reflectors, etc... Then you can manage exposure and intensity to work toward solid white.

Nice snakes, sorry for blathering, I teach photography and have gone through my own learning curve shooting critters on solid white and black backgrounds. Suffice it to say, they're easy to do, but very very hard to do well and I still struggle sometimes with the improvised rigs that I use. Hope this helps with your new set-up.
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Chris Smith
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Re: Lightbox shots

Post by Chris Smith »

Nice! If you have Photoshop or GIMP there are several ways to make the white background whiter (after the fact).

Here are some links describing different methods (there are a lot more techniques):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVKLL3hitwI

http://tabletopstudio.com/white_backgrounds.html

http://www.bowerpowerblog.com/2010/10/h ... -backdrop/


-Chris
rtdunham
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Re: Lightbox shots

Post by rtdunham »

Nice pictures (I'd have liked to have seen them with the contrast increased a little--but that's just my personal taste), and nice animals. I especially like that chain king. Any location data?
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justinm
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Re: Lightbox shots

Post by justinm »

I bought the Chain King a few years ago from Shane at SSSuperior Serpents. I think he still breeds this line.
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Dan Krull
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Re: Lightbox shots

Post by Dan Krull »

That is a wicked chain dude. Love it. Thayeri is gorgeous as well.

Nice critters all around. :)

Dan
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justinm
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Re: Lightbox shots

Post by justinm »

I have more animals to shoot when i can find the time... Wrangling solo is pretty tough stuff, in my snake room.
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Cole Grover
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Re: Lightbox shots

Post by Cole Grover »

Nice shots, Justin. I need to get a light box at some point... photographing my animals has the potential to totally ruin my day - I guess I just don't have that much patience! Hence the paucity of photos from me these days.

-Cole
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Kelly Mc
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Re: Lightbox shots

Post by Kelly Mc »

Very beautiful snakes ~*~ Justin what size are your pics? They are the perfect size for presentation. Naive question Im sorry but that is the size of pics I wish mine would post, without so much confusion for me.
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justinm
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Re: Lightbox shots

Post by justinm »

You can make them much larger, I shot them in Raw and then put them into Lightroom. From there they went to Flickr. I think Flickr has a default size. Sign up on there for a free account, if you like it pay the 25 a year. I think it's a great site, but don't know what size that is. I'll look on Flickr and see if it's listed...

Looked on Flickr, they're 800x446.


Thanks for all the compliments guys. The lightbox was less than 40 bucks and I can see myself doing other things with it as well. So if you guys have a collection think about getting a light box for posterity if nothing else. I've spent thousands on animals over the years and have almost nothing to show for many of them but memories.
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Sam Bacchini
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Re: Lightbox shots

Post by Sam Bacchini »

Do you have a picture of the light box setup?
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justinm
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Re: Lightbox shots

Post by justinm »

This is the unit I bought. I don't use that crummy "tripod" that it comes with as I wasn't using the point and shoot. Otherwise that's what this looks like. I set it up on the desk in my snake room. The only concern I would have are that the flood lights it uses get really hot after a while.

http://www.amazon.com/SP200-Photo-Studi ... s=lightbox
dickbartlett
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Re: Lightbox shots

Post by dickbartlett »

Nice selection of legless critters, Justin.
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justinm
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Re: Lightbox shots

Post by justinm »

dickbartlett wrote:Nice selection of legless critters, Justin.

Thank you Dick, I would like to see your Iranian Newts or anything else you have that you wouldn't mind sharing. I plan on shooting the rest of my charges but it's really hard doing it solo, and today I cleaned up all the enclosures. Wednesday was feeding day and everyone left me presents.
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