photographing t's

[musihuto]

i was wondering how people take pictures of their t's...
specifically, old world arborials...
i have in the past taken juveniles (say a 3" rufilata for instance) out of its terrarium,
on a piece of corkbark, moved it to a sunlit location and then taken pictures...
is this highly unadvisable with larger specimens?
is there some alternate technique?

thanks!
- munis

 

[massmorels]

my female pokies tend to be very cooperative when doing a photo shoot. Either they go for a slow stroll, or they just sit right on the piece of corkbark they were on when I pull them out of the tank.
Males on the other hand.. dont sit still hardly long enough to snap a single pic.

 

[TheDarkFinder]

get two long sticks, use them to herd the pokie, the quicker you move the quicker they will move. Just take your time, most of the time they just will stop and wait for you to do something.

 

[ironmonkey78]

no expert

im no expert at T photography. im really just starting to get comfortable with it. but I have been doing many other types of photography for a long time and the biggest key that most any photographer will tell you is take tons of pics and have lots of patience. especially now with digital cameras so common its alot easier to decide youve got one you dont like and delete it than cry over the pic you missed.

 

[cacoseraph]

im no expert at T photography. im really just starting to get comfortable with it. but I have been doing many other types of photography for a long time and the biggest key that most any photographer will tell you is take tons of pics and have lots of patience. especially now with digital cameras so common its alot easier to decide youve got one you dont like and delete it than cry over the pic you missed.

spray and pray. check.

 

[ironmonkey78]

lol

LOL..
sometimes thats exactly what it boils down to.

 

[luna]

im no expert at T photography. im really just starting to get comfortable with it. but I have been doing many other types of photography for a long time and the biggest key that most any photographer will tell you is take tons of pics and have lots of patience. especially now with digital cameras so common its alot easier to decide youve got one you dont like and delete it than cry over the pic you missed.

I was going to say this myself... I love taking pictures of everything but people because of this. You can take dozens of pictures of the plant and it doesn't complain. I take as many of animals as I can until they finally get annoyed and disappear. With digital photos and a big memory card you can take hundreds of pictures in a day and only keep a few really good ones. One or two shots of a person and they get restless. But with just two opportunities, chances are, it isn't worth showing (bad angle, light, blur, etc). Some of my favorite students are finally getting used to this and will let me snap away when I am in a picture taking mood.

With the spiders... they live with you so take pictures whenever you can and eventually you will get the shots you like.

Plus find a camera with a supermacro setting. I never got the results I wanted until I had a camera that was meant to focus super close. My canon S2 lets me put the lens on the object I want to take a picture of and it still comes out in focus. The S3 is supposed to be even better. I used to try that with other cameras and didn't understand why all I got were blurs... they just were not designed for that close of a shot. Its a relatively cheap camera... you can get it for under $400 yet I have seen some people get really good pictures out of these two models with no additional lenses.

 

[TheDarkFinder]

Plus find a camera with a supermacro setting. I never got the results I wanted until I had a camera that was meant to focus super close. My canon S2 lets me put the lens on the object I want to take a picture of and it still comes out in focus. The S3 is supposed to be even better. I used to try that with other cameras and didn't understand why all I got were blurs... they just were not designed for that close of a shot. Its a relatively cheap camera... you can get it for under $400 yet I have seen some people get really good pictures out of these two models with no additional lenses.

I would say no, for non-aggressive tarantulas maybe or maybe little slings, but not some of the fang throwers that I have. You really need to stay away from them. At least a foot. Getting any closer is really not recommend.


Here is a little help.

1.) Get as much light as you can. If you can not get alot of light then get a strong flash.

2.) Set you camera to macro mode. Then half press the button and see if the focus gets it, should be a little light, it will hold steady if you are in focus. If the picture is blurry do this. Zoom all the way back then try the picture, then zoom in until it get blurry. If all zoomed out does not work then move back.

3.)Change it to manual mode, if you have it. For most part in great sun light you should be able to get it to a shutter speed of 250-800 and f stop of 8-10

If you do not have a strong light source then you need to go to plan B. A flash and strong lights. The strong lights should not focus on the subject but in the room.

Get enough light to fill the room. Then add the flash. In manual mode you will be limited on the flash, which should between 100-200, look in the manual for flash sync. Then set the exposure level to high, +1 or +2. Change the f stop to 8-10.

Set iso to auto, and do not worry about it.

Read your manual to see if your camera has these features. I would love to have a thread that would help people with there pictures.

 

[ballpython2]

i was wondering how people take pictures of their t's...
specifically, old world arborials...
i have in the past taken juveniles (say a 3" rufilata for instance) out of its terrarium,
on a piece of corkbark, moved it to a sunlit location and then taken pictures...
is this highly unadvisable with larger specimens?
is there some alternate technique?

thanks!
- munis

Well a few minutes ago I took pictures of my newly molted Lasiodora difficilis. he/she was a real gentleman. I took at least 8 pictures maybe more with the top off of the enclosure and he didn't move an inch it was lovely. here are some of the only good ones that came out. These are very photographic Ts. The top picture is the same T in pre molt

 

[TheDarkFinder]

Well a few minutes ago I took pictures of my newly molted Lasiodora difficilis. he/she was a real gentleman.

It is ok with slings but with a adult you may have problems.