Taking pictures of reptiles

Hi

I love taking pictures of my reptiles, mostly my cresties. And I got a camera a few months back but…

I want a good background that doesn’t take up much room, I often get kid toys in the background (my house is over run with toys ATM) which can ruin a picture so I tend to stick to pics in their enclosure.

I was wondering if anyone could suggest a background suitable for both cresties and ball pythons?

I get a lot of natural light, but that’s only really useful for sunny days. I’ve hopefully added some pics below :grin:




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These are quality!!

You might find some useful tips using the #photography tag :wink::blush:

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I prefer to use a photo box when taking photos (see last image below). There are a few backgrounds that come with it; I typically use the black or white one and adjust the exposure on my camera so that it appears solid black/white in contrast to the animal I am photographing. Photographing outside during warmer weather on a partly cloudy day is also good.

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I often take pictures in the conservatory for this reason, I love natural lighting. However I can’t do many outdoor pictures as I live in England and it’s usually far too cold for the Reptiles.

I haven’t seen a light box like that, only small white ones that won’t fit a snake inside! But that’s definitely something I would like, I might try a DIY version maybe?

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I live in Michigan (very cold northern U.S. state), so I definitely understand the dreary weather. It’s only suitable weather for herps here about 3-4 months out of the year, in which 2 of those months include neverending rainstorms. The photo box in the photo is made by a company called ESDDI if you want to check it out. Comes with nice LEDs at the top. I used to use large fancy softboxes for photos, but honestly that photo box is way better in my opinion. Now I only use the softboxes when I tattoo.

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It looks like Amazon has light boxes. I’m thinking of getting one. Creaturesofnightshade takes such beautiful pictures

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What size is the light box you are using want to look in to one right now

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Currently using one that is 24" x 24". :slightly_smiling_face:

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Thanks. Wife loves photography this could be great for her

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If you live near a lowes/menards, or have access to some plywood or good barnwood, there’s actually some really nice tutorials for making backdrops on youtube. I usually search for stuff for food photography or flat lays, but you could just search ‘diy photo backdrop’ and get some ideas. Just depends on what kind of look you’re after. ^^

I currently only have one diy board atm (2’ x 2’ plywood), but it’s double sided; so one side has a white wash over the base wood color (I picked the best looking square that lowes had because of this), and the other has a spackle texture w/ white paint.

If you don’t want to go the diy route, they also make some nice vinyl ones that you can roll up and store when not in use. They can get a little expensive depending on where you look and the size you get, but they come in a lot of natural wood grains, stones, colors, etc. I got mine from amazon and etsy.

PS: Here’s some of the backdrops I’ve used in the past (old sweater, my 2’x2’ diy plywood board - spackle side-, cutting board that I got from Home Goods):

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