# first dslr shots



## richoman_3 (Dec 27, 2011)

went out today to get my first herp shots with my new camera 
just got a canon 60D with the standard 18-55mm lense.

yeah so here some banjo frogs pics, the first 20 photos i took of them were pitch black LOL

let me know whats your best 





























Kangarararoo







Jacky dragon - they blend in so well !


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## snakes123 (Dec 27, 2011)

great sharp shots, and dof is good too. I like the first and second ones the most.


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## 69blottfilms69 (Dec 27, 2011)

Pretty cool pics have you gone through the setting and had fun!?


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## Sutto82 (Dec 27, 2011)

Great shots Richo


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## richoman_3 (Dec 28, 2011)

thanks guys


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## GeckoJosh (Dec 28, 2011)

They are a bit out of focus, I would get a new camera

:lol:


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## richoman_3 (Dec 28, 2011)

Lol thanks josh


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## joeplant57 (Dec 28, 2011)

Well I will be the critique, the dof is slightly out could have done with an extra stop unless you meant to get half the frog out of focus lol..not bad though mate. Cheers Joe

The dragon is my fav sharp alway through the shot. Joe


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## snakeluvver (Dec 28, 2011)

The first and fourth ones are quite in focus.


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## VickiR (Dec 28, 2011)

Great Shots, We just broght the Canon 600D... Such a great Camera.. Am Im stocked with the Quality of Photos.


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## richoman_3 (Dec 28, 2011)

joeplant57 said:


> Well I will be the critique, the dof is slightly out could have done with an extra stop unless you meant to get half the frog out of focus lol..not bad though mate. Cheers Joe
> 
> The dragon is my fav sharp alway through the shot. Joe



what do you mean by an extra stop?, yeah i sorta wanted the eyes and head to be more in focus than the body, but the body more in focus than the background if you know what i mean lol.
yeah i like the jacky pic.


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## Smithers (Dec 28, 2011)

Noice very noice well done betcha happy with those results. Wanna swap with mine? it's an awesome camera that teaches you how to take images with only natural or ambient light an amazing piece of kit.


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## Trouble (Dec 28, 2011)

Great shots mate  Love the first shot, the frog definitely stands out on that background! Nice sharp shot, too  
Can't wait to see some of your future shots!


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## Just_Plain_Nuts (Dec 29, 2011)

I wanna do a herping evening for some photos and videos some time....who is up for it?


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## maddog-1979 (Dec 29, 2011)

1 of mine from another thread i started, canon eos 550d, same lens as the OP, standard issue 18-55mm. cant wait to learn how to use this thing properly....and get some more lenses for it
View attachment 231506


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## Elapidae1 (Dec 29, 2011)

The f-stop is your aperture opening if you go into the properties of one of your pics you should be able to find it.

A low f-stop number and being too close to the subject will give you a shallow depth of field. A higher number will give you better depth of field.
However the size of the aperture opening also helps determine the amount of light reaching the image sensor through your lens.
A small f-stop number eg: 5.6 is a wide aperture opening while a higher number results in a smaller aperture (less light)
This can be hard to get your head around. big number= small aperture, less light but greater depth of field. Small number= large aperture, more light but shallow depth of field.

Particularly with your kit lens it's tempting to get too close to the subject which also effects depth of field, try a bit more distance and crop the shot in later.

Good start anyway the pics are nice. There is heaps of tutorials online for free and just use it as much as possible and you will pick up more and more. Half the fun of DSLR photography is learning.


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## richoman_3 (Dec 29, 2011)

thanks all 

cheers elapidae!, ive heard about it before but tbh i dont really understand it :S


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## joeplant57 (Dec 29, 2011)

richoman_3 said:


> what do you mean by an extra stop?, yeah i sorta wanted the eyes and head to be more in focus than the body, but the body more in focus than the background if you know what i mean lol.
> yeah i like the jacky pic.


If you had the Aperture say on f5.6 try putting it on f8, more of the shot will be sharp..Just play about with the setting because your on the right lines anyway..Good luck and enjoy your new Camera..One more tip keep your camera on aperture priority for much of your shots, after all snakes don't move fast so speed is no problem. Regards Joe


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## Kurto (Dec 29, 2011)

Great pics mate! What sort of rig are you using?


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## SamNabz (Dec 29, 2011)

Nice shots Nick, and they'll only get better the more you use it. Practice is key. I just got a 60D a few days ago with the 18-135 + 90mm Tamron and am loving it.

It's important that you learn all you can about the aperture, ISO and shutter speed relationship.

When you get some time YouTube 'snapfactory' - he explains that and a lot more in his Photography 1 on 1 clips.

Also search the web and read up on it as well as other tips, tricks etc.

Look forward to seeing more pics mate.

Here's a couple of snaps from Featherdale:


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## richoman_3 (Dec 29, 2011)

nice sam !
im looking at getting the 90mm tamron aswell.

do you mean lense kurto  ?, is so just the standard 18-55mm


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## SperO (Dec 29, 2011)

great photos.

i wish I was artistic enough to care to work out how to use an SLR


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## joeplant57 (Dec 29, 2011)

Get yourself a macro lens something around F2.8, maybe A fixed lens, will get more sharper shots and in low light. Cheers joe


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## richoman_3 (Dec 29, 2011)

yeah i was looking at getting a canon EF 100mm f2.8 USM or a tamron 90mm


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## joeplant57 (Dec 30, 2011)

Does Canon make a 50mm f2 Prime lens if they do I would look at something like that. I have a 50mm f2 prime lens and it's perfect for close up work plus with the low f2 aperture it's great in low light and for macro work which is useful for working with Pythons, lizards ans whatever. Like I said before set camera to Aperture Priority and be creative with your DOF because speed is not an issue, Happy shooting and get some more pics posted, looking forward to seeing them. Cheers Joe


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## PMyers (Dec 30, 2011)

First and fourth frog pics are absolutely fantastic. Great job.


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## richoman_3 (Dec 30, 2011)

thanks joe, i actually had half of these pics set on landscape (the jacky and 1 frog one)

cheers pmyers, for some reason i cant really get around to liking the 4th pic


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## jordanmulder (Dec 31, 2011)

you have got some good stuff here nick! Great for your first time and you managed to get yourself a realy good camera body!!! ok I agree with whats been said about the DOF I probably would have made your apeture around f7-10 range to keep the whole frog in focus but having the backround blurred! ok make sure when you are shooting you don't use the auto setting because your photogrphy will not grow and you won't get far in that aspect. Always use the manual setting where you can control the shutter speed, apeture, and iso (If you don't know what they are I suggest you learn about them) If you have any questions you Pm if you need too.


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## joeplant57 (Dec 31, 2011)

jordanmulder said:


> you have got some good stuff here nick! Great for your first time and you managed to get yourself a realy good camera body!!! ok I agree with whats been said about the DOF I probably would have made your apeture around f7-10 range to keep the whole frog in focus but having the backround blurred! ok make sure when you are shooting you don't use the auto setting because your photogrphy will not grow and you won't get far in that aspect. Always use the manual setting where you can control the shutter speed, apeture, and iso (If you don't know what they are I suggest you learn about them) If you have any questions you Pm if you need too.


Sorry Jordan but this is wrong advice to a Newbie dslr camera, why go manual when it would confuse the poor guy somewhat chronic. My suggestion stands, Aperture Priority and don't worry about the speed. His ISO never wants to be above 200 (400 if he really does need it for that extra bit of light ) but I doubt this when taking Reptile shots. With the lower ISO his shots will be more crisp and no noise. As for Aperture I would say f5.6 to f11 ( start f8 look at the shot see if reptile is sharp and alter Aperture if needed) focus on the eyes of the subject always. If you just want the head in focus and sharp with the rest of body a little softer (blurry) go for a Aperture lower than F5.6.. Play around a little before you go full manual because it can be hairy to someone with a new dslr. Forgot the most inportand thing lol..a decent Tripod this is a must for crisp clear shots. Always use it. Cheers Joe


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## jordanmulder (Jan 1, 2012)

joeplant57 said:


> Sorry Jordan but this is wrong advice to a Newbie dslr camera, why go manual when it would confuse the poor guy somewhat chronic. My suggestion stands, Aperture Priority and don't worry about the speed. His ISO never wants to be above 200 (400 if he really does need it for that extra bit of light ) but I doubt this when taking Reptile shots. With the lower ISO his shots will be more crisp and no noise. As for Aperture I would say f5.6 to f11 ( start f8 look at the shot see if reptile is sharp and alter Aperture if needed) focus on the eyes of the subject always. If you just want the head in focus and sharp with the rest of body a little softer (blurry) go for a Aperture lower than F5.6.. Play around a little before you go full manual because it can be hairy to someone with a new dslr. Forgot the most inportand thing lol..a decent Tripod this is a must for crisp clear shots. Always use it. Cheers Joe



It's all in opinion I learnt all I know (I'm no way a pro but still) by using the manual setting to be honest it's not that complicated and once you grasp the aspect of the three main elements I mentioned previously you do wonders! I respect your opinion however, And I agree with everything else that you have said!


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## GeckPhotographer (Jan 1, 2012)

> decent Tripod this is a must for crisp clear shots.


If you find a wild reptile willing to sit still long enough for me to take out my tripod, set it up, attach the camera, focus and take the shot, then by all means direct me to said reptile. 

These shots are good. I agree with a mix of what has been said and different people raise different good points. My take one the whole aperture pref/Manual is that aperture preference is a good setting especially for learning. This mode still gives great control over you shooting but you don't quite have to do everything. I've only more recently been moving to full manual, and only for landscapes or when I'm not using a flash. Don't get me wrong, you should understand F-stop, ISO and Shutter Speed, it's just not necessary to be utilizing full control of them at all times. 

Joe your advice about starting at say F8 and moving up to about max F11 is sort of good, however it very much depends on the kind of shots you want. I photograph shots with the intention that from them you can gain a good understanding of the appearance of a reptile from an ID perspective. (That is I'd like to use my pictures in an ID book/site in the future). To be doing this you need your aperture at least up at F13 or F16 or the animal will go to soft around the edges. Extremities like the tail are always going to go soft no matter what, but the more of the animal in focus the better. 
I'm not suggesting this is Nicks intention but it is fairly clear he wants to get nice clear shots with the majority of the animal in focus especially when he is shooting centipedes and starting at F8 seems a little low for this to me. I only drop to F8 for things like head shots where I want to have a very sharp centre of focus that rapidly drops out. 

Now I admit my advice here has one very major problem, I photograph with a flash, in fact generally I shade any animal I am photographing so that the lighting is more even from the flash. I have found that as a tool to get good pictures of frogs or reptiles a flash is an absolute must have, certainly before any tripod and before any other accessories like extension tubes.

You earlier recommended a 50mm prime macro lens. While I can say I've used these with great success and they are good lenses, I much much prefer a fixed length 90mm or 100mm macro lens and would even love to add larger, perhaps 180mm to my collection. The reason for this are these lenses are still dedicated macro lenses, they are great for close up work, they are great in low light, the 100mm Canon F2.8 USM (and its IS counterpart) is probably one of the best lower level lenses out there. So they have no real disadvantage compared to a 50mm F/2. However they do have one big advantage, that advantage being the distance from which you can use them, if you want to photograph a snake, especially a venomous one, getting close is not always preferred, however getting a close shot from a 100mm lens removes you further from the animal. I find this not just with snakes and such but with lizards especially skinks and dragons and even with frogs the working distance of this lens makes them just that bit less likely to spook and allows you to get nice close shots often without disturbing the animal.

This is just my take. I'm not a professional photographer, I am an experienced amateur in photographing reptiles and Amphibians. 

This photo is to show how quickly focus drops out for me at F8



Ctenophorus caudicinctus by Stephen Mahony, on Flickr


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## richoman_3 (Jan 5, 2012)

wow stephen thats a long post lol ... thanks!

thanks jordan!, but im not to good with manual !, ive tried a few times but they just come out blurry


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## lithopian (Jan 6, 2012)

I completely agree with Stephen! Using an f/stop of 8 and abovew with a flash should give you the desired shutter speed to make sure the image isnt blurry of Aperture Priority (AV) mode..  I use this myself, although i actually like the shallow depth of field in reptile shots, and usually shoot between 2.8 and 5.6- so its a personal preference thing. If you look at more Stephen's work, you'll find absolute crackers- worth a look!

I loved your photographs and was very impressed with how sharp you got the eyes- definitely #1 for me too- i liked the contrasting colours. 

Little photography tip when speaking to other photographers... it doesnt matter WHAT aperture you use- everyone will always have something to say, because photographers are artists and you'll never find two that like all the same styles of photography as the other- and we're an outspoken lot too- everyone's got to put in their 2c . This is my tip: as long as the eyes are in focus, you're laughing. Experiment with what depth of field YOU like and go from there- discover what shots you like of others' and experiment taking the same photo at different f stops- f/5.6 f/8 f/11 f/16 f/22 and get a good feel for how it affects the photo and which you like the best  

Also.. i'm a proud owner of the Macro 100mm canon 2.8 IS USM and it's a beautiful little lens


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