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In the reptile house (7 pics)

matwhittington
Posted 03/02/2011 - 20:43 Link
Evening all. Whilst at the zoo last week, the reptile house was a bit of a refuge as it was a welcome respite from the cold. However, it is a tricky place to photograph it's contents: really dark inside (with each tank having it's own light source - generally producing some pretty unique colour casts), the subjects are often well hidden, and the glass has condensation on the inside and greasy smears on the outside! but having said all that, I had a good go with the DA* 200 on my K7, and here are some results. As ever, C&C welcomed and I hope you like them:

First up, a colourful lizard which I think is a skink (although I could be wrong):
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Mini-dino:
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Dozing on a ledge:
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Tongueshoot:
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Pole-sitter:
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Viper(?):
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and then, just outside the reptile house, a put-upon-looking Galapagos Tortoise:
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Regards
Mat W

My Flickr: link
snappychappy
Posted 03/02/2011 - 20:57 Link
A cracking set of images, lovely detail and colours, love thesnak e shot. The skink and pole sitter have great colour and sharpness.
Mike-P
Posted 03/02/2011 - 21:03 Link
Strange thing personal taste .. the only one I am not keen on is the snake shot.

Think number 2 works very well though, great processing and the mono conversion really suits it.
Mike_L_76
Posted 03/02/2011 - 21:15 Link
The mini dino (iguana?) and the Galapagos Tortoise are my favourites.

I'm no expert but I'd back your colourful lizard in no. 1 to be some sort of bearded dragon.
thoughton
Posted 03/02/2011 - 21:47 Link
Good set! Great clarity and colour. I particularly like the first two.
Tim
AF - Pentax K5, Sigma 10-20/4-5.6, Tamron 17-50/2.8, Sigma 30/1.4, Sigma 70-200/2.8, Tamron 70-300/4-5.6
MF - Vivitar CF 28/2.8, Tamron AD2 90/2.5, MTO 1000/11
Stuff - Metz 58 AF1, Cactus v4, Nikon SB24, Raynox 150, Sigma 1.4x TC, Sigma 2x TC, Kenko 2x macro TC, Redsnapper 283 tripod, iMac 27”, Macbook Pro 17”, iPad, iPhone 3G
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Feel free to edit any of my posted photos! If I post a photo for critique, I want brutal honesty. If you don't like it, please say so and tell me why!
SteveEveritt
Posted 03/02/2011 - 22:05 Link
Awesome ... what a lens
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"Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans" (John Lennon)
puma
Posted 03/02/2011 - 22:56 Link
Got to be Mini-dino GREAT SET REALLY IS well done
PPG link
jackitec
Posted 03/02/2011 - 23:16 Link
Excellent set,

Jack.
K10D
Posted 04/02/2011 - 03:43 Link
Great set. Agree with Mike on the snake, now had that curl just been in the other direction? Either way, out of your control so it makes no odds.

Best regards
Inspiration is rarer than a plate glass camera.....
aliengrove
Posted 04/02/2011 - 04:48 Link
Great set!I Tongueshoot is my favorite I love the limited dof. I think the second last one is a puff adder, which is a type of viper. What technique or filters etc. do you use to shoot through glass? It's something I have been experimenting with at work a lot recently.
Edited by aliengrove: 04/02/2011 - 04:50
SmutjeUK
Posted 04/02/2011 - 12:36 Link
What a set. Love the details and colours in it.
Kind regards
SmutjeUK

It's nice to be nice!

Pentax K-5 with D-GB4 Grip, to many lenses to mention by now (serious LBA by now), TC's, Lowepro Slingshot 300 AW, Manfrotto 028 & Redsnapper RS-283 with various Heads plus various Camera Clamps (I collect them). Pentax AF 360FGZ, Pentax AF 240FT, several Metz 45 CT-1 & 5 with stands and 'Blow Up' Soft Boxes, Flash Triggers, and various Macro gear.
Pentaxophile
Posted 04/02/2011 - 12:52 Link
1 and 3 for me - smashing set throughout though!

I thought low light shooting was impossible on a lowly K-7?
[link=https://500px.com/will_brealey/[/link]
Edited by Pentaxophile: 04/02/2011 - 12:52
matwhittington
Posted 04/02/2011 - 20:06 Link
Thanks all! In terms of technique and filters, it's all pretty basic I'm afraid... No filters at all on the lens. I think on this occasion I was helped considerably by the fact that the reptile house itself was really dark so all the lighting was inside the tanks. I think this (coupled with wiping the worst of the grease off the glass where possible) helped to minimise reflections from the outside of the glass. I just looked through the viewfinder to make sure there weren't any obvious weird light effects and then checked on the rear LCD screen after shooting. Beyond that, I think a fast lens and a steady hand is about it. I don't like to use the K7 above ISO800 so all of these (from memory) would have been shot at ~f2.8 or f3.2, something like that. The rest is PP to try and fix the colour casts from the lights and (generally) boost the contrast and levels a bit.

Regards
Mat W

My Flickr: link
Smeggypants
Posted 04/02/2011 - 22:28 Link
"Dozing on a ledge" is my fav - the DOF does it!!

Galapagos Tortoise is also a great one!!!
[i]Bodies: 1x K-5IIs, 2x K-5, Sony TX-5, Nokia 808
Lenses: Pentax DA 10-17mm ED(IF) Fish Eye, Pentax DA 14mm f/2.8, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8, Pentax-A 28mm f/2.8, Sigma 30mm F1.4 EX DC, Pentax-A 50mm f/1.2, Pentax-A 50mm f/1.4, Pentax-FA 50mm f/1.4, Pentax-A 50mm f/1.7, Pentax DA* 50-135mm f/2.8, Sigma 135-400mm APO DG, and more ..
Flash: AF-540FGZ, Vivitar 283
JudithAnn
Posted 05/02/2011 - 04:14 Link
I loved number 1 and 3.

The clarity of numer one, with its colours drew me in. It was pleasent to look at.

I thought that numer 3 was like a photo from the National Geographic Magazine. It was the creative way you pinned the focus on the creature...and had the forground and backgound blurred.

Nice work...greasy glass and all!

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