Posted: Sun May 07, 2006 1:09 am
Hey there – thank you for all the great response! Berlioz has really started to grow comfortable in his surroundings this past week, and my girlfriend and I are really excited to have him.
As for the lighting, we’re using an ESU Reptile Combo light canopy with a ReptiSun 5.0 fluorescent UVB bulb, and an Energy Star household bulb for basking. We’ve maintained a basking temperature of approximately 90 degrees, and a water temperature of 79 degrees.
We decided to take it slow and start with a 10 gallon tank (it only cost 11 dollars new on sale), and we plan on upgrading as soon as he starts to develop.
As per the photos, all you need is some basic knowledge of your equipment and a steady turtle! I sell and take photos of many kinds of stringed instruments (mostly violins) for a living, so I have to be well acquainted with whatever camera I may be using.
I used a simple household snapshot camera I picked up several years ago… I didn’t break out any professional lenses in these photos. It’s a Sony DSC-T1, 5 megapixel. Its ‘old’ technology nowadays and you can pick one up on eBay for around 200 bucks..
In my opinion, the most important part of photography is lighting; in most cases, the camera is not the deal breaker. I never use my camera’s onboard flash as it simply saturates the shot with false intensity and glare. These photos were taken with the flash off, on a steady tripod (some with camera in hand as well). Good macro photography is a little more difficult when you’ve got to go through glass and water to get your shot, but it’s still fairly easy.
Most digital cameras allow you to create your own programmable settings. With the DSC-T1 I had several knobs to tweak a bit. I had to adjust the exposure until I got a balance I found fit, had to set the lens to focus on close distances, had to correct the white balance (considering it’s fluorescent lighting), and get the right ISO setting which affects the shutter speed and aperture to get the right exposure. It sounds a lot more difficult than it really is though… all you need is some patience, and be prepared to take some test shots.
No matter how good your photos are these days, digital enhancement always helps. Once Berlioz was fatigued with his exhaustive modeling shoot, I opened the pictures up in Adobe Photoshop CS2 and altered the levels, contrast, color, brightness, and warmth to each photo. Of course, all those settings depend on what kind of photo you’re working with, and you play around until you’re happy with what you’ve got.
Hope that helps! Be sure to let me know if you need any help. Thanks again for all the encouragement.
