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So let`s get this thing started

PostPosted: Fri May 22, 2009 8:45 am
by Vlad Cioflec
This subforum is especially very useful to new fieldherpers, so i`ll try to share some tips and tricks here, hoping everybody will later add theirs.

So, what makes a good fieldherping photograph?! Well, IMHO there are just 2 kind of shots that really matter and make the reader feel as if being right there in the field (that`s what trip reports are all about, recreating the awesome experience):
- the in situ pic of the herp as found when flipping rocks, boards, tin
- the posed shot of the reptile or amphibian that shows a lot of habitat

That`s it for now.
Cheers! ;)

Re: So let`s get this thing started

PostPosted: Fri Jul 03, 2009 1:17 pm
by Ilian Velikov
Definitely, in-situ photos are the most precious of all! Here are three from me!

zBEJ--(4).jpg
Natrix tessellata hiding in the ruines of a building 1


zBEJ--(3).jpg
Natrix tessellata hiding in the ruines of a building 2


zBEJ-(2).jpg
Lacerta viridis - pair,prior to mating

Re: So let`s get this thing started

PostPosted: Fri Jul 03, 2009 2:19 pm
by Mario Schweiger
Ilian,

the Lacerta are great.

I know, you need time to get those pictures.
I´m trying to do it allways, but yours is better than mine (Lacerta sp.)

But - so I´m out in the fields this year very often around my house, I hope, I can top yours! :lol:

Re: So let`s get this thing started

PostPosted: Fri Jul 03, 2009 3:46 pm
by Ilian Velikov
:lol: I'm glad you like it! In this paricular case it was more luck than time, because my girlfriend saw the lizards in a bush while we were taking a walk and showed them to me, so I could get this photo! Wish you luck...I'll be happy to see even better in-situ photos of these! :mrgreen:

Re: So let`s get this thing started

PostPosted: Mon Jul 06, 2009 6:44 pm
by Peter Oefinger
Hi there,
for me, the best pictures are taken with voluntary models: catching a lizard, putting it on a stone and then taking a shot rarely leads to optimal results. For me, pictures are most impressive if they show the animals in their activities (mating, feeding...) or at least in a relaxed position.

Admittedly, this can be frustrating sometimes:

Lac trilineata.jpg


Lac trilineata 2.jpg

Whatching these lizards was a great experience but the photos are... :D - So congratulation for your L. viridis shot, Ilian!

But sometimes, I am lucky too: Psammodromus hispanicus usually is a rather hysterical small lizard but this specimen didn't feel disturbed while hunting:
Psamm hispanicus.jpg

Psamm hispanicus2.jpg

Another example - also with a voluntary model: this nosy juvenile Psammodromus algirus tolerated a portrait from 15cm distance (The head has a size of about 5mm).
Psamm algirus.jpg

Re: So let`s get this thing started

PostPosted: Tue Jul 07, 2009 8:18 am
by Ilian Velikov
For me, pictures are most impressive if they show the animals in their activities (mating, feeding...) or at least in a relaxed position.


I absolutly agree!!! :D

Peter, your photos of the mating L.trillineata are great! I know how hard it is to focus on the animals when there's a lot of vegetation (or something else) in front of them..yet, you've done a great job! Thanks for posting these photos!

P.S. For the last shot...yes,sometimes lizards can let you get very close if you're patient! :D

Best regards
Ilian

Re: So let`s get this thing started

PostPosted: Sun Sep 20, 2009 11:11 pm
by Boris Lauš
Just to add my thoughts on this - I rarely get a chance to take in situ photos. Unless it's a DOR animal ;)

In most cases herps immediately run away from me, or they wait until I spot them, get a bit closer, wait a little not to scare them away, get out my camera, focus on them, and then run away just before I take the picture :roll: Patience is sooo overrated!

But lizards seem to be more cooperative then other herps. Here is one couple caught "in flagranti" :lol: :

Podarcis melisellensis.jpg


I watched them over 20 minutes, and they didn't seem to be afraid of me standing there at all!

Regards,
Boris