This article is a bit special, as photographing reptiles and amphibians presents a few particularities. It complements and follows on from the article on how to photograph reptiles and amphibians. Photographing animals.
In the previous article, my 1st point was to know the animals well. This is both to be in the right place at the right time of day and also just to find them, which isn't always easy. This applies even more so to reptiles, between their camouflage, immobility and hiding places, they don't make our task any easier. 😜 !
Also, as the subjects are quite special, you might think that they require special equipment. This is more or less the case, so I'll tell you below what equipment I use, and how I work.
1. The equipment
As far as my equipment is concerned, in terms of lenses I use either a macro lens, or a classic trans-standard lens, and sometimes a telephoto lens. Depending on the conditions, a flash with a diffuser or LED lighting (which gives me continuous lighting that varies in intensity and hue)
My macro lens is the Tamron 90mm f/2.8 for Canon, ( cheap and excellent sharpness) and its focal length is long enough to photograph reptiles from quite a distance. It's safer, especially if your subject is dangerous, and less stressful for the animal. Standing back gives you a good chance of capturing an interesting behaviour or attitude in a natural environment. It's mainly in this configuration that I use additional LED lighting.
A longer focal length can be even more useful and is a good choice for nervous, venomous or larger subjects.. That's when I use a standard 24-105mm F/4 Sigma telephoto lens, which I also use a lot when travelling. (If you do a lot of macro photography, a long macro focal length will be even better (better aperture and overall sharpness). In this configuration, I use my flash with a Rogue diffuser.
Over 105mm, I switch to my Sigma 70-200mm F/2.8 telephoto zoom lensIt has excellent sharpness and allows me to stay at a distance while being as close as possible 😅 , depending on the ambient lighting, with the flash without the diffuser. In the end, it's the one I use most to take portraits of these animals.
Personally, I find that by balancing the light in a general way (with the background or the environment), I gain in detail and colour when I photograph reptiles and amphibians. These animals are full of interesting textures and colours that would be a shame not to show off. In my opinion, that's what sets them apart and makes them stand out.
So much for the little material specifics for its particular subjects.
2. Photographing reptiles and amphibians
I think we can simply reiterate some of the same rules as for animals in general:
Always focus on the head and more specifically on the eyes, by being as close to them as possible. This last point is already less easy. Most of the time, they are hidden low to the ground behind leaves, on a branch, a rock or stuck on other natural obstacles. So you can't do everything you want, in terms of camera angle or background management.
About framingIn my practice, I notice that either I take fairly tight shots/portraits, or I give them space to be shown with and in their natural habitat. I know that some photographers like to take fairly wide, wide-angle shots for this reason.
I find that small reptiles and amphibians each need a specific angle of capture to pay tribute to them. As I said earlier, it's very difficult to choose, but I think there's a particular angle for each one that reinforces their character traits or shapes. Hard, plunging angles for strong textures with aggressive characters for some and softer, simpler angles for fragile animals for example.
3. Conclusion
The diversity of reptiles and amphibians, with all their colours and textures, makes photographing these animals quite fascinating.
The main difficulty is finding these creatures, which are sometimes too fast or too camouflaged! But capturing images becomes easier if you know their behaviour and natural history, and if you have a minimum of equipment.
Good light, patience as always! What's your experience of photographing reptiles and amphibians? Leave your comments above.
Enjoy the photos,
David
