Big eyes....

[WebSlave]

http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/pics/eyes001.jpg

[robin d.]

RICH THATS A GREAT PIC!!!!!!!!! i love that eye shot totally awesome, thanks for posting




lol i think i can see a boogie in its nose jk

[Herpcam]

Rich,

Not only did you get the eyes perfectly, but I've never seen leopard gecko teeth before!!!!! I'm no stranger to them (I've got over 50 right now), but I can't see them with my own eye, but you've done it.

Thanks for the great pics on here.

[Popcorn224]

Awesome pic! I agree, that's the first time I've seen the teeth! And I love how the eyes look, great pic!

[herpspaz]

wow, what kind of camera did you use to take that pic???

i wish my camera's macro mode was that good!!

-Karin

[WebSlave]

The camera is a Fuji FinePix S1 Pro. The lens I used is the Nikon 105mm Micro. This is a real interesting camera. It has a 1 gigabyte hard drive in it. Of course, it needs it because the highest resolution TIF files it creates for every image are 18.45 megabytes. These images are 3040 x 2016.

I was on pins and needles waiting for a decent digital camera body that I could use my Nikon lenses with. At least at a price that I could semi-afford. It was more than I wanted to spend, but when I did some figuring, the money it saved me on no longer having to pay to process my 35mm slides and prints, it paid for itself the first year I had it.

One of the benefits of taking photos at such a high resolution is that you have a LOT of leeway with cropping an image to get exactly what you want in a frame.

For instance:

http://www.serpenco.com/pics/leopards/eyes002.jpg

See what I mean? :D

[herpspaz]

wow, that is an amazingly close show of the eye.....

so how close to the leo's head were you exactly when the picture was taken??

I have an Olympus Stylus 300 or something...highest resolution i can take is 2048x1536 but my Macro feature is pretty bad. I can't get any closer than about an inch before it gets really blurry.

might have to start saving up for one of those fuji digi cams! (or at least figure out how to use my camera better....)

-Karin

[WebSlave]

Well, that's the neat thing about a camera that you can use multiple lenses on. It gives you a choice of "working distances".

I have three Nikon Micro lenses: (1) 60mm, (2) 105mm, and (3) 200mm. All three will allow you to get the same image on a closeup, but each has a different working distance. I don't have the exact figures in front of me, but roughly with the 60mm, you would have to be 1 inch from the subject. With the 105mm, about 2 inches, and with the 200 mm, 4 inches away.

One problem with the 60mm is that there is no way to easily get a good shot that close, because the lens itself will shadow the subject from the flash(es). So I tend to use this lens for moderately sized animals because I can be a comfortable distance away from them while getting photos and yet have them mostly fill the screen image.

With the 105mm lense, it works great for small animals or things like closeup head shots when you don't want to be right up against the animal. This wil generally spook them when you get within their "space" with a camera lens, so the 105mm works well for this sort of thing. This is the lense I tend to use most often.

The 200mm is the one I use the least. It give TOO much magnification unless you want to be quite distant from the subject. It works well for getting photos of spiders and bugs without spooking them or they are not readily within reach, but trying to take a photo of a snake or lizard is rather difficult because the working distance is so far away.

If your camera has a threaded lens, you can somewhat do the same thing by attaching close focus or macro filters on the front of the lense. These are sort of like magnifying lenses, but with camera quality glass being used. They generally come in sets, which can be combined, so you can experiment quite a bit to get the right magnification for what you need.

I won't go into details here, but one thing that you REALLY need to study up on is the term "depth of field". The closer you are to a subject, for micro shots, the wider you need the depth of field to be. This can make all the difference in whether your shots look good or not. But like I said, there is a lot more to this, and I just don't have time right now (almost 4am) to go into the details.

Pick up a good book on flash photography and general theory. Then practice a LOT. Nothing beats experience with this stuff.

Good Luck!

[herpspaz]

Thanx for the suggestions and advice, it's been a while since Photography Class in high school.. (and i'm only 20!)

will definately have to dig up some old cameras and accessories and play around again!

[gail hawley]

cool picture!!! very nice! :)

[aimee_s]

aww that's a really cute picture!

i love the eyes... and it's my 1st time actually seeing leo teeth! i've had mine for a few months and i've been looking through other pictures online, but i never got a chance to see their teeth until now!

great pic :D

[aimEe]

[LittleGuy]

I made the closeup of the face my desktop backround. I hope you don't care... I think its so cool. In the future I will have to spend some more money on a decent camera to come out with great shots like that.

[LittleGuy]

Also reminds me of LOTR.
Eye of Gecko
lol maybe...

[Missymonkey]

(I needed a good reason not to fold laundry! So here's the result)

[LittleGuy]

Nice photoshop work. Wish I could do that, anyone here LOTR fan?

[Missymonkey]

How can you not be a LOTR fan?:)