RAUK - Archived Forum - Field photography continued

Thank for your thoughts and ideas Tony, David.

I am in full agreement that natural photos are much more interesting , and perhaps I should have made my methods more clear in the first post.

Whenever pos' I will always try to get a good clear shot of the herp as found , and in a natural situation. First I will take a picture as seen , then I will approach as slowly and quietly as pos' taking pics all the time. The final shots may or may not be posed , depending on the quality of pictures taken beforehand.

I agree most pictures found in books and on the internet are posed , and I choose to share the final posed pictures as they are often far better quality , and much easier to get a good look at the specimin.

Here are some examples -- This pic is as found un-posed . Also it was taken with my old camera Olympus 960 zoom

This is the same snake posed . Perhaps I needn't have bothered in this case ,as I prefer the natural shot.

Here's another as found shot

This one is definitely 'as found' . I would never have posed him in such a naff position.

Here's an example of my first picture, from a distance, before the tippy -toe appraoch begins .

As seen

And finaly , another natural shot of the specimin above .

From her first position she turned and headed out into a clearing , very active . This is a shot of when she first became aware of my presence.

ooops! Al if you know which image was here let me know

I do have just as many 'Natural ' pics , and agree that seeing the habitat is a big plus for folks like you and I .

When abroad herping I will always try to get posed shots . The reason for this is , often you may have searched high and low for a particular specimin , and chances are you may not encounter it again for a very long time .

A good close crisp picture is essential to me in these situations. But once again , if taking a picture like this was putting me into a dangerous situation , or causing the reptile to much stress , then.... I'll go home without the pic.

Alan

If you want to publish your pics then be prepared to do battle with picture editors who will always go for the pristine posed shot. That is Ok for fieldguides, and IDs. But I am going to make sure that a good number of my pics for my current book projects will be wild and free. But I know that I will have to do battle with the publishers.

Same applies to picture agencies they will not accept a picture with a blade of grass or a sprig of heather out of place.

Tony

Thanks Tony , I really appreciate all this advice .

Do you know a good place to start ... I haven't the faintest

Any good agencies out there you'd recomend?

Cheers ,

Alan

Alan

Many of the smaller agencies have been taken over by larger concerns and in many cases minority subjects do not do well i.e. reptiles in out case.

I am with two agencies, both have been recently merged into larger concerns.

Increasingly, I am of the opinion that flogging your own stuff, even if it is just illustrating your articles etc, is the way to go.

Agencies give out requests for stock shots; one well known wildlife photographer sought my assistance for a pic of smooth snake; the agency had requested a picture up a tree because they had read that they eat birds and eggs. I insisted that they are not arboreal and this was not reflecting what happens in nature. He sought help elswhere and eventually a picture was published in a childrens book, (in Spain thank goodness) of a smooth snake sitting up in an elder tree.

Say no more.

Tony

If anyone is finding that some of Alan's pictures are not displaying on their browser, try right clicking on the box with the red cross and selecting "open picture"

Tony -

Once again ,thank you.

Ha! I'll have to keep my eyes open for those arboreal Smooth snakes . I wondered why I never saw any , I've been looking in the wrong place all time , in the heather.

Alan

Alan,

I don't know if it is just a temporary problem with the host server you are using to put the pictures up, but they seem to have gone?

If you want pictures hosted from RAUK just let me know and I'll set up a folder for you.

Hi Gemma,

Thanks for letting me know . I hope it's just a temporary problem , but I don't know yet.

The pics were all saved on my own website that I had hoped to start work on after returning from Turkey . I was given the webspace by a guy I know in the USA , and i'd only just sent him an email this morning asking how to delete unwanted pics from the site.

I know he's going through troubled times , as in Divorce , and I hope he hasn't just decided to close it all.

I had let David upload some of his pics there , so David I sincerely hope he hasn't closed it all. If he has , my apologies.

Thanks again Gemma, if the site doesn't come up again I'll surely take you up on that offer.

Alan

Hi again Gemma,

Actually , yes please, I'd love a folder if pos'

Many thanks,

Alan

Ah Must've been a Temp' problem .

Dave, I'll send you an e' when I return from Turkey,and if you could you can tell me how to delete on there. I've tried many times but always got 'cannot delete file'

Cheers

Alan