Taken indoors in the reptile exhibit at Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago, IL on my Nikon D5100
If you like my photography, please check out my other sites!Read more
Taken indoors in the reptile exhibit at Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago, IL on my Nikon D5100
If you like my photography, please check out my other sites!
Redbubble: Nightrose0087
Facebook: LaurenGalantyPhotography
Read less
If you like my photography, please check out my other sites!
Redbubble: Nightrose0087
Facebook: LaurenGalantyPhotography
Read less
Views
8556
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Awards
Contest Finalist in Green Shades Photo Contest
Lucky 3 Award
Contest Finalist in Reptiles Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Snakes Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Celebrating The Green Color Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Covers Photo Contest Vol 36
Featured
Judge Favorite
Peer Award
Superb Composition
Absolute Masterpiece
Top Choice
Magnificent Capture
All Star
Outstanding Creativity
Superior Skill
Jaw Dropping
Exceptional Contrast
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Bozzzzz
March 09, 2013
As one of the curators here at ViewBug I would like to welcome you to out photographic community. Great composition here.
Flosno
April 02, 2013
What an excellent capture...You have a lovely variety in your collection, so it makes it really interesting to scroll through
Jenrules481
May 01, 2013
Absolutely stunning!!! Some real talent to pull that kind of shot off in the circumstances presented ;D
I have a nikon d5100 too, absolutely love it!
I have a nikon d5100 too, absolutely love it!
millskelsey123
June 11, 2015
SO much talent here. Voted on this one #1 for Photographer of the Month :)
MariaBander
April 20, 2017
Absolutely stunning eyes. Really awesome work and congratulations for beeing contest finalist!
Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
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Behind The Lens
Location
Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago. More specifically, in the reptile house.Time
Sometime in late afternoon.Lighting
I hated the lighting the situation gave me. This snake that I wanted to photograph is located in the reptile house of Lincoln Park Zoo, which is a very dark area. And by dark, I mean it's nearly pitch black. Most of the light provided is from some of the exhibits. Before this point, I had never even messed around with taking photos with almost no light given to you. I barely had experience in using artificial light, and I was at the mercy of the snake's heating lamp. In all honesty, I put my camera's manual settings as something totally random, and was satisfied the second or third try. I felt like it was a kind of guess-and-check situation, but eventually I took the photo I wanted. The shutter speed was 10/600sec, ISO speed was 500, and the aperture was F/5.6 in the end.Equipment
Nikon D5100 and a Nikon 55-200mm zoom lens.Inspiration
I was participating in a "photo safari" I signed up for. I originally thought it was going to feel like a class field trip type lesson. Actually, in the photo safari it was just the teacher, another woman who had the same camera as I have, and yours truly. The teacher didn't exactly teach, but she actually just acted as moral support and gave us instant feedback on the photos we took. She also guided us to areas of the zoo that she thought would help us improve our skills. That's how I ended up in a pitch black room attempting to photograph a snake through dirty, smudged glass. I couldn't be happier with the result.Editing
The only thing I did to edit this image was increase the brightness on the snake alone. He was blending in too much with the shadowy background.In my camera bag
Two camera bodies (Nikon D5100 and D7000), Nikon 55-200mm zoom lens, Nikon 85mm micro telephoto lens, 18-55mm Nikon kit lens, and a 18-105mm lens that is another Nikon kit lens.Feedback
Don't get discouraged by the fact that your subject is behind glass. Move to the cleanest area of the glass, get your camera as close as possible, and snap the pic! Also, if automatic settings aren't working for you, the best thing you can do is play around with the manual settings until you're satisfied with the result. I have shaky hands, so my main priority was changing the shutter speed. I played around with the manual settings until I was happy, positioned myself to look at the snake straight through the glass, pressed the lens completely against the glass, and captured the image.