April 2011 Photo & Captions Comment Thread

[Stefan-A]

Comments about this month's photo and caption contest get posted here, so that we keep the contest threads free of clutter.

Before submitting any pictures, please read the rules.

[ConcinusMan]

Jeez, not everybody has an expensive camera and macro lenses capable of photographing mites. This isn't going to be easy. For many, impossible.

[Stefan-A]

Not everybody had a snake in shed, when "snakes shedding" was the theme. Not everybody has had garter babies, when that has been the theme. Not everybody has the luck of being there with a camera when a snake yawns. Not everybody wants to appear on camera when the contest requires the participants to be in the photo with his or her snake. Not everyone has a lawn for taking the "garters in the grass" photo. Not everybody has more than one garter for the half a dozen contests that have required more than one to appear in the photo. Hell, not everybody even makes any special winter preparations. Not everybody can get their snake to make a defensive posture, or catch the their snakes mating. Not everybody uses substrates that a snake can burrow in. Not everybody has garters with parietal spots. Not everybody celebrates thanksgiving, or halloween or even christmas for that matter.

Maybe not everybody needs to participate in every contest.

[guidofatherof5]

Love the theme. Good idea.
Should produce some interesting photos.;)

[Mommy2many]

Pardon my ignorance but what are "Keeled Scales"? I saw the example but I am unsure of what I am looking at.

[guidofatherof5]

Garter snake scales;)

[Stefan-A]

Scales that have that ridge running down the middle.

Looking at the profile of the scale, it's more like this: }
instead of this: )

[Mommy2many]

Garter snake scales;)


Smart one!:D

[Mommy2many]

Thank you, Stefan.

[ConcinusMan]

Garter snake scales;)

Close enough:rolleyes:

[zooplan]

Garter snake scales;)

Garter Snake back or lateral scales is closer but no head scales no vetral shields.

Most digital cameras have a macro mode, most cheap cameras as well, check your manuals!

Take the photo outside where light is better, choose highest quality thats provided by your camera and cut of the most briliant part of the picture.

[drache]

so do you want just the scales, or is an image with the keeled scales clearly visible good enough?
My macro doesn't do this, and when I go too big, the detail just gets blurry

[RedSidedSPR]

Jeez, not everybody has an expensive camera and macro lenses capable of photographing mites. This isn't going to be easy. For many, impossible.

That's me... sigh...

[RedSidedSPR]

Not everybody had a snake in shed, when "snakes shedding" was the theme. Not everybody has had garter babies, when that has been the theme. Not everybody has the luck of being there with a camera when a snake yawns. Not everybody wants to appear on camera when the contest requires the participants to be in the photo with his or her snake. Not everyone has a lawn for taking the "garters in the grass" photo. Not everybody has more than one garter for the half a dozen contests that have required more than one to appear in the photo. Hell, not everybody even makes any special winter preparations. Not everybody can get their snake to make a defensive posture, or catch the their snakes mating. Not everybody uses substrates that a snake can burrow in. Not everybody has garters with parietal spots. Not everybody celebrates thanksgiving, or halloween or even christmas for that matter.

Maybe not everybody needs to participate in every contest.

:DWhoa. You gonna be alright, man?

[ConcinusMan]

Not everybody needs to be alright, all the time.:rolleyes:

[drache]

Not everybody needs to be alright, all the time.:rolleyes:
ain't that the truth

[RedSidedSPR]

ain't that the truth
It is.

[ConcinusMan]

This is impossible. I'd like to think I have a pretty good quality camera but nothing beats a pro model with a high quality macro lens attached. I can't get this to work at all. The macro lens alone, needed for this, costs more than my camera.

[Stefan-A]

And I found 8 possible entries by quickly browsing through my photos. Wouldn't even need to take any new ones for this contest. I would however have needed to leave the country for that "garter babies"-themed contest.

[RedSidedSPR]

This is impossible. I'd like to think I have a pretty good quality camera but nothing beats a pro model with a high quality macro lens attached. I can't get this to work at all. The macro lens alone, needed for this, costs more than my camera.

I'm in the same boat. Cropping seems to be our only hope. Just get the best you can, and crop/zoom, and it should be able to compete. That's allowed, right?

[Stefan-A]

I'm in the same boat. Cropping seems to be our only hope. Just get the best you can, and crop/zoom, and it should be able to compete. That's allowed, right?
Yes, it is.

[RedSidedSPR]

Good. It's my only hope.

[ConcinusMan]

Yeah, I already thought of that but even with the best focus, and 12 megapixels, I just can't do what you suggested without it coming out blurry looking. I haven't given up but it isn't looking too hopeful. Of course, I might just be holding my entry to a higher standard than I can produce.:cool:

[drache]

well, I can't do it with my current camera, but I'm going to take a chance with one of my older photos - narrowed it down to two so far, and neither are nearly as macro as the example

[RedSidedSPR]

Of course, I might just be holding my entry to a higher standard than I can produce.:cool:

Just throw your best one in there, and give it a chance. My only good one isn't all that great, but it's all I've got(and my camera is only 8mp).... hmmm... There's always photoshop, if all else fails. Little "sharpen", little "blur-be-gone" action. If that's allowed... Is it?

[PINJOHN]

for a while there this thread was more amusing than the cartoon thread:D

[Stefan-A]

well, I can't do it with my current camera, but I'm going to take a chance with one of my older photos - narrowed it down to two so far, and neither are nearly as macro as the example
No need to replicate the example photo, the keels are still quite visible from a bit farther away.

[infernalis]

Yeah, I already thought of that but even with the best focus, and 12 megapixels, I just can't do what you suggested without it coming out blurry looking. I haven't given up but it isn't looking too hopeful. Of course, I might just be holding my entry to a higher standard than I can produce.:cool:

so much for that million dollars prize money eh?:cool:

[ConcinusMan]

for a while there this thread was more amusing than the cartoon thread:D

I try and Stefan makes it easier.


so much for that million dollars prize money eh?:cool:

Prize or no prize, the goal is to win.;) Besides, last time I won, I got skipped for the portal page. My photo never made it there.:( Trying to win again so I can have that honor.


No need to replicate the example photo, the keels are still quite visible from a bit farther away.

Well I kinda figured that. You know I was just whining because it was hard to do, but I finally managed.

[PINJOHN]

is not the the ribbon snake more strongly keeled than the garter and if so might this help with the camera problems, thats assuming the info is correct and you have a ribbon to snap :confused:

[ConcinusMan]

You want to hear something really funny? The setting in GIMP to sharpen a fuzzy image is called "Unsharpen". makes a lot of sense, doesn't it?

[infernalis]

weird, the button on Fireworks says "sharpen" and just under that "sharpen more"

I use it a lot.

[ConcinusMan]

Yeah, GIMP does have a "sharpen" too, but all it does is make the pic look grainy. I looked in the help info in GIMP to see how to sharpen an image that is not quite in focus, and it says to use "unsharpen" I did use it on my entry. Had to to make it look halfway decent. It worked pretty well. "unsharpen" actually sharpened the photo. Crazy huh?

[infernalis]

that is crazy, fireworks will make it grainy if you use too much sharpen also.

[ConcinusMan]

Well sure, it will do that in any program. The thing is, it wasn't helping. It was only making it worse if I used sharpen at all. Unsharpen worked fine.

[RedSidedSPR]

Another problem with my pic is the red on him doesn't show up. Makes him less impressive. Stupid heat lamp always does that. The red shows up yellow.

[ConcinusMan]

That's simple. Set the camera's white balance setting to "incandescent" or else adjust the white balance manually. Either that, or use natural daylight or white florescent.

Still, I forgot the white balance setting and had a few come out yellow. It's easy enough to fix. Open in GIMP or other picture editor and manipulate the RGB (red green blue) or "hue" settings until it looks right, then save it.

[zooplan]

I would like to repeat:
Take your pictures outside, where the light is better and you´ll get better pictures.

[zooplan]

:mad: I can´t see the second entry :(

[Stefan-A]

Neither can I.

[RedSidedSPR]

WHAT?!?! That's my photo!! What the heck?

[RedSidedSPR]

Can I just post it again?

[RedSidedSPR]

Wait, I just posted it a second time, but now the first one shows.:confused:
Just delete one of them. Sorry. That was weird.

[Stefan-A]

Where's the image file? Our galler or somewhere else?

[guidofatherof5]

Remember.
http://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//500/medium/photo_requirements.jpg

[RedSidedSPR]

Wait, why isn't the picture showing up? It was 30 mins ago! I got it to work and now it isn't!
My image is in the same place as always (this gallery, or photobucket)
I'll try it again. It'll work this time.... I hope.

[RedSidedSPR]

THERE!! It works, I think. Not that the picture is all that good. Sorry. Just delete the first failed entry.

[zooplan]

That must be from a F A T snake, isn´t it?

[kibakiba]

Theres no such thing as a fat garter... Just a nice, well fed one. :D Perhaps it had just eaten, though.

[drache]

Theres no such thing as a fat garter... Just a nice, well fed one.
you're wrong about that
I've had a fat garter or two, and they battle health problems just like fat humans do
according to my vet, obesity is the number one cause of health problems in pets - don't let your snake join the statistic

[kibakiba]

I know, I know. It was a joke, at least to me... Since my garters at least would eat until they puked if I let them. Maybe you should tell my mom that, she doesn't believe me when I tell her our dogs fatness is causing her problems. I know how bad being too big is, I'm battling problems that are caused from weight, too.

[RedSidedSPR]

That must be from a F A T snake, isn´t it?
Nope. Not fat, recently ate, though. The picture looks much fatter than he really is. Not sure why. Probably because, if you'll notice, alot of the picture id of the bottom scales (belly or whatever you call it).

This pic was from the same week (the think the day before the entry pic)
He ate two small-ish nightcrawlers that day. Then the next day (the entry-pic-day) he ate 7 fish.
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b283/chucknkelly/ratsnake515.jpg

[RedSidedSPR]

And FYI, ConcinnusMan, to your caption contest entry, that picture was taken a few weeks ago. I had blurred the edges for fun, but also because I didn't want the edges to show. The edges showed stuff other than the snake. For the entry I COULD NOT find the original, so I had to use the blurred one.

I liked your caption though.:D

[ConcinusMan]

Now you've sparked my interest. Perhaps you messed up like my brother did, and there was a bong in the picture? Box of maxi's? pair of skid marked underwear? LoL. Jk.

[RedSidedSPR]

How did you guess?:D

[drache]

I have to tell you about Jeff's opinion of the photos so far (he's my husband)
this came up, because I showed him the one I am planning to use, and he called it "gross" - something to do with whitish skin patches between the scales
so, of course I had to see whether the entire close-up realm would be gross to him, and showed him the contest entries so far
for the most part he doesn't care for them, but he really landed hard on Steve's photo
the only reason I will share this here, is because I know that we here on this forum look at these images with a perception unique to us, and Steve will not take this personally - coming from a non-snake-person
and no matter how long I stare at it, I can't see that Steve's photo looks anything like "beetles crawling through poop"
should I be upset that he couldn't be more poetic about the grossness of my photo?

[guidofatherof5]

Great story, Rhea.:D

[zooplan]

rofl:d

[ConcinusMan]

How did you guess?:D

Oh OK, must have been all of the above.:p


no matter how long I stare at it, I can't see that Steve's photo looks anything like "beetles crawling through poop"

Say what? You mean that's not what it is?:confused:

;):p

[zooplan]

Thank you for your great entries.

Wether you entered with a "yellow brick road" or "beetles crawling through poop", a roll of blister foil or a piece of sequin dress,
airbrush art, special type of corrosion on rare metals or feather decoration,
all pictures are showing a special sight of our snakes.

Thank you for sharing!

[infernalis]

It was tough for me, I really liked two, so it came down to a coin toss on who to vote for.

[RedSidedSPR]

All I know is, mine sucks.:D I like the "crawling through poop" one. Awesome macro shot. That has my vote.