# Pet and wildlife photography thread



## Harbinger (Jun 16, 2013)

Saves me keep spamming new threads every now and then, plus it would be interesting to see everyone elses photography.
So does anyone have any photo's of weird or interesting pets or wildlife?
Is it a constant thing you do or just a spur of the moment thing?
I take photo's of all my pets all the time, constantly documenting their  progress and development through photo's. And when nothing has grown,  hatched, mated, or fed i go outside and see what i can find, although  admittedly most English wildlife is boring in comparison :/

Anyway i'll start with some recent-ish exotic pet bug pics of mine.

Orchid mantis







Hooded leaf mantis.






Indian grass mantis






Exotic stag beetle






Malaysian katydid






Tanzanian lynx spider






Domino cockroach






Anyone else?


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## Kangamutt (Jun 16, 2013)

Got a few of my dogs. 






























Pretty much what I've got in the ways of animals for now.

EDIT: A lot of my animal/wildlife stuff is pretty much on hold right now. My best lens for the job isn't in the best working condition right now for shooting. Oddly enough, it got that way when I was out, well, trying to shoot nature photos.


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## Harbinger (Jul 14, 2013)

Nice, im still trying to get into DSLR photography but keep running around in circles over which lens to use. Im probably better off to just sell it and stick with my digital camera.

Also here's some recent shots of my mini zoo.

Malaysian leaf frog.






Australian huntsman spider.






Fire millipede.


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## Kangamutt (Jul 16, 2013)

Honestly you won't need much for the DSLR. The camera's standard lens with a good prime macro screwed to the front would do you best, judging from the photos you've put up here. Even for my SLR, All I have is the packed-in 49mm, a 55mm macro zoom (the one that doesn't work too well--aperture sticks), a 2x telephoto converter, a series of 3 49mm prime closeups, a 55mm wide-angle prime that converts to 72mm on the business end, and a few odds and ends, hoods, stepping rings and such. And all that does me good for all kinds of shooting.


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## powderhound (Jul 16, 2013)

Your photos are very good. The Indian Grass Mantis is my favorite. 

Why are you thinking of getting rid of your DSLR? What lens choosing problems?

For macro a compact digital can do quite well but the DSLR will grow with you. What DSLR are you shooting? The nikon f2.8 60mm 1:1 macro is a wildlife killer. You can shoot both tele and macro equaly well with it.  Both the toads and the owl were shot with that lens. It is my favorite on land and underwater. It has much better depth of field at 1:1 than a 105mm lens but the lighting can get hard very close at 1:1 and you will need an external flash. Good wildlife photography is all about understanding behavior and getting close. A cheap 60mm will do everything a $10k telephoto will do and more, you just have to get right up there. When I'm out working with critters its often the only lens I take.


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## Harbinger (Aug 25, 2013)

I thought of cutting my losses and getting rid of incase i never learnt how to use it, was worried i would never get the jist of it, like i said on the other thread, as much as i massively need it for everything i do i have no patience >_<
And yeah understanding the behaviour shouldnt be problem, been keeping an all manner of animals for years now, bug hunting 24/7 outside before that. Those photo's are stunning by the way, are those frogs pets or wild?


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## powderhound (Aug 26, 2013)

I'm an insainly busy guy and thus also somewhat impatient. Everyone wants the best results right off the bat. Do not dispair. Looking at your shots you have nothing to worry about. Your going to have it dialed in pretty quick. Macro is the easiest to learn and with interesting subjects like you have it produces great shots. Plus you seem to have an eye for behavior/ composition already.



Harbinger said:


> Those photo's are stunning by the way, are those frogs pets or wild?



They are actualy very tiny, and very poisonous, newly metamorphosed toads. Most people dont know it but California is home to the most toxic amphibians on the planet. Some of our amphibians can kill 56k mice vs the golden poison frogs ~20k. Unlike the dart frog your lusting after some of ours actually become more poisonous in captivity.

The photos are in the wild but they are sort of my pets/babies. I raise endangered amphibians by the thousands. It started as a hobby, then a research project and has now ballooned into a pretty lucritive large scale operation. It makes for a lot of confusing looks when your classmates/ coeworkers ask what you do in your spare time. I'm starting to realize I can do just as well financially playing with herps as what I'm in school for now. It's a gold rush that haden't happened yet. Unless the government runs out of money. Which may happen.


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## Harbinger (Aug 31, 2013)

Damn, and there i was thinking they were some kind of harmless fire bellied toad. And yeah breeding exotics can earn you a fair bit, although you usually seem to put in a lot just to keep them going, and any earnings you make are spent on getting the next species on your wishlist, well thats my case anyway 

As for my camera been playing around for it a bit, think i could get some better shots with a flash or tripod or both, keep shaking ever so lightly. Here's my latest shots, with the two stick insects i had them on a piece of bark on my sisters bed, she wasnt in there at the time, hope she dont mind bits of moss everywhere 
The morning sn was hitting is just right and i could kneel and rest my camera almost motionless, let me put the apertue up a bit.

Bent Twig insect (Stick insect named due to its resting position)






Wood nymph






Regal jumping spider male.


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## powderhound (Aug 31, 2013)

Getting better. I like your instinctively going for the low perspective. The iridescence of the regals chelicerae photographs well. If you can catch them with their fangs down, pedipalps out of the way and front legs out it makes for a scary picture. They have a lot of attitude, try and figure out how to capture that. Those huge shiny fangs get people's blood going.

You should be able to use down to 1/60 sec with image stabilization without much quality loss. Slower if your really careful. Honestly I don't like a tripod for macro. For wildlife the perspective makes the shot and it limits your creativity and slows you down too much. I feel it doesn't add sharpness with the faster shutter speeds I can use with the flash. It would make a difference for long exposures without a flash but then the lighting is always very flat, the colors don't pop, and the pictures aren't saturated so I'm not happy with the results anyway.

Did you play with your saturation at all? Your wood nymph has that warm reddish/yellow cast I associate with canon. I like the warmth of that photo.

The DOF is being used well in these photos. If anything I would open the twig another stop to smooth out the background. That lens looks like it's giving you a nice smooth creamy bokeh in the background.

All these third-party lenses should be able to produce excellent results with the right settings. What separates a good lens from a great lens is the ability to produce excellent results across all apertures. It will be tack sharp at F2.8 all the way up to F32 with good contrast and dynamic range all along the way.

Cheaper lenses often lose sharpness below F8 and lack dynamic range at wider apatures meaning areas of the photo (sky) are often blown out or over exposed. Keep an eye out for this and see how your lens does.

With greater available light did you try your autofocus or were you still using manual focus?


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## Harbinger (Sep 1, 2013)

Im liking manual focus more and more now, been using that mostly. Even in the best natural lighting the AF sometimes goes a bit off, although that might be me going too close too soon. Havent got into the saturation yet, just been playing with the options on the screen at the time. Havent taken it off the AV setting yet, tbh i havent played around with it much lately. Because most of the subjects i have are species new to me i want to document them with photo's as much as i can before i try for better photo's. Just incase one of them kicks the bucket prematurely. Deffiniately time for it next time though, if i remeber AV, TV, and P were the main 3 to bother with werent they?

As for the chelicerae they generally bear them when threatened, but when they feel threatened they have a tendency to dart backwards.
Oh and in other news, MY AUSTRALIAN HUNTSMAN IS FINALLY ADULT!
She is stunning, and now defiantly a female, got to wait for a friend of mine to get his mated then he's send me his male, then there may be a chance of the pitter patter of hundreds of hundreds of feet :3
Here she is.






I know this photo isnt as sharp as the above but i liked the way she looked like she was almost glowing, she only moulted last night so she was still a bit fresh and bright.






Legs spans gotta be about 5 inches im guessing, very impressive spider, and the other species of this genus is apparently bigger.


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## powderhound (Sep 1, 2013)

The first shot makes very nice use of contrast and shadows. Try to figure out how to get out of focus subjects in the foreground out of your picture. Often it looks like you're just a tad too low.

You need a flash. Manual focus is tricky because the depth of field with macro can be so narrow that its really hard to tell if your spot on or not with the naked eye. I will mention that most canon shooters use manual focus and most transitioning from canon to nikon use manual focus for a while out of habit. However nikon shooters tend to use AF because it works well. I was hoping with these newer cameras canon was getting its AF sorted. You might try using a focus light (a hand held flashlight or the like to give the AF more to work with). You also may try getting the focus close with manual then letting the AF fine tune it to avoid the hunting problem. A flash with AF assist will help.

As for modes I would stick with manual for macro. The modes will allow you to only control one aspect (shutter speed, F stop, iso) the program modes are all auto. The camera doesn't know what you need for your macro shot. Use your light meter. Set your f stop for the depth of field you want. Slowest shutter speed you think you can handle without a flash (1/60 with IS on). You should have only the center focus point on. Put it on your subject and look at the light meter. If its under exposed dial the ISO up until its balanced. If its over increase the shutter speed or the f stop or dial down the ISO. 

Then look at your result and adjust. 

This will teach you how all these parameters affect your image. The program modes are designed for general photography and I only use them if I'm walking about and expecting to have only seconds to get a shot. In those situations I use:


Av- For macro where high f stop needs to be controlled for DOF.
Tv- for action or telephoto work where I need to force the camera to always use a fast shutter speed to control for camera shake. (I actually use this the most because telephoto wildlife shots tend to have action and involve long lenses with no time to adjust settings and get the shot).
P- Full auto. Walking around shooting people it works great.

A-dep- will take into account how close your subject is to the lens try and preserve depth of field, again it's fully automatic so no guarantees.
Flower- This is a preprogrammed mode for macro and the camera will do everything automatically but do it's best to use a higher f-stop faster shutter speed and lower ISO to give you the best macro result.

Manual gets very easy when you start using the flash. All you have to do is select your f-stop for the depth of field you want, set your shutter speed at 1/250 of a second, set your ISO at 200 and the camera will control the light output on the flash to properly expose the image. The only setting you have to change is the f-stop to play with your depth of field. From F2 .8 to F-22 for macro it'll always be properly exposed, the only thing that will change is what's in focus. It will be a game changer for you.


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## Volkodav (Sep 1, 2013)




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## Harbinger (Sep 21, 2013)

powderhound said:


> T



Thanks for the help again, and yeah i know where i went wrong there, i was often resting on the nearest surface to prop the camera up with, which was usually the edge of whatever bark they were resting on, so i had to tilt it up to get them all in. I'll try setting it to manual next time, been using nothing but AV, been playing with f stops and ISO mostly, havent got into the shutter speeds yet.


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## powderhound (Sep 22, 2013)

Av mode is the only auto mode you should be trying with macro. Plenty of time, no rush. You have to take a lot of the same pics to get one that is perfect. Just keep shooting and play with your flash too. Your stuffs interesting.


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## -lola- (Oct 8, 2013)

Lovely works,
I usually do weddings and families.. so I don't have a macro lens ;3;
I guess you can't set your normal digital camera's Aperture? I do think the first two batches would have profited 
if you had set the F number lower <--which is Aperture 

Lovely pets everyone!

I only have two cats,
not that I need more because they are like two over mobile toddlers <___>'' 

one of them


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## Tailmon1 (Oct 8, 2013)

Yashiko the Desk decoration!


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## Harbinger (Oct 21, 2013)

This thread needs more cats, keep em coming.
Alternatively...BUGS.








Giant malaysian leaf insect.






Gladiator stag beetle.






Another not so giant leaf insect.






Jumping spider i took ages ago but didnt think of uploading it at the time


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## Harbinger (Jan 24, 2014)

Got some new beetles :3


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## Harbinger (Mar 30, 2014)

I find the lack of photo's disturbing...


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## CaptainCool (Mar 30, 2014)

Technically this isn't really "wildlife photography" since the animals were in a zoo... But I think this counts^^
Some of the shots that I uploaded to my FA gallery today:


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## Inpw (Mar 30, 2014)

^ Nice pics. Everyone has such awesome cameras.

Not a photographer but I like how this wide angle photo came out with the Gopro.


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## CaptainCool (May 25, 2014)

I went squirrel huntin' today!










A little too close... But just a little >__>


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## Kit H. Ruppell (May 25, 2014)

Wow! What species is that? I only know 'Murrican squirrels.


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## CaptainCool (May 25, 2014)

Kit H. Ruppell said:


> Wow! What species is that? I only know 'Murrican squirrels.



It's a eurasian red squirrel, or just red squirrel.
They are becomming pretty rare though because your 'Murrican squirrels are taking over...


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## CaptainCool (Jun 9, 2014)

Have a tiger, a burd and a lemur:


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## Kit H. Ruppell (Jul 3, 2014)

Fox caught a rabbit





Rabbit doesn't seem to mind




So sweet and innocent- I give him a week before he gets eaten :V


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## CaptainCool (Jul 20, 2014)

Went to the zoo again:











Found a broken flamingo...


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## Harbinger (Jul 20, 2014)

Oh gawd, never seen flamingo's like that, thought it was some kinda wierd stubby ass bird


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## CaptainCool (Jul 20, 2014)

Harbinger said:


> Oh gawd, never seen flamingo's like that, thought it was some kinda wierd stubby ass bird



Yeah, I've never seen them like that as well^^ I can't even find many shots like that on Google.

Oh also, the other version of this shot:






(Don't worry, it's just his tail :V)

The image above is actually a composite of two images. The head was out of focus, so I took it from a similar shot where the pose sucked but the head was in focus^^
The one in this post I made as a joke because I didn't want to waste this shot.
Also, it was removed by an admin when I uploaded it to FA! XD


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## Gnarl (Jul 27, 2014)

This little baby bunny was just too cute! I was standing out side cooking burgers when I turned and there he was munching on the clover in my yard.


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## Kit H. Ruppell (Jul 28, 2014)

Aren't they adorable?


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## CaptainCool (Jul 30, 2014)

I hope you offered them some burgs.
And yes, they absolutely are adorable^^


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## Batty Krueger (Jul 30, 2014)

Friendly backyard bird





Friendly backyars snake





Friendly backyard lizard





Friendly backyard mantis






As you can tell my photography skills are top notch.


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## Volkodav (Jul 31, 2014)

Kit H. Ruppell said:


> Fox caught a rabbit
> 
> 
> 
> ...



rabbits can actually survive on their own at that age, believe it or not! That rabbit's about 2-3 weeks old


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## Volkodav (Jul 31, 2014)




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## CaptainCool (Jul 31, 2014)

Batty Krueger said:


> As you can tell my photography skills are top notch.



It also looks like you like to kidnap small animals from your backyard and call them your "pets". You are a true furry, dude! :3


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## CaptainCool (Aug 3, 2014)

Went to the zoo again today:


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## serillia (Aug 4, 2014)

@Harbringer- I love your style! 

great pics all

 Here's a handful of mine-


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## Batty Krueger (Aug 4, 2014)

CaptainCool said:


> It also looks like you like to kidnap small animals from your backyard and call them your "pets". You are a true furry, dude! :3


Lol, naw. I take em inside to get photos, cept the bird, the bird can stay outside. I dunno what its deal was but it would always land on me whenever I walked outside XD


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## Skoda (Aug 4, 2014)

Well, a lot of this is quite impressive. 

For what it's worth, I have a few shots of my own I've taken over time. I don't do any after-photo editing, so these are just raw from the camera. 




One of my cats.




My Golden Retriever :3




Eastern Newt.




Common Field Mouse of sorts.




Common Whitetail Skimmer.




Black and Yellow Argiope.


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## CaptainCool (Aug 5, 2014)

Batty Krueger said:


> Lol, naw. I take em inside to get photos, cept the bird, the bird can stay outside. I dunno what its deal was but it would always land on me whenever I walked outside XD



Even birds know you are a cool dude :3

Also, have some more!


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## CaptainCool (Aug 10, 2014)

Went there again today, this time mainly because of the lemurs.




















They kept playing with my backpack :3

They got really close today. You guys have _no idea_ how soft they are ;__; It's amazing.


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## Harbinger (Aug 11, 2014)

Well i also went to a zoo on holiday and got some a lil bit naffer photo's 
It was cloudy aswell and i soon learned my current lenses arent any good for photographing long range animals.

Just the one for now, almost all of them were pretty crappy, aswell as my noobyness i think i was kinda bit too excited trying to run around and photograph everything, with everything in different condititions and constantly twittering with settings.






Oh and a bad photo which was the best one i got of an adorable young owl, there was a bird of prey show so i was practicing taking photo's mid flight, need a shit tone of practice though, almost none of the mid-flight pics had the owl in focus and i took them too soon or late, and i didnt think of just taking the 40 pics at a time thing whilst i was there.

Anyhoo i got this pic after when they let us get close to them, but i couldnt get a decent photo before being swamped by toddlers and their parents grabbing for it and shoving their ipads to it -_-






Slightly better photo's of free-roaming tree frog tadpoles at the Eden project, the rainforest dome was gigantic and awesome, could have done with more free roaming bugs though 











The kittens were too young for a cattery so we brought them with us, Yuki (my lil girl) is up top and Luna (my dads) below her. We stayed in a farmside cottage so we could take them outside for a bit as long as they were on a harness. Think they are 12 weeks now, cant remember 











And some Cornwall natives, i got a helluva lot more pics im just taking ages to sort through them all


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## CaptainCool (Aug 11, 2014)

Your macro and closeup work is much better than your other photos, that is what I noticed at least. You are very specialized right now, you might want to look into general composition, what different focal lengths do and how proper lighting conditions work :3

Anyway! More lemurs!


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## Volkodav (Aug 12, 2014)

awesome pics, guys 
(that crab one scared the shit out of me though)


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## Rekel (Aug 12, 2014)

Here are a few pictures I took of my cat before she passed away -- sorry if it's big on your screen. >.<
















I have more of other animals, but I'm currently on my laptop, so all I could pull was some stuff I put on FA.


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## CaptainCool (Aug 17, 2014)

I came to bring you some butterflies:


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## Harbinger (Aug 17, 2014)

>photographing bugs...

[video=youtube;jmNU8blUwms]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmNU8blUwms[/video]

Awesome pics though as usual


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## CaptainCool (Aug 17, 2014)

Since the light was so awful in there I am surprised I actually got usable shots 
And thanks^^


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## jtrekkie (Aug 20, 2014)

Those are some amazing shots up there. I am very impressed.





Had a visitor the other night. Charming fellow, isn't he? If you look are the back of his thorax you can see that he had a passenger. It's a red ant, so you can kind of guess his size.











I was hoping these would turn out better but the little fella wasn't exactly cooperative.


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## Batty Krueger (Aug 20, 2014)

Ah hell naw!


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## CaptainCool (Aug 24, 2014)

Have some more:


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## Rekel (Aug 24, 2014)

Damn, you guys and your exotic animals, bugs and macro lenses. >.<


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## CaptainCool (Aug 24, 2014)

Rekel said:


> Damn, you guys and your exotic animals, bugs and macro lenses. >.<



What? You don't like lemurs, tigers and bugs? :3

Also, bird ass:


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## jtrekkie (Aug 26, 2014)

^^^ Wow, just look at those feathers.


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## Rekel (Aug 27, 2014)

CaptainCool said:


> What? You don't like lemurs, tigers and bugs? :3
> 
> Also, bird ass:



I love lemurs, tigers, and bugs...

And the bird's ass.

I just wish I had a macro-er lens. :v


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## CaptainCool (Aug 28, 2014)

Rekel said:


> I love lemurs, tigers, and bugs...
> 
> And the bird's ass.
> 
> I just wish I had a macro-er lens. :v



I actually shot most of that stuff with a tele lens from 1988 and a 50mm standard prime 
The butterflies I shot with a macro lens though. But I'm actually planning to replace that lens soon. It's a 40mm lens which SUCKS for macro. To get to 1:1 magnification you pretty much have to crawl up the butterfly's urethra >__> That's how close you need to get...


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## Rekel (Aug 28, 2014)

All I have right now is a 24-105L (not sure if you're a Canon person). At 105mm I can focus on something as little as 8 inches away, but its max ratio is 1:4, so... not exactly macro. :c


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## CaptainCool (Aug 29, 2014)

Rekel said:


> (not sure if you're a Canon person)



Naa, I like to buy good cameras :V
But in all seriousness, I do have my reasons why I chose Nikon over Canon^^ One of them is that old professional Nikon lenses are less expensive than older Canon lenses of the same age and quality.
For example my 25 years old 80-200mm f/2.8 AF ED that cost me 240â‚¬ gives me the same image quality as the new 70-200mm f/2.8G VRII which costs 1800â‚¬.
The Canon equivalent, the 80-200mm f/2.8 L IS, which is also 25 years old, costs around 800â‚¬. For that money I can get a used Nikon 70-200mm f/4 VR, which is also fantastic and around 2 years old, just to put it into perspective.
And secondly, their consumer lenses are also much cheaper. Canon doesn't even offer an inexpensive 35mm f/1.8 prime  Nikon has one for APS-C cameras for 180â‚¬. To be fair though, the full frame version of that lens, the 35mm f1.8G ED, costs 600â‚¬ which is totally overpriced...


1:4 isn't bad. To my knowledge a lens can be classified as a macro lens when it has a reproduction ratio of at least 1:4.
And that is a nice lens overall, too. On which body are you using it?


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## Rekel (Aug 30, 2014)

Yeaaaaaah, Canon is spendy... I kinda looked at it as both companies being about the same (I have absolutely nothing against Nikon), but I just happened to begin my investment in Canon. 

I use the 6D, which kind of goes with what you're saying -- the D600 is basically the same camera but slightly superior in different ways, and it actually costs a little less I believe. Surprisingly enough, though, the whole WiFi thing with the 6D is quite useful for me, and the main reason I bought the camera was for film school (haven't heard of the D600 having any raw video capabilities).

I really like the 24-105, because it covers pretty much everything you need (basically) except shooting very far away or very, very close. Plus, it's not the best thing for lower light since it's max aperture only f/4. And don't get me wrong, it can shoot pretty close, especially with the cropping capabilities of 20mp. I just want to be even closer and get that super bokeh. :v

I'm also not a pro or anything like that, so I'm still learning here and there.


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## CaptainCool (Aug 30, 2014)

Canon is more popular right now so people are willing to spend more money on that brand. Naturally Canon reacts to that by keeping the prices higher 
Comparing Canon and Nikon is always difficult. Canon has always been better for video and in my opinion Nikon is better for stills.
For example, if you compare the D600/D610 and the 6D that becomes very obvious. The D600/D610 has a bigger viewfinder (100% pentaprism vs. 94% pentaprism in the 6D), more AF points (39 with 9 crosstype vs. 11 with 1 crosstype) , a higher burst rate (6fps vs. 4.5 fps) and a higher resolution (24mp vs. 20mp). And while the D600 and D610 can't go to ISO 102,400 (who needs that anyway?!) it has the better high ISO perfomance overall because it handles the noise better.

On the other hand the 6D has better AF in live view mode (and thus also during filming) and RAW video, which the D600 and D610 don't have. Canon also makes some STM lenses with a stepping motor which is just awesome for video!
The 6D and the D610 both cost around 1200â‚¬ here right now by the way. So as far as the price goes they are pretty much the same right now.

Personally I am a still shooter. I haven't even touched the video mode of my camera so far... I also don't even have a full frame DSLR, my D7000 is an APS-C DSLR. But I don't care about that too much because I don't need those stupidly high ISOs!^^

So yeah, both great companies but in my my opinion Nikon is the way to go for stills and those who might be on a tighter budget and Canon is great for video.


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## Chuchi (Aug 30, 2014)

I am nowhere near as knowledgeable about cameras as everyone else is, but for what little it's worth, out of the digital cameras I've owned in the past, the Nikon I currently have is my favorite. I agree with CaptainCool that it is the go-to for stills. The video is pretty ok, if you don't expect anything amazing. My camera is not one of the high end pro ones, it's just the Coolpix S8000, but I love it and my experience with it has convinced me to stick along with Nikons. 

Also, dat burd butt!


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## CaptainCool (Aug 30, 2014)

Pimigrat said:


> I am nowhere near as knowledgeable about cameras as everyone else is, but for what little it's worth, out of the digital cameras I've owned in the past, the Nikon I currently have is my favorite. I agree with CaptainCool that it is the go-to for stills. The video is pretty ok, if you don't expect anything amazing. My camera is not one of the high end pro ones, it's just the Coolpix S8000, but I love it and my experience with it has convinced me to stick along with Nikons.
> 
> Also, dat burd butt!



Well, I was more talking about DSLRs and mirrorless cameras. In that segment the differences between models and manufacturers are more noticable.
The Coolpix S8000 is a compact camera and those are all much more similar to each other, even between manufacturers.
There are exceptions to that like the high-end compact cameras but in the budget and midrange segments there really are no huge differences.
I'm not trying to talk down on you because "you only have a compact camera and I have an awesome DSLR!" but because that's just how it is with compact cameras^^ The manufacturers are on pretty equal footing in that segment so the products are all the same.

The Coolpix S8000 is a great compact one though! :3


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## Chuchi (Aug 30, 2014)

CaptainCool said:


> Well, I was more talking about DSLRs and mirrorless cameras. In that segment the differences between models and manufacturers are more noticable.
> The Coolpix S8000 is a compact camera and those are all much more similar to each other, even between manufacturers.
> There are exceptions to that like the high-end compact cameras but in the budget and midrange segments there really are no huge differences.
> I'm not trying to talk down on you because "you only have a compact camera and I have an awesome DSLR!" but because that's just how it is with compact cameras^^ The manufacturers are on pretty equal footing in that segment so the products are all the same.
> ...



No, I completely get what you're saying, and I wasn't trying to put any input on any high-end cameras, I'm very ignorant about them! I just wanted to chuck my 2-cents in about Nikons, as I've experienced them. ^^ Really the only exposure I've had with more complicated cameras is what I've played with in the stores. X3 I've always been kind of curious about DSLRs but I really wouldn't know where to start and I don't find myself with much opportunity to do more serious photography, so I've just stayed with casual stuff, if that makes any sense. But thank you for clarifying!


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## CaptainCool (Aug 30, 2014)

Pimigrat said:


> No, I completely get what you're saying, and I wasn't trying to put any input on any high-end cameras, I'm very ignorant about them! I just wanted to chuck my 2-cents in about Nikons, as I've experienced them. ^^ Really the only exposure I've had with more complicated cameras is what I've played with in the stores. X3 I've always been kind of curious about DSLRs but I really wouldn't know where to start and I don't find myself with much opportunity to do more serious photography, so I've just stayed with casual stuff, if that makes any sense. But thank you for clarifying!



The thing about DSLRs is that they give you more control. A point and shoot camera does almost everything for you but on a DSLR you can set everything manually. That is the biggest difference 
You can use a DSLR just like a compact camera. Set it to auto mode and you are good to go. But the manual controls are there if you need them or if you want to learn more about how to take an image :3


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## Chuchi (Aug 30, 2014)

CaptainCool said:


> The thing about DSLRs is that they give you more control. A point and shoot camera does almost everything for you but on a DSLR you can set everything manually. That is the biggest difference
> You can use a DSLR just like a compact camera. Set it to auto mode and you are good to go. But the manual controls are there if you need them or if you want to learn more about how to take an image :3



Ah, alright. Would you say getting used to or learning about the individual manual controls is difficult without any form of training/education? As in, is it kind of a "play around with it to learn" scenario or would you suggest formal introduction to the various functions? I would love to go out and take some of these bitchin' good pictures, such as wildlife and environment, and I live in Finland so there's no shortage of trees or plants for me to photograph. X3 Even some of the different settings on just the compact camera I don't know much about, so I am intimidated by the level of control a DSLR presents. But, then again, I said the same thing about Photoshop and Flash and with enough drive, I've learned my way through them. 

And thank you, by the way, for taking the time to answer my questions. I know I'm very ignorant about this, but I am taking things away from it. ^^


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## CaptainCool (Aug 30, 2014)

Pimigrat said:


> Ah, alright. Would you say getting used to or learning about the individual manual controls is difficult without any form of training/education? As in, is it kind of a "play around with it to learn" scenario or would you suggest formal introduction to the various functions? I would love to go out and take some of these bitchin' good pictures, such as wildlife and environment, and I live in Finland so there's no shortage of trees or plants for me to photograph. X3 Even some of the different settings on just the compact camera I don't know much about, so I am intimidated by the level of control a DSLR presents. But, then again, I said the same thing about Photoshop and Flash and with enough drive, I've learned my way through them.
> 
> And thank you, by the way, for taking the time to answer my questions. I know I'm very ignorant about this, but I am taking things away from it. ^^



A lot of it is trial and error and experience. For example, one of the most important aspects of photography is to learn to judge lighting conditions. Basic composition is also something you need to get a good feeling for.
But you also need to learn about a lot of stuff. There is the exposure triangle for example. By that I mean how shutter speed, aperture (the hole in the lens that the light has to pass through) and ISO work together. You have to learn how changing one of these three affects the other two and how it affects your image.
Then there is the focal length of the lens. Different focal length have different effects on the image. 
For example, a wideangle lens (everything shorter than about 35mm) pronounces the depth of your image. Things that are far away actually look like they are far away.
If you take the same image with a telephoto lens (everything longer than about 70mm) compresses the image. The background is pulled closer to the subject and usually also blown out and not sharp (you probably know the bokeh effect).
This is an example for that: http://www.depth-of-field.com/blog/images/wideangle/Travis_WideTight.jpg
On the left is a shot with a wide angle lens. The background seems further away. And on the right is the shot with a tele lens. Everything looks compressed and almost like it's about on the same plane. This is better for portraits because it isolates the subject and the image also looks less distorted.
Everything between about 35mm and 70mm counts as a "normal" focal length. As in it's kind of close to how we see the world.

Naturally you also have to learn what all the buttons and settings on your camera do.

It's not an easy hobby and most definitely not as easy as many people claim it to be. It's about more than just pressing a button :3


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## Chuchi (Aug 30, 2014)

CaptainCool said:


> A lot of it is trial and error and experience. For example, one of the most important aspects of photography is to learn to judge lighting conditions. Basic composition is also something you need to get a good feeling for.
> But you also need to learn about a lot of stuff. There is the exposure triangle for example. By that I mean how shutter speed, aperture (the hole in the lens that the light has to pass through) and ISO work together. You have to learn how changing one of these three affects the other two and how it affects your image.
> Then there is the focal length of the lens. Different focal length have different effects on the image.
> For example, a wideangle lens (everything shorter than about 35mm) pronounces the depth of your image. Things that are far away actually look like they are far away.
> ...



Thank you very much for the insight! Perhaps in time, I will try my own hand at this, but I have much to learn!


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## CaptainCool (Aug 30, 2014)

No problem^^

It took me about two years to get where I am now. But I still have much to learn as well


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## Rekel (Aug 31, 2014)

CaptainCool said:


> There is the exposure triangle for example. By that I mean how shutter speed, aperture and ISO work together.



And to add to that, there's the effect each one has. Smaller aperture = deeper depth of field, lower ISO = cleaner image and higher shutter speed = a more "still" image (less motion blur). Then there's vignetting, lens flares, center sharpness and all that jazz. 

Also, CaptainCool, I would agree with what you have said about Nikon vs. Canon, but I simply have no experience with Nikon, especially in the still-photos aspect. So I can't relate -- I do, however, believe you. 

 Taking photos is great fun until I get some more equipment, but I'm a movie guy. The literal reason I grabbed a Canon DSLR for video was because I saw Act of Valor in theaters and was thoroughly impressed with the high level of detail and sharpness in that movie, so I googled what kind of camera they used (turned out to be a 5D II) and found out it wasn't outrageously priced. After being introduced to this line of cameras, I learned about the advantages of DSLR film-making and was hooked.

EDIT: The 6D actually has a 97% viewfinder, but hey -- it ain't 100%, so it ain't good enough. :v

EDIT 2: Also, just thought I'd throw it out there that I really like your work. I'mma watch you. o.o


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## CaptainCool (Aug 31, 2014)

Right. The exposure triangle in itself and the effects of each component of it are very important.
Vignetting and lens flares aren't really such a big thing in my opinion. Vignetting can usually be removed very easily through editing software and most lenses come with a lens hood so as long as you don't take shots of the sun everything should be ok^^

The thing with Nikon and stills is that, at least in my opinion, the sensors that they use handle the noise in a more pleasing way. From my experience the noise with Canon cameras looks more "digital" while the noise with Nikon cameras looks more similar to film grain. Not exactly like that, just similar.
And as I said, some features are more geared towards stills than videos. For example, my D7000 that I bought for 450â‚¬ has more AF points than your 6D and the 5D Mk II combined^^
But there is a reason why Canon is so popular with video people. The other option would be the Panasonic GH3 and GH4. Those are currently pretty much the best enthusiast video cameras you can buy! Especially the new GH4 because it has amazing 4k capabilities.

The 6D doesn't have 100% but since it's a full frame DSLR the viewfinder is still a little bigger^^
But the 6D also only has one slot for an SD card... My D7000 and all other Nikon enthusiast cameras have two slots. Either two SD slots or one SD and one CF. Since Canon is so popular with video people I really don't understand that 

And thanks a lot, I'll return the favor :3


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## Rekel (Aug 31, 2014)

Yeah, the 11 point AF thing is a bit of a downer... especially since only one is cross-type. I mean, I barely shoot and I've had it focus on the wrong thing quite a bit. xD My next step up would be the 5DIII, which has 61 points (41 cross-type). But, hey, I'm not going to spend an extra $1500+ just for a fancy AF system I won't even use much. The 5DIII also has a built-in aliasing filter -- the 6D doesn't and in turn it produces pretty bad moire in video. Moire that can be solved with an external filter for $400._ Sigh_, money, money, money, money.

The single SD slot is another downer. Two SD slots isn't any better _for me_, but lacking CF slots means a slower writing speed, which is very important for shooting RAW video. I'm limited in that respect, but not enough to really set me behind.

Yeah, the GH4... It came out after I got my camera. It costs the same as mine and has LOADS more detail in video. On the bright side, though, I have full-frame (which has actually been a HUGE help thus far), crazy ISO and a billion lenses.  Obviously I don't have the best thing on the planet, especially for what I paid ($2300), so Nikon's got that stuff figured out it seems. Buuuut, eh... video, bro. Not to mention Magic Lantern has some BADASS features.


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## CaptainCool (Aug 31, 2014)

In my opinion the AF points are actually a huge disadvantage of all full frame cameras, be it Nikon or Canon^^ Because on the APS-C cameras the points are spread over a larger portion of the viewfinder than on 35mm cameras. It's not as bad on the more professional models but in the consumer segment that can be a problem.

As a stills shooter I don't even really need the 2 slots. I have two 16gb SD cards in my D7000 and so far I only managed once to fill one of them completely in one day. That was when I got my 80-200mm f/2.8 and tested it at the zoo^^

Every camera has its pros and cons^^ Your 6D is still mainly a still camera that is just _really_ good at video stuff, the GH4 is geared towards videography but still pretty capable when it comes to stills.


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## Chuchi (Aug 31, 2014)

Thank you, Rekel, for your additional input. :3

One of the big things I'm interested in taking pictures of is birds and also stars. After doing a bit of reading online, as much as my flu would allow me to actually retain, I've begun to look into different cameras and gather information regarding photography nomenclature. The first steps to establishing the hobby, I think. I've also done some research regarding pricing and, while actually purchasing a camera is a ways off for me, I can learn all I can in the meanwhile. I've always been really intimidated by the knowledge required to take great photos, as I've only ever been a layman, as well as how expensive such a hobby can run. But I'm in a more secure place in my life and I can actually begin to reconsider such pursuits, so I thank you guys for rekindling that interest in me. ^^


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## CaptainCool (Aug 31, 2014)

You are very welcome :3

You did choose two things that can be pretty difficult though... When you say birds, do you mean birds in the wild? Like actual birding? I don't want to intimidate you but for that kind of thing a rather extreme telephoto lens is kind of mandatory. I have a 200mm lens right now and even that is barely enough for taking pictures at the zoo where the animals don't get scared and run away. When you go birding your lens needs to be as long as possible so you don't scare the birds, and unfortunately ultralelephoto lenses are quite expensive.
To my knowledge the cheapest lenses that get you actually useful results are the Sigma 120-400mm f/4.5-5.6 (around 700 bucks), the Sigma 150-500mm f/5-6.3 (also around 700 bucks) and the new Tamron 150-600mm f/5-6.3 (around 1 grand and I have heard good things about it). If you look for a lens that is not from a thirdparty manufacturer but instead made by Nikon or Canon those lenses easily cost more than 1 grand. Like the new Nikon 400mm f/2.8 FL VR? 12 grand.  $11,999.95 to be exact. It's *insane*! XD
Those lenses are also very heavy. When you take something like that with you you usually have a bag for your camera and one bag _just_ for the lens!^^

With stars you mean astrophotography, right? That is also rather tough depending on how you want to do it. If you want to take shots of the milky way or the moon you just need a tripod, a fast (with a big maximum aperture) wideangle lens and a tele lens. I've done that, that's not too difficult^^
But if you want to shoot things like nebulas like this? That requires a lot of skill, patience and special equipment.
The lens isn't really that important in this case. A good and fast lens just makes it easier. The camera itself is the limiting factor here! That is because in astrophotography you need to take very long exposures. Some times hours instead of something like 1/200s in regular photography. And the issue with that is that when you take an image for that long the camera gets hot. And a hot camera produces a LOT of noise. So you have to modify the camera with a cooler to keep the sensor and processor cold, which looks like this.
You then also need a special tripod with a star tracker. Depending on what you buy these can also easily cost many hundred bucks. I have yet to find a cheap solution for that.


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## Chuchi (Aug 31, 2014)

CaptainCool said:


> You are very welcome :3
> 
> You did choose two things that can be pretty difficult though... When you say birds, do you mean birds in the wild? Like actual birding? I don't want to intimidate you but for that kind of thing a rather extreme telephoto lens is kind of mandatory. I have a 200mm lens right now and even that is barely enough for taking pictures at the zoo where the animals don't get scared and run away. When you go birding your lens needs to be as long as possible so you don't scare the birds, and unfortunately ultralelephoto lenses are quite expensive.
> To my knowledge the cheapest lenses that get you actually useful results are the Sigma 120-400mm f/4.5-5.6 (around 700 bucks), the Sigma 150-500mm f/5-6.3 (also around 700 bucks) and the new Tamron 150-600mm f/5-6.3 (around 1 grand and I have heard good things about it). If you look for a lens that is not from a thirdparty manufacturer but instead made by Nikon or Canon those lenses easily cost more than 1 grand. Like the new Nikon 400mm f/2.8 FL VR? 12 grand.  $11,999.95 to be exact. It's *insane*! XD
> ...



Ugh @n@ well, I better start learning how to shit golden bricks then. I'll have to learn more about both areas of photography and see how to balance out what I expect and want with what I can financially achieve. ^^


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## CaptainCool (Aug 31, 2014)

Yeah, photography can be very expensive...
Finding a happy medium of what you can do is important. As I said, there is always the zoo :3 They have better burds there anyway!

















The equipment I used for these shots cost me about 700â‚¬ total. I bought it all used and the lens is 25 years old, but I don't think you can see that when looking at the images


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## Kit H. Ruppell (Aug 31, 2014)

I know the stork and the heron, but what's the snobbish-looking one on top?


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## CaptainCool (Aug 31, 2014)

Kit H. Ruppell said:


> I know the stork and the heron, but what's the snobbish-looking one on top?



That's a secretarybird :3


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## Harbinger (Aug 31, 2014)

Still havent played with my flash yet, got some new pets recently and i wanted to get quick pics to document them firstly just incase anything happens to them, i think its fair to see i have the best stag beetle collection here :V
And holy shit jtrekkie, completely missed those Vinegaroon shots, i fucking love those guys, bred them myself before 
Dont suppose you can send me some


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## Kit H. Ruppell (Aug 31, 2014)

CaptainCool said:


> That's a secretarybird :3


That was what I thought, but I think I've been losing my bird-identification skills in recent years.


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## CaptainCool (Sep 1, 2014)

Kit H. Ruppell said:


> That was what I thought, but I think I've been losing my bird-identification skills in recent years.



It's ok. This time he will only eat one of your eyes for your insolence.


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## Rekel (Sep 1, 2014)

CaptainCool said:


> The equipment I used for these shots cost me about 700â‚¬ total. I bought it all used and the lens is 25 years old, but I don't think you can see that when looking at the images



Is it different equipment from other recent pictures? Because I was going to say these look particularly crisp and rich in color.


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## CaptainCool (Sep 1, 2014)

Rekel said:


> Is it different equipment from other recent pictures? Because I was going to say these look particularly crisp and rich in color.



Which ones do you mean in particular?
This was taken with my 12-24mm lens:
https://d.facdn.net/art/lollazer/1402343794.lollazer_ma1_4345.jpg

The butterflies I shot with my 40mm macro lens (in awful lighting by the way) :
http://abload.de/img/ma1_84015jegj.jpg

These were taken with my 50mm prime:
http://abload.de/img/ma1_7971sniuk.jpg
http://abload.de/img/ma1_7927c8c1i.jpg
https://d.facdn.net/art/lollazer/1407683093.lollazer_ma1_7995.jpg

And these were all taken with my 80-200mm, mostly at 200mm:
https://d.facdn.net/art/lollazer/1396205783.lollazer_ma1_0913.jpg
https://d.facdn.net/art/lollazer/1396211717.lollazer_ma1_0830.jpg
https://d.facdn.net/art/lollazer/1396212477.lollazer_ma1_1237.jpg
https://d.facdn.net/art/lollazer/1402342770.lollazer_ma1_4238.jpg
https://d.facdn.net/art/lollazer/1398022510.lollazer_ma1_1821.jpg
http://abload.de/img/ma1_80659ocaa.jpg

It also depends on the light of course. And especially during the last two months or so the light has been awful, so I had to raise the exposure in Lightroom which introduced more noise.
But other than that I didn't really change my equipment.


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## Rekel (Sep 1, 2014)

Ah, well... Maybe it's only the birds. xD I just noticed a lot of detail on the neck and beak of the bird in that second photo, and it kinda made me think you changed something. And the color is the same now that I think about it. One of them was completely green with foliage and the others I've seen in the past weren't.

Or maybe I'm just crazy, idk. :v


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## CaptainCool (Sep 1, 2014)

Yeah I guess it's the birds^^ And as I said, I lost some detail because of noise.
Some of these shots are also cropped, that has an impact on the level of details as well.
But I don't think any of these shots are noticably worse than others. You just gotta make the best out of the light that you have available :3


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## jtrekkie (Sep 4, 2014)




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## CaptainCool (Sep 7, 2014)

^That is a burd :3

Got new ones:


























Mandatory lemur:


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## Maugryph (Sep 10, 2014)

@*Harbinger* 	 and @*CaptainCool* 	 Awesome photos. Thank you for sharing them with us


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## CaptainCool (Sep 10, 2014)

Thanks and you are welcome :3 In fact, have some more!

I love the eyes in this one.


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## Misomie (Sep 12, 2014)

Here you guys are with this awesome cameras and then there's me. XP
















Luckily my cat is a camera hog, but still. XD


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## CaptainCool (Sep 12, 2014)

The camera is irrelevant. It's about how you use it.
For example, this is David Hobby, aka The Strobist, or the motherfucking Master of Light as I like to call him, taking photos with a freaking Buzz Lightyear toy camera! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnUavVTTjb8
YOU take the photos, not the camera. The camera just captures what you present to it.


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## Harbinger (Sep 13, 2014)

CaptainCool said:


> YOU take the photos, not the camera. The camera just captures what you present to it.



Well great, now i know whenever i take a crap picture its me being crap :V
And im in the process of sorting through over 200 pictures of my day with wolves, i went for the keeper day instead of the photography day seeing as i only really had macro lenses but it turned out it included a photography session 
It was overcast pretty much the entire day and i know the pics could be better but holy shit, i got to meet wolves :3
Will post the pics when they're done uploading.


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## CaptainCool (Sep 13, 2014)

Well, yeah :3 If you took crap photos then _you_ took crap photos^^ That's just how it is.
Sure, there are situations in which better equipment makes a difference. But if you take photos in regular lighting situations and you take crap photos with an old compact camera then you would take crap photos with a 5D Mk III as well.

They had a photo session? Awesome! That solves the problem with the lenses then!  I'm jealous now^^
If the weather allowes it I'll head to a zoo again tomorrow. Maybe even two zoos, I dunno. I've never been to the one I want to go to, so if it sucks I have a "backup zoo"


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## Harbinger (Sep 13, 2014)

Lol, just trying to top going to the wolf sanctuary aint ya 
You should go to that Hamm show, you cant take photo's at the show but get yourself some fancy ass animals then you can bring the zoo to you i guess


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## Bonobosoph (Sep 13, 2014)

Some personal favourites from my photo albums. 
Emma and her kid, Tripa. Chester zoo. Emma and her sister Subis are some of the most beautiful orang-utans I've ever met, I know I'm biased but it's true.






Subis! Chester zoo



Nicky, Chester zoo



Lopori, Twycross zoo. I love this little girl so much (I named my fursona after her. ^.^) OMG I MISS THE TWCYROSS GUYS SO BAD FFFFUUUUUU



Malaika, Twycross zoo. The other love of my life. ^.^ 



Winton, Twycross. He's a little rascal, you can see the mischief in his eyes. I played chase with him last time I went. 




Chimp lady, Chester zoo (forgot her name) grooming her bottom with serious determination. xP


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## CaptainCool (Sep 14, 2014)

Harbinger said:


> Lol, just trying to top going to the wolf sanctuary aint ya
> You should go to that Hamm show, you cant take photo's at the show but get yourself some fancy ass animals then you can bring the zoo to you i guess



I don't think I can top that, those are some awesome shots! I'm glad for you they let you get so close! :3
I also can't top that because it's super cloudy today so I can't really do anything. Maybe later today but I doubt that...


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## CaptainCool (Sep 14, 2014)

Some new stuff from a different zoo:
















Mandatory lemur:


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## jtrekkie (Sep 16, 2014)

I really like that first one, and the last one. 






It's a wolf spider carrying its spiderlings. I do have a question. I notice when I take either very close photos or use a lot of zoom that I get chromatic aberration. It seems to be worse with flash on. Is there anything I can do to minimize this? I've got a Cannon SX500 IS, so there's nothing I can do about the lens.


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## Misomie (Sep 16, 2014)

Anyone have tips for taking pictures of my stupid fish? They are always blurry when flash is off but come out fine when flash is on. However, flash makes them look stupid. D:<

I'm using a Canon PowerShot ELPH 135. Haven't found one of the limited options that made it work. I guess I can just buy a better camera later. This one pretty much has nothing going for it. XP


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## Bonobosoph (Sep 16, 2014)

Wingham wildlife park.


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## jtrekkie (Sep 16, 2014)

Misomie said:


> Anyone have tips for taking pictures of my stupid fish? They are always blurry when flash is off but come out fine when flash is on. However, flash makes them look stupid. D:<
> 
> I'm using a Canon PowerShot ELPH 135. Haven't found one of the limited options that made it work. I guess I can just buy a better camera later. This one pretty much has nothing going for it. XP



Try using a lamp or opening a window for lighting if you can. If you have settings for autofocus you might play around with that.


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## Misomie (Sep 16, 2014)

jtrekkie said:


> Try using a lamp or opening a window for lighting if you can. If you have settings for autofocus you might play around with that.


I doubt a light will help much. The tank already has a bright florescent bulb (not as bright as the old one that broke but I can try amping up the brightness by adding tinfoil. Dumb fish twitch to much. XP Wasn't able to get clear shots even with my ultra bright set-up. I'll try and find an auto-focus. I know it does try to track them but the buttheads are all, "nope."


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## jtrekkie (Sep 16, 2014)

Most camera's let you specify the ISO. Try turning it up and see what happens, maybe you can get the shutter speed down that way. 

Just play around with it. Sorry I can't help more than that.


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## CaptainCool (Sep 19, 2014)

Taking shots of a fish tank is really damn difficult.
From what I know you need really good lighting and a polarizer to reduce reflections.
Bumping up the ISO won't do much good because it ruins details and colors, so it will still look blurry.


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## Batty Krueger (Sep 19, 2014)

Here are the 3 monsters I'm gunna be looking after in my new place. Husky, husky, wolf dog.


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## CaptainCool (Sep 19, 2014)

Well that sounds like an orgy in the making...
:V


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## jtrekkie (Sep 21, 2014)

Pretty dogs 

More pets:













Big faker. He's really a pussycat.


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## Batty Krueger (Sep 21, 2014)

CaptainCool said:


> Well that sounds like an orgy in the making...
> :V


Of course the German guy would think of this!
Get back in your dungeon.


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## CaptainCool (Sep 21, 2014)

jtrekkie said:


>



You have a pet _lynx_? I know it's really a bobcat but those are pretty much just smaller lynxes...



Batty Krueger said:


> Of course the German guy would think of this!
> Get back in your dungeon.



Oh now I am the perv? I am just exposing what you really want to do with them!
X3


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## Batty Krueger (Sep 21, 2014)

Shhh dont tell, thats what makes it illegal!


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## CaptainCool (Sep 21, 2014)

Batty Krueger said:


> Shhh dont tell, thats what makes it illegal!



"No Officer! I didn't have sex with those dogs! I was naked and accidentally fell on one!"

Anyway, I wanted to go to the zoo today but I caught a mean cold and the weather is shit >:C


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## jtrekkie (Sep 21, 2014)

CaptainCool said:


> You have a pet _lynx_? I know it's really a bobcat but those are pretty much just smaller lynxes...



His name is Garfield. I'll take another picture when his coat comes in, maybe January.

No, I'm not letting either of you near him. The last thing I need is a traumatized bobcat.


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## Bonobosoph (Sep 22, 2014)

A bombardement of apes coming your way...
William, Chimpanzee



Mokonzi, bonobo (I played with him for a little while shortly before closing, his mum wanted him to settle down for the evening so she glared at me and knocked the glass, point taken mother.)



Oumbi, Western Lowland gorilla



Mongo, a chimp who is completely bald!



Bonobos grooming, the teenager at the front is Maringa. Not sure of the other one's name.



Lope, baby Western Lowland gorilla



Not sure but I think this chimp's name is Tojo



Mah gurl Kibriah. Love her to bits, she's so friendly.



Maringa again with her grooming partner poking her in the eye xD


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## Bonobosoph (Sep 22, 2014)

Here's a video of Mokonzi I took.
[video=youtube_share;FSnHkJ904Pw]http://youtu.be/FSnHkJ904Pw?t=34s[/video]


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## jtrekkie (Sep 22, 2014)

Why is Mongo bald?


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## Bonobosoph (Sep 23, 2014)

It seems to be a hereditary alopecia he got from his dad. Other close relatives of his have mousy-brown hair and pale skin which is probably linked.


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## CaptainCool (Sep 23, 2014)

jtrekkie said:


> His name is Garfield. I'll take another picture when his coat comes in, maybe January.
> 
> No, I'm not letting either of you near him. The last thing I need is a traumatized bobcat.



I just want to take photos, pet him a little and give him some feesh :c If he likes feesh that is X3


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## Astus (Sep 23, 2014)

Picture of an American Kestrel from when i was in Peru. It's one of my favorite pictures I've taken


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## Misomie (Sep 27, 2014)

I AM VICTORIOUS! >: D

Turns out there is a special mode on the camera called, "Get a clearish shot of your stupid squirmy fish" and it works! (It's really just a mode to reduce blur that the camera had). 

I was going to give up, but then I saw my danios were just chilling by a plant (chilling as in just sitting there). So I grab the camera and the dumb Rosy Barbs start photobombing. D:<

In this photobomb I actually catch a clearish shot of one of my fish~




(This is my sick female I've mentioned a few times. She's been acting more like her usual self and has an appetite again so I expect full recovery in a few weeks). 

I accidentally changed the settings and stumble upon fish-catchy mode when trying to restore it. Behold!





Ryuk the derp fish. 





Echo the camera hog (not kidding about her, she made it into the vast majority of the shots).





The fish who have all this space like to squish together and make it look like they have no room. (Ryuk, Ruse, Kaito, and I forgot the other three females names. XP)





Kaito. He's actually a lot redder in person, super bright. 





I'm not kidding about Echo being a photobomber (Ryuk is almost as bad as her). 

So now that I know I can get clearish shots, I'll give the glass a good cleaning to make sure they are super clear next time~ (That blurriness inside the tank is tiny bits of algae the snails left behind. Lazy snails! Making me clean my own glass!) And of course some water drops on the outside. I removed some for shooting though.

Oh yeah! And I got one little teeny shot of one of the danios:




No thanks to you Rosy Barbs! D:< (You can see one of their fat butts up in the corner because heaven forbid they don't get their picture taken)


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## Batty Krueger (Sep 27, 2014)

Oh yeah, I know. Fish are the worst to try and take a photo of. Id have thousands from work, but I gave up years ago. My camera doesn't have the fish feature XD.

Edit-
Well I was actually able to get a decent photo of my personal tank in my office. 2nd Edit-Holy shit I actually got my fire shrimp in the photo! Bottom left under the rock. Hes such a goofball, I love him.




Yay being able to stay overnight in my office so I dont have to drive home after a work outing. Glad I bought this couch a couple weeks ago. Fuck sleeping on a cold cement floor.

Btw Mis are those live plants? Hard to tell on my phone and in my drunken stupor.


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## Misomie (Sep 27, 2014)

The one on the right is a live plant (Anubis) while the one on the left is a plastic plant that actually looks pretty real when the algae builds up on it. I keep trying real plants but my fish *cough*Rosy Barbs*cough* destroy them. One time I added Wisteria. You know what I got? Broken limbs the next day. Other plants? Uprooted. Java Fern? Eaten despite it being bitter. Duck weed? Also eaten (in a matter of days). Amazon swords? Noooope. I know it's the barbs because I catch them screwing with the plants and they are the only ones capable of causing damage to them (you should see how much vegetables they are able to eat. They're like little wolves). 

I should just get several more Anubis plants. At least they leave those a lone. XP

Also, saltwater tanks are awesome. >: D

This is my crustacean (he spends tons of his time hiding, mainly when I'm there) :




He's even worse than the barbs when it comes to plants. That's why he's not allowed any. Except for algae. However, he eats that too soooo..... (he just molted the day before this picture was taken)


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## shteev (Sep 27, 2014)

sorry for the bad quality, my little sister caught this moment on my mom's cell phone

but without further ado






MY DOG WINKED


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## Batty Krueger (Sep 27, 2014)

Its the Tim and Eric dog!


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## CaptainCool (Sep 28, 2014)

Got a few new ones:

















Finally got to see a red panda! Usually they are always asleep when I get to them XD


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## jtrekkie (Sep 28, 2014)

That meerkat is amazing.


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## Batty Krueger (Sep 29, 2014)

My god CC that red panda photo is breathtaking.  Good fuckin job dude, bravo.


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## CaptainCool (Sep 29, 2014)

jtrekkie said:


> That meerkat is amazing.



Thanks ^^ I am pretty happy with that one myself! 



Batty Krueger said:


> My god CC that red panda photo is breathtaking.  Good fuckin job dude, bravo.



Shuddup baby I know it


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## CaptainCool (Sep 29, 2014)

Have some more!


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## jtrekkie (Oct 1, 2014)

So much color in those shots. What do you use for processing?





Immature lizard, I think it's some kind of whiptail. Look at his tail.


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## CaptainCool (Oct 1, 2014)

jtrekkie said:


> So much color in those shots. What do you use for processing?



I mainly use Adobe Lightroom 5 to edit my photos. But I found that a properly calibrated screen also helps to get good results! 90 bucks the most basic Spyder 4 colorimeter are a lot but it's worth it. I had some of my shots printed recently and they look just like they do on my screen^^

I like your second photo, the expression of the dog in that situation is really funny :3


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## Batty Krueger (Oct 1, 2014)

That lizard is a jeweled swift. Whip tails are more slender and have a racier head.


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## jtrekkie (Oct 2, 2014)

@CC 

Thanks. I'm using a LCD so the viewing angle is pretty bad. I don't know if calibration would help much, but it's something to look into.

@Batty

You're good! I guess he wasn't immature at all. I found him just outside of White Sands. It's a whole other world up there.


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## Batty Krueger (Oct 2, 2014)

Hell yeah White Sands is awesome. I was going to be a herpatologist but found that studying marine biology and becoming an ichthyologist working with aquariums makes tons more money, and I had a jeweled swift as a pet when I was younger :3


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## CaptainCool (Oct 5, 2014)

More lemurs and a giraffe:


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## Harbinger (Oct 11, 2014)

CaptainCool said:


> More lemurs and a giraffe:



Thats a funny looking giraffe :\/

And i got a couple recent pics to show.


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## CaptainCool (Oct 11, 2014)

Harbinger said:


> Thats a funny looking giraffe :\/



You are not being very nice to that zoo keeper :T


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## CaptainCool (Oct 12, 2014)

Some new ones:

A tiger with a derpy expression:





Red pandas:










Lemur pettings:





Lemur eating my damn camera! STOP THAT! DX


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## Bonobosoph (Oct 14, 2014)

A super adorable photo of Sanjiv that my sister took the other day.


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## Gnarl (Oct 18, 2014)

Warning this picture contains cute mice, sorta, in a very dangerous place! I opened the main power transfer switch to the generator and found this. 
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/14787650/


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## JaskaTheFennec (Oct 18, 2014)

Gonna post a few of all of my babies! :'D

My kitty, Ember:






Crappy pictures of my rat boys (Link, Odin & Diego):














And some ACTUAL photography examples OTL :










 (also my cat, named Tora)





 - this dude was OBSESSED with me. He kept meowing and calling for me, and the caretakers said they had never seen him act that way. He kept looking for ways up to me, plopping over, showing his tummy, and he wouldn't stop looking at me. I miss my buddy!


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## CaptainCool (Oct 19, 2014)

The dragonfly looks nice! And I am jealous of your lion... I went to the zoo today as well and this is all I got to see of them:





And the rest from today:


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## jtrekkie (Oct 19, 2014)

That looks like one contented tiger.


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## CaptainCool (Oct 19, 2014)

Dude you should have seen him^^ He was speeding through his enclosure like a madman today! X3


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## Rouge Artist (Oct 21, 2014)

I really don't live near a Zoo like some of you do, but then again I do live just north of Yellowstone. And since I just got myself a new DSLR I may be taking more wildlife pictures this winter. But anyways heres some of mine that I quickly found.


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## CaptainCool (Oct 21, 2014)

Have some more giant pussy:


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## CaptainCool (Oct 23, 2014)

I got some more crazy critters for you!


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## CaptainCool (Nov 1, 2014)

OH SHIT IT'S THAT TIME AGAIN
















Granny Lemur:


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## Bonobosoph (Nov 3, 2014)

Chester zoo! 




















I hate glass


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## CaptainCool (Nov 6, 2014)

Don't shoot through glass. It's just not worth it.
Also, you should try to compose your photos differently. Try to make them look a little less tight, there is no context to the animals in these shots.

Some more from Nov. 1st:


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## Bonobosoph (Nov 6, 2014)

CaptainCool said:


> Don't shoot through glass. It's just not worth it.
> Also, you should try to compose your photos differently. Try to make them look a little less tight, there is no context to the animals in these shots.


What's tight in photo terms?


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## CaptainCool (Nov 6, 2014)

Bonobosoph said:


> What's tight in photo terms?



Too close. Or a too narrow angle of view.
There is a saying that you should always get as close as possible to get a good shot. But you shouldn't overdo it^^ If you do you lose the context between your subject and its surroundings.


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## Bonobosoph (Nov 6, 2014)

CaptainCool said:


> Too close. Or a too narrow angle of view.
> There is a saying that you should always get as close as possible to get a good shot. But you shouldn't overdo it^^ If you do you lose the context between your subject and its surroundings.


Ah I get ya. 
I tend to get drawn to details such as facial expressions and stuff so I end up zooming right in.


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## CaptainCool (Nov 9, 2014)

Bonobosoph said:


> Ah I get ya.
> I tend to get drawn to details such as facial expressions and stuff so I end up zooming right in.



Getting those details is important. But you can't forget about the rest of the scene :3

Some more from today:











They are _hugging_.


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## CaptainCool (Nov 24, 2014)

Some more lemurs:
















Little bastards tried to mug me... One was acting all cute as I was petting him while his accomplice tried to steal my wallet from behind!


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## Harbinger (Nov 24, 2014)

Aw gawd they're adorable :3


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## CaptainCool (Nov 24, 2014)

Harbinger said:


> Aw gawd they're adorable :3



They really are! And they are SO damn soft... I just can't stress that enough! It's probably because their coat is so dense.
And fun fact, they smell a tiny bit like garlic! XD

Oh also, that last shot is a great example why I love this 25 years old lens so much... Look at the details in his eye! It's awesome X3
Right now I'm thinking about getting a 300mm f/4 prime though. It's also an older lens but even sharper than this old pro zoom lens!


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## CaptainCool (Dec 15, 2014)

Some reworked lemurs:


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## CaptainCool (Jan 1, 2015)

Some new ones:


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## CaptainCool (Jan 11, 2015)

Tested a new 300mm f/4 lens today. Weather was shite though so I had to keep it at relatively high ISOs.





https://www.furaffinity.net/view/15449255/





https://www.furaffinity.net/view/15449334/





https://www.furaffinity.net/view/15449380/





https://www.furaffinity.net/view/15449476/





https://www.furaffinity.net/view/15449590/





https://www.furaffinity.net/view/15449749/


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## Maugryph (Jan 11, 2015)

These are fantastic. you got so much sharp detail and texture your photos.


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## CaptainCool (Jan 11, 2015)

Thanks a lot!^^

But there better be lots of details! That lens was (relatively) expensive and it weighs a ton! X3


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## Misomie (Jan 13, 2015)

I got some new fishie pictures~

Remember when I posted a pic of my sick fish? Well here he is (Ruse), all nice and healed up:




Here is his old pic: http://i.imgur.com/lZcTKXL.jpg (yes they are the same fish. I thought he was a female at the time and that Ruse had died but it was him all along)

One of my most beautiful fish (Kaito) :





Four of my barbs getting in the way of the new minnows :


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## Volkodav (Jan 13, 2015)




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## CaptainCool (Jan 21, 2015)




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## UrsusArtist (Jan 22, 2015)

My two furballs:


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## CaptainCool (Jan 25, 2015)

Another trip to the zoo:





https://www.furaffinity.net/view/15571059/





https://www.furaffinity.net/view/15573533/





https://www.furaffinity.net/view/15571607/





https://www.furaffinity.net/view/15571363/


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## CaptainCool (Feb 15, 2015)

Have some more:





https://www.furaffinity.net/view/15699315/





https://www.furaffinity.net/view/15699978/





https://www.furaffinity.net/view/15763259/
"Draw me like one of your french lemurs."





https://www.furaffinity.net/view/15763300/





https://www.furaffinity.net/view/15763445/





https://www.furaffinity.net/view/15763535/


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## Chellehound (Feb 15, 2015)

Harbinger and CaptainCool, you've set the bar way too high for me! Beautiful work.





Yucky cat in her Valentine's Day sweater. :>


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## CaptainCool (Feb 23, 2015)

Thanks^^

Have some new ones then:


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## CaptainCool (Mar 16, 2015)

Have some more:


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## CaptainCool (Mar 27, 2015)

Red-Ruffed Lemur by Mathias Appel, on Flickr



Red Panda by Mathias Appel, on Flickr



Red Panda by Mathias Appel, on Flickr



Greater kudu by Mathias Appel, on Flickr



Lynx by Mathias Appel, on Flickr


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## Mikazuki Marazhu (Mar 27, 2015)

XD


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## Samandriel Morningstar (Apr 8, 2015)

All photos taken by me.


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## Volkodav (Apr 8, 2015)




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## CaptainCool (Apr 15, 2015)

It was warm on Sunday so the lemurs came out again! :3



Ring-Tailed Lemur by Mathias Appel, on Flickr



Ring-Tailed Lemur by Mathias Appel, on Flickr



Ring-Tailed Lemur by Mathias Appel, on Flickr



Greater Kudu by Mathias Appel, on Flickr


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## CaptainCool (May 19, 2015)

Temperatures have gone up. What does that mean? Correct! Lemur season!



GIMME THAT! by Mathias Appel, auf Flickr



Ring-Tailed Lemur by Mathias Appel, auf Flickr


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## Harbinger (Jun 2, 2015)

That first pics brilliant 
And here's my new baby kenyan sand boa i picked up today :3


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## CaptainCool (Jun 10, 2015)

Your first one is nice as well. I like the perspective better :3

Here are some more lee murrs: 






The queen of the derps !
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/16649359/

And a pile of them:






http://www.furaffinity.net/view/16649018/

At this point I might as well call them my "external pets" :3


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## Gnarl (Jun 10, 2015)

I went to water the strawberry patch and guess what I found.. these are completely wild animals.


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## CaptainCool (Jun 17, 2015)

Bunnies are pretty adorable, but baby bunnies? Oh man, it's hard to compete with that! <3

But I'm gonna try anyway:





https://www.furaffinity.net/view/16830614/

She is always so happy!


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## Harbinger (Jun 19, 2015)

How about baby green tree pythons :V


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## Harbinger (Jun 19, 2015)

And my boa lookin all pretty


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## Harbinger (Jun 28, 2015)

May have gone overboard with pics of this gal


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## CaptainCool (Jul 7, 2015)

The second one is my favorite, I love the background and composition in that one! :3 Not to mention that snakes are awesome!

Ok. So. I am now officially calling this guy my pet:


Ring-Tailed Lemur by Mathias Appel, auf Flickr
I was at this zoo for the last three days (I'm on vacation and I want to make the most of that season pass ). Today he sat on my lap and was sunbathing and he always tried to lick my face :3 He probably doesn't like me. He probably sat on me because it's more comfortable than sitting on a rock and he tried to lick my face because I was sweating like a pig because it's so hot here right now. He probably couldn't give less of a fuck about me (lemurs are not capable of giving a fuck about anything) because when the sun moved he went to a different spot. But still! He's my little buddy now! XD

Also, koala:


Koala by Mathias Appel, auf Flickr


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## Mikazuki Marazhu (Jul 7, 2015)

My dog dutchie..


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## CaptainCool (Jul 9, 2015)

That's a good doge :3

Another Koala:




https://www.furaffinity.net/view/17055624/


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## Kurokawa (Jul 11, 2015)

My doge xD


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## CaptainCool (Jul 11, 2015)

Is gewd doge yes :3

Here is my dog:


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## CaptainCool (Aug 16, 2015)

It's raining like crazy today but that didn't stop me! I NEED TO CUDDLE LEMURS ONCE A WEEK OR I DIE OK?!
Also, "wet panda":



Red Panda by Mathias Appel, auf Flickr

"Nice umbrella, asshole..."


African Lion by Mathias Appel, auf Flickr

He could have gone inside... The door was open. No idea why he did that to himself. Cats, am I right?


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## CaptainCool (Feb 22, 2016)

Black and white Ruffed Lemur by Mathias Appel, auf Flickr

She sat on my lap for a long time on Saturday.


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