HOW TO PHOTOGRAPH A CHAMELEON

HOW TO PHOTOGRAPH A CHAMELEON

aka Share Beautiful Pictures, Do Not Pollute the Cyberspace with Crap

Chameleons are spectacular animals and are extremely beautiful. People can really enjoy their beauty in nice photographs. Unfortunately, many photographers tend to be very careless when taking pictures, so that they do not show the animal in its beauty but instead pollute cyberspace with aesthetically problematic images, which are dark, unfocused, with very bad backgrounds, and simply not nice. Even some accounts that almost daily post pictures of these wonderful animals share unbelievable photos with unfocused images or with cars and trash in the background, or even call it art, which is often disgusting. I feel pity for the beautiful animals that appear in such pictures as freaks or in unappealing colors and compositions.

Fortunately, we live in an age of modern technology, where even a simple smartphone can take pictures that, when viewed on a smartphone or screen (not really in large format or high-quality printing), can look quite nice. It does not take much effort to turn an ugly picture into a very nice one. Here are some simple hints:

BRANCH

TO DO: Put the chameleon simply on a branch and let it stabilize and calm down.

FREQUENT FAULTS: Pictures taken on hands or fingers only look good rarely, and you risk the chameleon falling down. Pictures taken on heads, shoulders, sofas, carpets, steering wheels, and other objects usually look silly. Taking pictures in positions other than a natural position on a branch can result in problems with Facebook, which might consider it unnatural handling of exotic animals. They may not only delete the post but can also suspend your account if you post it, penalize you, or even close a group allowing such pictures. Admins can be blocked or deleted if they explicitly allow posting these pictures that violate Facebook rules. Some pictures can be really disgusting like a chameleon photographed on hands with biten off nails, dirty nails, dirty hands, or old manicure falling off. The most disgusting posted photo I saw made by a finish elderly lady on her feet with overgrown nails and fungal infection of the nails and skin.

NEUTRAL BACKGROUND

TO DO: Make sure the background of the photograph is neutral, ideally a single color like black or another dark color, and ensure the background is not sharp enough to conflict with the main object.

FREQUENT FAULTS: There are countless pictures where absolutely stunning animals appear against backgrounds that totally destroy the photos, such as cages, interiors of houses, streets, cars, or objects that require exceptional creativity to fit into the focus of your camera. These elements do not improve the picture; they make it worse.

COMPOSITION

TO DO: Think first and let the chameleon fill the main space of the picture aesthetically. It is best if its center is approximately at the center of the picture and not off to the side.

FREQUENT FAULTS: Eccentric or chaotic pictures where parts of the body or legs are illogically cut off look strange or faulty. Not always are the owners a good background for the pictures: seeing someon with long fatty unwashed hair or smiling with teeth fallen off is nothing what an observer will enjoy. Am I sexistic or intollerant? No. But extremes which we are simetimes forced to lok at are really horrible.

FOCUS

TO DO: Make sure the chameleon is in focus. It is best to use autofocus with a wide range focus and a high aperture number (above 10). In most smartphones, simply tap the center of the picture.

FREQUENT FAULTS: Blurry and foggy pictures are very frequent and look terrible and do not show the animals nicely. If taking a picture, for example, from the front, make sure the closest spot to the camera is focused. It looks okay if the distant parts are more and more out of focus, but all other concepts are questionable as they look stupid or wrong. To sell out-of-focus images as artistic intention is hard, though some try to.

FLASH

TO DO: Use flash; it will enable you to shoot sharp and focused pictures. Use apertures above 10, and if the light is too much, go with a higher aperture or shorten the exposure time or set a lower ISO. On smartphones, you can cover the flash partly with a finger or put a piece of white paper in front of the flash. Flash is also the only option to get usable pictures if there is a need to photograph against the sun or light direction. BTW sime if the best pictires of chameleons can be shot at night. First, they might sit still and usjally, the are quite. rightly colored. Flash is the name if the game then.

FREQUENT FAULTS: Not using flash might make your pictures look a bit more natural but often makes them too dark or the object is not clearly separated from the background, resulting in unfocused and blurry images.

FROM THE SIDE

TO DO: Since the bodies of most chameleons are laterally flattened, the best pictures are usually taken from the side, meaning the axis of the view should be at a right angle to the body axis of the chameleon.

FREQUENT FAULTS: Taking pictures from below, above, from the front, or from behind often makes the chameleons look unnatural, strange, and unfocused, causing problems with aperture, light, etc. Pay special attention to the head. If the chameleon turns its head even slightly away from you, the picture will likely look unappealing.

EYE WATCHING YOU

TO DO: Always shoot and post or print only pictures where the chameleon looks into the camera or at least where its eye opening is fully visible. Be patient; sometimes the only option is to either wait or move your finger around the camera to attract the chameleon's attention, or shoot a series of the same pictures and select those with the correct eye direction.

FREQUENT FAULTS: A chameleon looking away appears unappealing, blind, or unnatural.

NO OBJECT BETWEEN CHAMELEON AND CAMERA

TO DO: Always ensure that there is only air between the lens of your camera and the chameleon, and that all other objects are either out of the picture or behind.

FREQUENT FAULTS: Any object between the camera and the chameleon that covers its body partially or casts a shadow on it will cause problems and make the picture look strange. It also causes issues with autofocus and the assessment of the right light and exposure.

SOURCE OF LIGHT BEHIND YOU

TO DO: While taking a picture, make sure that the source of light, mostly the sun, is shining mainly from behind you, but not casting shadows on part or all of the object's body. If using artificial light, the same applies.

FREQUENT FAULTS: Any picture of a chameleon taken against the light or against the sky will look strange, as the object will be in deep shadow, very dark, or even obscured against the light background. The only possible correction is to use artificial light from the opposite direction or a flashlight, but this requires a lot of experimenting and experience to achieve an acceptable result.

NECESSARY DETAIL

TO DO: If you photograph a part of the chameleon's body or some anatomical or pathological detail, make sure that it is visible, focused, and well-lit. It should also be detailed enough to allow assessment of the particular feature of interest.

FREQUENT FAULTS: People often post pictures and ask for opinions, but if the pictures do not show the object in focus or well-lit, presenting an assessment is impossible, leaving the photographer unhappy. What cannot be seen cannot be assessed.

DO NOT LISTEN TO ME

All the hints and explanations presented above are for the majority of cases where you need a good, focused, nice-looking standard picture. Please don't listen to me if you are an experienced and artistically talented person who wants to manipulate the object and photographs artistically. Make pictures that you will like and not ones that I suggest. However, please make adjustments deliberately, as it is sometimes amusing to present an obvious imprecision, mistake, or fault of the photographer as an artistic purpose or invention. Get inspired by lots of wonderful pictures and inspire others with good pictures too. If you want to improve your technique, invest in a good camera, and pay attention to what you are doing when photographing animals. With good and bad photographs, it is often similar to a bad or good meal. It takes the same effort to make a poor picture that pollutes cyberspace as it does to create a good-looking or excellent one. Same time, same equipment; the difference lies in your approach and the attention you give to details.

I wish you all 

to make and see only wonderful photographs 

of the incredible creatures that chameleons truly are.