Basic Tips for Photographing Your Hermit Crabs and Crabitats
An updated version of this tutorial can be found here.
Digital photography is a hobby of mine and I always enjoy learning new photography techniques. I thought I would share a few photography tips for taking photos of hermit crabs and their crabitats.
If you're not familiar with the settings/icons on your digital camera, you may want to read A Key to Camera Icons: Making Sense of the Symbols at PC World. It's a short, descriptive guide to the icons on digital cameras.
Camera shake - Blurred Photos
When you're taking photos, you want to be careful not to shake the camera. The best thing to do to avoid camera shake is to use a tripod or another level surface to stabilize your camera. I use a homemade bean bag (glad zip lock bag with lentil beans in it) to stabilize my camera when I don't want to pull out the tripod. Something I discovered the other night is that the doors on my aquarium stand make a great, makeshift tripod. Open the doors and put your elbows on one of the doors to stabalize your body when you're taking photos.
If you don't have something to stabilize your camera on, be sure to tuck your arms and elbows into your sides when you take a picture. A lot of people have their elbows up in the air when the shoot a picture, this will usually cause a blurry photo.
When you press the shutter button, press down about half way and wait until the camera focuses on the subject. Usually when the camera is in focus you will be able to see it through the viewfinder and the camera will beep. Lightly press the shutter down the rest of the way to take the picture. If you press too hard the photo will blur. A lot of new camera users don't realize that they have to press the shutter button halfway and wait for the camera to focus and then press the shutter down the rest of the way to take the photo.
When you're taking a picture of more than one crab, focus on one of the crabs. Once you have the focus locked, continue to hold down the shutter button halfway and slightly move your camera left or right to include the other crab. You want your movement to be parallel, don't move backwards or forwards. Have you ever taken a picture of two friends and your friends were blurry, but the tree behind them was in perfect focus? It's the same issue. You want to focus on a person's face, or in this case a crab's eyes, then you can move to center the image.
If you're new to using your camera, don't try to hold your crab with one hand and your camera with the other, this will almost guarantee a blurry photo. If you want to hold your crab, ask someone else to take the photo. I would recommend putting your crab in a glass baking dish with a towel or in some other area that you don't have to worry about him running away. Be patient and wait for him to come out of his shell (maybe provide some treats), then take some photos. Wait to focus until he comes out of the shell...Don't focus on the shell, his eyes may be blurred.
Light and Flash
The other thing to watch for is light. If you take pictures at night or in a dark room the pictures will tend to blur. It's really best to use a tripod to stabilize your camera when you're shooting in low light situations. Unfortunately, you may not have a tripod or you may not have the time to set it up. You should try to shoot some photos with all the tank lights on, but this may not be enough for a clear photo. You can use a flash in this case, but you need to adjust the flash power because you don't want to take pictures of the crabs with full flash 
power. You can adjust the flash setting so that it does not fire at full strength. Usually the flash control on a camera looks like a little lightening bolt (see image to the left). Flash settings range from -2 to +2, with 0 being the default. Reduce the flash setting to -2 when you're taking pictures of your crabs. Also, your crabs are moving; using a flash freezes action. A flash also helps to reduce camera shake.
If you're taking a picture through glass with a flash, take it at an angle or kneel down and shoot up. Don't stand directly in front of the glass or the subject. This will help to avoid flash glare on the glass. Be sure to clean the glass (inside and out). You can use paper towels to clean your glass or if you have a few extra bucks I recommend this Magnetic Algae Scraper; it works wonders for cleaning glass and you don't have to stick your arm in the tank and scare all your crabs away.
If you don't want to use a flash, you need to get a brighter light source in the room. Open the curtains or move a lamp close to the tank. If you really want to take a lot of photos of your tank and hermies, get a hold of a tripod. You can usually pick up a cheap tripod used at garage sales and flea markets. If you really can't afford it, use a small table (tv table) positioned close to the tank to stabilize your camera.
Using Zoom
Most digital cameras come with two types of zoom, optical and digital. Optical zoom is better than digital zoom. Optical zoom actually uses the "optics" of the lens to zoom in on the object. Digital zoom is an electronic function that manipulates existing pixels, unfortunately the results are not always good. While you may be able to zoom in closer to the subject, the quality will tend to be poor (pixelated).
When you purchase a camera you will usually get both types of zoom. For example my "everyday" digital, a Canon G2, has a 3x optical zoom and 11x digital. The optical zoom is equivalent to a
34-102 mm
SLR lens. Many newer digitals offer more "optical" zoom; if you're in the market for a new digital camera look for one that has a higher optical zoom factor so you will get better quality close-up images. If you already have a camera, check your owner's manual to see what your optical zoom distance is. Most cameras have an option to turn of digital zoom, which some photographers opt to do.
When you are zooming in on a subject, the camera will usually notify you when it is switching into "digital" zoom mode. For example, my camera displays the zoom factor in the upper right-hand corner of the LCD panel when the camera is switching into "digital" zoom mode. I have included picture of my LCD panel to the right, the digital zoom notification is circled.
So what does all of this have to do with crab photography? Most people tend to stand at a distance from their crabs and then zoom in to take a picture. It's really better to try to get a little closer to your subject and use less zoom, especially if your camera doesn't have optical zoom. I think you will find that your picture quality is much better. The next section will describe techniques for close-up photography.
Close-up (Macro) Photography
If you are taking a close up picture you may want to use the macro setting on your camera. The macro button usually looks like a little flower. If you turn the macro feature on you can usually get close to your subject and get a clearer shot.
All camera's macro settings are different. I would recommend that you try turning on the macro feature and stand about two feet from the subject; depress your shutter button halfway to see if you can get a clear focus. Depending upon your camera you may have to move in closer or move a little further back. Adjust your position until you get a clear focus.
You can practice this with a penny or some other small object. Hold your camera two feet away from the subject, focus, and take a picture. Move in a couple of inches, focus, and take another picture. Keep doing this until you are very close. Check your pictures on your computer and see which distance produced the best shot. Sometimes when I am practicing I will write down the distance each time I take a photo (picture 1 (2ft), picture 2 (1 ft 10 inches), etc.); then I can compare my notes to the actual pictures to see which distance is best. When you're going to take pictures of small objects it's good to practice. I have learned over time that I have to be at least six inches from my subject to get a clear shot.
Depth of field (DOF) - You tend of have more depth of field when you use the macro settings. Depth of field is when the subject is in focus and the background (or in some cases foreground) appears blurred. If you take a look at Eggo's picture, you will see that the shell in the foreground is slightly blurred, Eggo is in focus, and the background is blurred. DOF can sometimes cause problems for new photographers because sometimes the subject will be blurred and a background or foreground object will be in focus. If this happens slightly move the camera and attempt to refocus on the subject. After some practice you will learn where the precise focusing point is on your camera.
If you have a larger tank with thicker glass you may have a distortion issue when you're using the macro setting. Thick glass tends to distort the subject when you're using the macro setting. Sometimes this can actually create some cool effects.
Macro photography is my personal favorite. I've taken thousands of pictures of flowers, coins, pencils, pens, paper clips, and other small objects until I really learned how to handle my camera. Practice, practice is the key. I wouldn't recommend using your crabs as your sole practice. ;) Spend some time taking pictures of objects around your house. Remember, tuck your elbows in.
How Do I Select a New Camera
Go take a look at some of the photo blogs link to at photoblogs.org, especially the top 10. Most photobloggers list the equipment they use for their photos on their main page or on an about page. As you see blog photos that you like, make a note of the camera and equipment used. I found that the photos that I really like were usually taken with a Canon camera, you'll find your favorite too.
After you have found a camera model you like or at least a manufacturer, visit Digital Photography Review (dpreview) and take a look at the digital camera reviews for that camera and manufacturer.
Use one of the shopping search engines to find the best price for the camera model you selected. Here are a few for you to try: shopping.com, shopzilla.com, half.com, bizrate.com, and c|Net.
If you found a camera that is no longer being manufactured, take a look at ebay to see if you can find a used or reconditioned model. I found my Canon G2, my backup camera, this way.
Closing Notes
Make sure to take more than one picture of the subject. Shoot at different distances and from different angles. Don't assume that the "once in a lifetime" shot will be captured on the first try. Because you're using digital, you don't have to worry about film processing costs, so take lots of pictures!
Graduate Photos
Take a look at some of the photos that were taken after reviewing these tips. They're awesome!
Please feel free to send me a link your photos if you would like them linked here. My e-mail is robin at tinkertech dot net.
Other Goodies
If you like my photography, please take a moment to vote for my site at photoblogs.org. :)
Basic photo manipulation and resizing in Photoshop tutorial
Resizing and cropping photos in Paint Shop Pro 7
Short Courses has wonderful camera guides and photography tips/guides.
You can find an online image resizer here http://www.resize2mail.com/
Google has a free photo organizer/editor called Picasa 2
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©Copyright 2001-2006 - Robin Wood - Send Questions or comments to robin at tinkertech dot net.
Last Updated:
December 19, 2006