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Live animals, especially reptiles, can be hard to photograph. They wiggle and slither and crawl out of your camera range faster than you can say, "Oh, hiss."
Here are a few tips for keeping them still for those precious few seconds you need to snap a picture. A brief trip to the fridge (and I do mean brief, no more than 8-10 minutes for large reptiles and 2-3 minutes for small ones) can slow them down enough to get a good picture. A brief drop in body temperature won't hurt them, but you'll need to put them back in a warm environment immediately afterwards, since prolonged cold can severely depress a reptile's immune system.
You can also put a bowl over the animal and wait a few minutes for it to settle down. Then lift the bowl, or have a friend do it, and snap your picture before the reptile orients itself enough to start moving away.
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Lynda Moultry |