Crested Geckos Up Close: Macro Photography

This is not my usual photo setup. For this shoot I used a Sony A7R III with the Canon MP-E 65 macro lens, two big flashes with softboxes, and a pane of glass for the geckos to sit and climb on.

The lens

For most of my gecko photos I use a Sony 90 mm macro lens. The Canon MP-E 65 is a highly specialized macro lens with variable magnification, from 1x, which is what a macro lens traditionally gives, up to 5x. At 5x you can get extremely close.

Lighting

You will often see small ring lights sold for macro work. They slide into the hot shoe and clip on the front of the lens to put light on the subject. I do not recommend them: they do not put out nearly enough light for good macro photos. I used my big flashes with softboxes instead, turned all the way up for maximum output.

What I photographed

1. A lily white axanthic female, to see what the lily white pattern looks like up close.
2. Toe pads on glass. Crested gecko toe pads carry very fine filaments, almost hairs, that let them climb vertical surfaces and stick to glass. With the glass tipped the other way, she crawled on it so I could shoot her pads from below.
3. An axanthic pinstripe male, including his underside, to show what the pores on a male look like.
4. Two super dalmatians, two of my favorite morphs, to see how their red spots look up close.
5. A baby mourning gecko. I bought a group of them a couple of months earlier as a pet project. They are tiny, jumpy and fast, which makes them hard to photograph.
6. A cricket's eyes. I used a dead cricket, because a live one would jump away.

A surprise in the eye

On top of the pinstripe male's left eye the lens showed a perfect triangle where the outer surface looked pinched together. Looking closely with my own eyes, I think it is a piece of stuck shed on his eye cap. He also had a little shed left on one of his crests, so he had shed recently. I am not worried about it. It should come off with his next shed, and I will not poke at his eye and risk injuring him. I never would have noticed it without this lens.

The eye-lick shot

1. Lay a soft, matte black backdrop on the table.
2. Use a big adult gecko, ideally a calm one that will stay still.
3. Gently spritz it with a spray bottle so water drops land on its eye.
4. Get the camera set up and in focus while it sits there.
5. Wait for the gecko to lick its eye to clear the water, and take the shot at the right moment.

It takes a lot of patience and good timing, and the gecko does not always cooperate. When you get the shot, it is worth it.