When taking pictures of reptiles there are two qualities that I struggle to strike a balance between. One is crisp focus/depth of field and the other is proper coloration. In order to get crisp focus across my entire image I use flash so that I can set my f-stops to 18-22. When I do this I get great depth of field, but the flash also puts glare on shiny scales and distorts color. When I do not use flash I get great coloration, but my depth of field suffers and I lose focus quality. This is a very frustrating situation for me that I need to learn how to overcome. In the picture of this corn snake I am very happy with color saturation and lighting but am not happy with my depth of field. Note how there is some blurriness as you move toward the top of the photo. This year I will be experimenting with solutions and hope to find a way to reduce the amount of light my flash units emit so that I can strike a balance between natural coloration and crisp focus/depth of field. Wish me luck, and if you have any secrets please share them with me!!