Canon rebel 6ts reef pics

[BryanM]

So that is the camera I have, as well as a 60mm macro f2.8 lens.

I read, and I have tried to set white balance, and I'm just lost. I'm not coming anywhere close to the pics I see other people taking... Which is obviously frustrating :)

This is a good example, this mushroom is far more yellow in person:

And here's the blue hippo, which I've never been able to get a pic where he's actually blue :(

Any help would be greatly appreciated, thank you!

 

[IntrinsicReef]

I am not familiar with Canon, but can try to offer some help. What are you setting the white balance at? Are you using any editing software? Are you shooting in .jpg or raw?

 

[rdirtytwo]

I just started shooting photos with my Canon EOS Rebel T6i also. I shoot in RAW, auto white balance and adjust in post processing (snapseed on mobile)

I notice that this camera has high exposure so you'll want to manually lower it (I shoot in Av or M) for my tank, but I'm still learning.

 

[rdirtytwo]

I just started shooting photos with my Canon EOS Rebel T6i also. I shoot in RAW, auto white balance and adjust in post processing (snapseed on mobile)

I notice that this camera has high exposure so you'll want to manually lower it (I shoot in Av or M) for my tank, but I'm still learning.

Also it's hard to focus without a tripod

 

[BryanM]

I did purchase a quality tripod.

Are these pics a mix of white/blue, turned all the way up, or is it really post processing that gets to this point.

I'm not doing any post processing at the moment.

And I shoot in Av mode.

 

[Brian W]

Is your tank mostly blue? I like to set my tank more whiter when taking pics. That will definitely help you some. If I do take pics under blue lights I make sure to add a yellow or orange filter on the lens aka orange reef glasses lol.

This is a good video to watch as well to learn some tips on reef tank photography. He uses Nikon but it still relates to Canon.

 

[Joe462]

AV is good and shoot in raw, and i use a top down tube because i don't like shooting through the glass, which in my tank is dirty



i have a cannon rebel t3i so not sure how different the menu is but..

take a pic of something in the tank if you hit menu, the second icon 4th option down "custom white balance" choose that and it will ask if this Picture is ok to use, and it will automatically set the white balance. keep trying that using different subjects in the tank till you get the results you like, and then take pics of the subjects you want. after doing that i prety much just use the post processing to convert it to a jpeg and make it smaller or crop it.

 

[rdirtytwo]

I did purchase a quality tripod.

Are these pics a mix of white/blue, turned all the way up, or is it really post processing that gets to this point.

I'm not doing any post processing at the moment.

And I shoot in Av mode.

My lights are set at 80% white and 100% blues so whiter spectrum, but the auto white balance on this camera is still on the blue side. You'll need to turn up whites or use filter lenses as Brian states

 

[rdirtytwo]

AV is good and shoot in raw, and i use a top down tube because i don't like shooting through the glass, which in my tank is dirty



i have a cannon rebel t3i so not sure how different the menu is but..

take a pic of something in the tank if you hit menu, the second icon 4th option down "custom white balance" choose that and it will ask if this Picture is ok to use, and it will automatically set the white balance. keep trying that using different subjects in the tank till you get the results you like, and then take pics of the subjects you want. after doing that i prety much just use the post processing to convert it to a jpeg and make it smaller or crop it.

Great information. Now I need to set my custom white balance

 

[Joe462]

Great information. Now I need to set my custom white balance

try it and see how it goes, if i can help let me know. i am by no means an expert but i will try. good luck

 

[maroun.c]

Problem with preset white balance is that our tanks can have more or less blue depending on different t areas in the tank so it's not guaranteed to work I feel . U can always get a grey card take a pic of it under tank light and set that as your white balance. I just find it easier to correct in post simply by clicking oliver a grayish part of the shot or playing with the sliders. Raw is a must here.

 

[BryanM]

Still working on this, but I guess I'm going to have to figure out post processing to get the colors more correct.

That said, I did figure out custom white balance, and these two pics in particular (no post processing) are far better, there's actually blue in the hippo tang, but both pics are too orange now :)