First Try With the Macro

[flyfish4trout]

Well I finally got a macro so I thought that I would post a couple of picks and maybe you guys and girls could give me some pointers. First my second favorite coral Strawberry Fields from SunnyX (Procorals), the colors are a little off.

Now my Favorite Milli, well at least my favorite in my tank.

and My current favorite the PC Superman Table also from SunnyX with my pink lemonade in the foreground.

Let me know what you guys think, cause I have no idea what I am doing, and the LED's are not making it easy for me.

 

[xgame2k]

you completely failed.












not..... the first one is pretty good.

 

[nikesb]

for a pointer, i'd say try turning off the flow and use a tripod. seems that the images are a bit blurry. with a tripod, i'm sure these images would look stunning!

 

[flyfish4trout]

for a pointer, i'd say try turning off the flow and use a tripod. seems that the images are a bit blurry. with a tripod, i'm sure these images would look stunning!

Good call I got a little over excited to take some shots and forgot to turn off the flow. I think the blur may in part be due to the front of the biocube (curved galss) but I am not sure. Thanks for the recommendation.

 

[flyfish4trout]

Thought that I would try some shots with the flow off and through the side of the biocube. I am still having a problem getting the colors to be right on. White balance problem possibly, any pointers would be appreciated.

 

[DCG1286]

I'll take a frag of that one ... and that one ... and that one ...

OH this isn't a for sale thread ... shoot ... lol

Great photos!!!

 

[Demonic]

Photos def got better. What lense is that?

 

[flyfish4trout]

Photos def got better. What lense is that?

Tamaron 90

 

[gparr]

You will have a difficult-to-impossible time getting sharp shots through curved glass. You can usually get fairly sharp if the coral is near the front, but it gets progressively worse as the subject is deeper in the tank. Shooting through the flat sides is the way to do it. You definitely need a tripod. Use manual focus. To have better control over white balance, you need to shoot in the RAW format and adjust the white balance in your RAW conversion software. Nice looking corals, BTW.
Gary

 

[flyfish4trout]

You will have a difficult-to-impossible time getting sharp shots through curved glass. You can usually get fairly sharp if the coral is near the front, but it gets progressively worse as the subject is deeper in the tank. Shooting through the flat sides is the way to do it. You definitely need a tripod. Use manual focus. To have better control over white balance, you need to shoot in the RAW format and adjust the white balance in your RAW conversion software. Nice looking corals, BTW.
Gary

Thanks for the info. I am shooting with a tripod and setting the camera up in timer mode. The white balance issue is killing me. I have LED's and when I shoot in raw the colors are way off. I am currently taking a shot of the sand bed and using that shot to set the camera's white balance to get the colors that are in the photos. I don't know if I should by a white balance card (white or grey) to shoot in the tank, or some other editing software. I am shooting all of these shots in raw and trying to keep the ISO down to 200 or so. I am using the canon software to edit maybe I should buy photoshop. Thanks to everyone for the kind words. Keep the advice coming, I need the help.

 

[gparr]

Adjust the white balance by clicking the white balance dropper on an object with a color value in the 20% to 25% gray range. You don't click on a white object. I know, it makes no sense. I usually click on the darker shade of coralline algae. In your images, try clicking on the darker areas of one of the tentacles. Try several spots until you get the color close to accurate. You can make fine-tuning adjustments with curves. Shoot at ISO 400, it'll give you more DOF or a faster shutter speed without compromising image quality.
Gary

 

[returnofsid]

Photography, of our reef tanks, almost always requires a Custom White Balance, unless you're shooting with a higher end DSLR. For instance, my RebelXt always required a CWB, for every reef tank I shot. My Canon 7D has got the colors perfect, in every reef tank I've shot, with AWB.

To set a CWB, you'll need something pure white, or gray scale. This needs to be something you can put in your tank. I use a white styrofoam picnic plate. Put it in your tank, with the lights all on. Now, you want to take a photo of this plate, making sure to completely fill the frame with the "white" AND making sure it's very focused. Sometimes, I'll put a tiny dot or even a tiny letter, on the paper, with a pen. This helps when making sure the photo is focused. Save this photo, you'll need it for the next step.

Your camera will have a setting, enabling you to set a Custom White Balance. Find this setting. When you tell the camera to set a CWB, it will ask you to take a photo, or use a saved photo. Tell the camera to use the photo you took.

Our eyes along with our brain, are able to distinguish colors, very well, so when we look in our tanks, we can tell what the real colors should be. Our cameras aren't always this "smart," so we have to tell the camera how to interpret the colors. CWB tells the camera what "WHITE" should look like. When you set your CWB, you're basically telling the camera to filter out enough blue, to make that plate look white.
From there, any photos you take, of that tank, using CWB, the camera will filter out that same amount of blue.

Some DSLR cameras also give you an option to set a CWB based on Kelvin ratings. Playing around with this can work well, too.

 

[gparr]

Return,
Need to clarify and correct your statements:
--A custom white balance is irrelevant when shooting in the RAW format. With RAW files, you can only correct the white balance in the RAW converter and that requires selecting a mid-tone gray area in the image with the white balance tool, or adjusting the light temperature and tint settings to obtain the right colors.
--A custom white balance is possible if shooting jpg files, but requires a pure white surface. Gray will not work. A white paper plate or some other non-glossy surface, held in the tank at the angle at which the tank light reflects off of the coral surfaces will give the best custom white balance reading. The camera frame must be filled with that white surface when setting the white balance. A custom white balance with jpg files will be close to the true colors if you're careful, but rarely as accurate as you can get with RAW files.
--Not sure how your 7D can get the white balance correct every time with the AWB setting, since that setting only has an effect on the image if you are shooting jpg files and will not correct for the blue color temperatures we have in our tanks. The only way I know of to get proper white balance with jpg files is to set a custom white balance. If you are shooting RAW, no in-camera white balance setting has any influence on the image. RAW, by definition, is a mode that captures all light/data that hits the sensor, without alteration. Alterations must be made in post processing.

Gary

 

[returnofsid]

Gary,

So far, I haven't seen any information you posted, that's correcting or clarifying my post...lol. Your description of how to set a CWB is very similar to mine, although you suggest using a white paper plate, which I'd disagree with. If you use a paper plate, as soon as it absorbs water, the color of it will change, as it soaks up water. This is why I suggested using a styrofoam plate. I've never used a gray scale for setting a CWB, but have heard that in some circumstances, it'll give more accurate results.

As for RAW vs. Jpg, I didn't see anywhere that mentioned that the OP was shooting in RAW, so I gave information on how to set a CWB. Whenever possible, I try to get the photo as good as possible, before needing post processing. So, if needed, I'd always suggest setting a CWB before shooting.

CWB actually can work, when shooting RAW. The CWB you've set will be used, even in RAW mode, if you make the proper selection, in post processing. In PS RAW converter, when adjusting WB, one of the options it'll give you, when selecting a WB adjustment, is "As Shot." If you pick "As Shot," it'll use the CWB you've set. Otherwise, in RAW, yes, you can do a lot with WB adjustments. I prefer to have the WB as close as "correct" as possible, to limit the amount of post processing needed.

As for my Canon 7D, it's a much "smarter" camera than the RebelXt and therefor, much more able to discern and adjust to the blue, in our reef tanks. I've shot probably 100 tanks with it, ALL using AWB, and it's got the color correct every time. Most of these were shot in JPG mode though, not RAW. The only time I've set a CWB, with the Canon 7D, was when shooting 2 weddings and my daughter's Senior Prom pics. These were shot in JPG/RAW mode. In post processing, of the RAW files, very little WB adjustments were needed, in the wedding photos and no WB adjustments were needed, with the prom photos.

Lately, I've been shooting a few tanks, in RAW. I've not had to do any adjustment to WB, in PS at all. I'm very new to shooting RAW though, so am still learning. My biggest disadvantage is that I'm still very new to post processing and need to learn more about it.