My Reef Tank Photo Journal

oceanleaf

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Hi all,

I have been an amateur nature photographer for a while, and I'm now trying my best to adapt my skills to reef photography.
I would like to share some pictures from my 40G AIO reef tank.
Hope everyone enjoy!

My favorite coral of my reef. A colony of Gold Torch.
DSC03016_edited_2.jpg


Under cool white light
DSC06123_edited.jpg


Close up of a mouth!
DSC06458_edited.jpg
 

AlgaeBarn

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Hi all,

I have been an amateur nature photographer for a while, and I'm now trying my best to adapt my skills to reef photography.
I would like to share some pictures from my 40G AIO reef tank.
Hope everyone enjoy!

My favorite coral of my reef. A colony of Gold Torch.
DSC03016_edited_2.jpg


Under cool white light
DSC06123_edited.jpg


Close up of a mouth!
DSC06458_edited.jpg
Love the first shot!
 

maroun.c

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Can you share info about these shots, lighting, parameters, are u using flash ?
 
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oceanleaf

oceanleaf

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Can you share info about these shots, lighting, parameters, are u using flash ?

Hi sorry for the delay in reply.

Sure. Here are the parameters.
F-stop: f/8
Exposure time: 200s
ISO: 250 - 500 (depending on how far back in the tank the coral is)

I always use a tripod to stabilize my camera.
I use custom white balance setting by following steps outlined in this thread.

I use a custom-made flash with mainly royal blue color with a hint of blue and cyan (or cool white in some instance).
 

kiran

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This is really great work.

I have a similar setup with an A7RII and the 90mm macro.

May I ask how you're shooting these? Like through glass or if you're using an underwater lens hood? Any orange filters?

I have 2 Savage bicolor LED studio lights. Are there any recommended colors you recommend I use for shooting with them?

Love the work!
 
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oceanleaf

oceanleaf

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Great camera, lens, set up and coral. Doesn’t get any better than that. Your photos look super

Thanks a lot!

This is really great work.

I have a similar setup with an A7RII and the 90mm macro.

May I ask how you're shooting these? Like through glass or if you're using an underwater lens hood? Any orange filters?

I have 2 Savage bicolor LED studio lights. Are there any recommended colors you recommend I use for shooting with them?

Love the work!

I mostly shoot through front glass because I generally like the front view of corals better than the top view (this might not apply to all types of corals). When shooting this way, you have to make sure that the camera is perpendicular to the glass to prevent aberration. The topic is covered in great length in this article.

When using blue light, I think a lot of people use orange/yellow filters with great success. I personally found them to produce pictures that are too orange and also too dim, so I never have good success with them

For lighting, royal blue (450nm) probably produces the best fluorescence, but I found that cool white light (>6000K) generally produce really good color too (again this might not apply to all coral specimens).

Here is a comparison of the same corals (two different shootings).
Under blue light (using color correction method outlined here).
DSC07621_edited.jpg

Under 6000K white light with auto white balance on the camera.
DSC07643_edited.jpg


Hope this helps!
 

kiran

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Thanks a lot!



I mostly shoot through front glass because I generally like the front view of corals better than the top view (this might not apply to all types of corals). When shooting this way, you have to make sure that the camera is perpendicular to the glass to prevent aberration. The topic is covered in great length in this article.

When using blue light, I think a lot of people use orange/yellow filters with great success. I personally found them to produce pictures that are too orange and also too dim, so I never have good success with them

For lighting, royal blue (450nm) probably produces the best fluorescence, but I found that cool white light (>6000K) generally produce really good color too (again this might not apply to all coral specimens).

Here is a comparison of the same corals (two different shootings).
Under blue light (using color correction method outlined here).
DSC07621_edited.jpg

Under 6000K white light with auto white balance on the camera.
DSC07643_edited.jpg


Hope this helps!
Thanks a lot for the reply! Will using a rubber hood up against the glass help with the aberrations?
 
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oceanleaf

oceanleaf

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Thanks a lot for the reply! Will using a rubber hood up against the glass help with the aberrations?

I believe so. Anything that helps keep the lens straight will be helpful. However, it is not necessary. I don't use any equipment to align the lens and only eyeball it.
 

Daniel@R2R

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Beautiful photos!!!
 

A worm with high fashion and practical utility: Have you ever kept feather dusters in your reef aquarium?

  • I currently have feather dusters in my tank.

    Votes: 73 37.8%
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    Votes: 66 34.2%
  • I have not had feather dusters, but I hope to in the future.

    Votes: 25 13.0%
  • I have no plans to have feather dusters in my tank.

    Votes: 28 14.5%
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