Project 365 - My Reef Journal - One Photograph Per Day

[larangcon]

Loving the pictures

 

[urbaneks]

I just need my husband to understand that!

drstratton - Funny, that worked the other way in my household.

Loving the pictures

larangcon - Thanks for stopping by and the providing the kind words.

 

[ngvu1]

I am following along with this thread. I have a Samsung S4 and the "Nest" has an iphone6S. Not sure how to apply what I am learning here but 1 day I might end up with a nice camera.

 

[urbaneks]

Project 365 - January 8th, 2016
Here is the 8th entry into Project 365

I think this may be in violation of the Project 365 rules in a couple different ways. 1) It's really 2 photos in 1 and 2) I would not really classify these snap shots as photography. With that said, I wanted to post an image that represented what I've tried to do with the organization of my aquarium.

I work for a large technology company, we've been trained pretty heavily into LEAN practices. If you are not familiar with LEAN, it's best summed up by "A place for everything and everything it it's place". When it comes to the aquarium, I've tried to follow that philosophy and I think this photo does a pretty good job of showing that.

In an effort to have a nice and tidy aquarium cabinet, I built this trap door if you will that conceals all of my cords. The compartment is sealed around the edges with silicon which prevents water from entering. On my past build, I took the cord management to the a higher level with wire ties, conduit, etc. It looked great but the first time I wanted to remove a pump for cleaning, I had to undo a lot of work. With this build, I wanted a solution where cords were out of the way but I could easily remove pumps, heaters, etc. for maintenance. The solution I came up with was the compartment you see below.

Project 365 - 1/8/16 - Cord Maintenance in my Aquarium Cabinet
​

Thanks for looking.

8 down 357 to go!

 

[steve&mari]

I just need my husband to understand that!

I'll vouch for that for you took me awhile to get ours a used one but it's so much more then just a reef tool. Capture them family moments while you can and vacation memories. Gotta sell it for more then just a reef toy lol. Now ordering the avast marine porthole is another story no family use for that lol.


Another great shot and beautiful contrast with the darker lighting n vibrant colors of your corals.

 

[usernam invalid]

Following along hope to see more of these great photos all year

 

[jhuntington12]

Project 365 - January 3rd, 2016
Well 3 days into Project 365 and I'm still motivated! Thanks to those that have viewed, liked and commented on my first two posts.

Here is the 3rd entry into my Project 365 journal.

I think most of us start in reefing liking the soft and LPS corals. There is something about the movement that draws us in early. With that said, I think most reefers over time gravitate to SPS corals due to the spectacular growth forms and coloration. I certainly followed this pattern, with my first tank being mostly soft and LPS corals. Over time my aquariums have transitioned to mostly SPS. I'm often asked what my favorite coral is, while that question is not easy to answer the ORA Pearlberry is always in my top 3. I thought I would post a photo of my Pearlberry to represent my passion for SPS corals.

3Photos down 362 more to go!

Project 365 - 1/3/16 - ORA Pearlberry - One of my all time favorites​

Can I ask what camera and lenses you are using?

 

[urbaneks]

I am following along with this thread. I have a Samsung S4 and the "Nest" has an iphone6S. Not sure how to apply what I am learning here but 1 day I might end up with a nice camera.

ngyui - I wish I could give you some tips for taking great photos with a phone but I don't think those tips exist. Of course they make some filters that help with the blue light but it's still not the same as shooting with a DSLR and a nice lens. Thanks for following along.

I'll vouch for that for you took me awhile to get ours a used one but it's so much more then just a reef tool. Capture them family moments while you can and vacation memories. Gotta sell it for more then just a reef toy lol. Now ordering the avast marine porthole is another story no family use for that lol.
Another great shot and beautiful contrast with the darker lighting n vibrant colors of your corals.

steve&mari - That's a great point on the family photos. I would also mention that photography in general is a great stress relief. It forces you to slow down and look at the great things all around us. Thanks for the kind words on those last photos.

Following along hope to see more of these great photos all year

usernam invalid - Much appreciated. I hope that I can continue posting all year long. I'm 8 days in! That's a start.

Can I ask what camera and lenses you are using?

juntingon12 - The camera body is the Cannon 70d. The lens used on the Pearl Berry post that you quoted was my Cannon 100mm L Series Macro Lens. Thanks for looking.

 

[urbaneks]

Project 365 - January 9th, 2016
Here is the 9th entry into Project 365

More than a week into Project 365 and still going strong. I wanted to take a second to thank those that have commented, liked and subscribed. I was super excited to see that my journal made it in the Reef2Reef daily email as a featured thread. I was also notified by a local reefing friend that Reef2Reef had a photo of my aquarium and a link to the thread on their face book page. Thank you Reef2Reef!

Today's post is a simple but elegant shot of one of my Sunburst Anthias. This photo is the opposite of the focus stacking I did on the lobo coral a few days ago. Rather than a super detailed image, I wanted lots of bokeh (blur) with only the eye of the fish in focus. I took this shot with the aperature wide open at 2.8. Other than the fish moving and the shot not being as crisp at the nose, I'm pretty happy with the shot. I attempted 10-15 shots to get this one. In the future, I'm going to try and shoot fish photos when all the lights are on. That way I can get a faster shutter speed to stop the fishes action. Thanks for looking.

Project 365 - 1/7/16 - Sunburst Anthias
​

9 down 356 to go!

 

[drstratton]

Project 365 - January 9th, 2016
Here is the 9th entry into Project 365

More than a week into Project 365 and still going strong. I wanted to take a second to thank those that have commented, liked and subscribed. I was super excited to see that my journal made it in the Reef2Reef daily email as a featured thread. I was also notified by a local reefing friend that Reef2Reef had a photo of my aquarium and a link to the thread on their face book page. Thank you Reef2Reef!

Today's post is a simple but elegant shot of one of my Sunburst Anthias. This photo is the opposite of the focus stacking I did on the lobo coral a few days ago. Rather than a super detailed image, I wanted lots of bokeh (blur) with only the eye of the fish in focus. I took this shot with the aperature wide open at 2.8. Other than the fish moving and the shot not being as crisp at the nose, I'm pretty happy with the shot. I attempted 10-15 shots to get this one. In the future, I'm going to try and shoot fish photos when all the lights are on. That way I can get a faster shutter speed to stop the fishes action. Thanks for looking.

Project 365 - 1/7/16 - Sunburst Anthias
​

9 down 356 to go!

I think he's watching you too! I'm really enjoying this thread!!!

 

[ScottWolver]

Simply brilliant thread!

 

[urbaneks]

I think he's watching you too! I'm really enjoying this thread!!!

drstratton - Thanks again for the continued views and comments. Much appreciated.

Simply brilliant thread!

ScottWolver - I really like that comment. Thanks a million!

 

[urbaneks]

Project 365 - January 10th, 2016
Here is the 10th entry into Project 365

This journal needs some more SPS photos so I thought the ORA Stuber Stag would be a good choice. I find that when I place a coral in my tank, about half the time the corals have success in that location where the other half, need to be moved to more light, less light, more flow, etc. etc. From the day that I put this piece in my aquarium, it has grown like a weed. Perhaps it's just a very easy SPS to keep or perhaps, I met it's perfect combination of light and flow. (high light/med flow by the way) Either way, I really like what this coral has grown into. I trade and sell frags and I find that most people that come over really overlook this piece. Perhaps it's the brown coralites, perhaps it's the tight stag growth. It's a mystery to me.

Well that's it for another day. Thanks for looking.

Project 365 - 1/10/16 - ORA Stuber Stag​

10 down 355 to go!

 

[urbaneks]

Project 365 - January 11th, 2016
Here is the 11th entry into Project 365

I've had a couple requests for a FTS which I don't really have one that I'm happy with. (I'll keep trying) At any rate, this is the view of half of the aquarium from the hallway side of the peninsula. I guess that makes this a 1/4 FTS. I classify this as the back of the aquarium since the scape is really designed for view from the other side but I'm still pretty happy with the view from this side. Peninsulas have their pros and cons, the biggest pro is more room for coral, the cons for me are difficultly to make the aquarium look great from all sides and the lack of a background causes a lack of contrast with the corals. I find that shooting photos at night with the rest of the house lights off gives me a better contrast.

In this shot, the dominating corals are clearly the stags. From left to right, ORA Green Slimer, Oregon Tort and the ORA Stuber Stag. In front of the Slimer is the Strawberry Fields Table, sandwiched between the Oregon Torts is my ORA Pearlberry.

Well that's it for today. Thanks for looking.

Project 365 - 1/11/16 - View from the Hallway​

11 down 354 to go!

 

[Thle009]

Great pictures. Thank you for sharing. What do you have for camera? My most frustrated thing with taking picture under LED is setting the white balance. Still struggle this day.

 

[drstratton]

Beautiful, I've been looking forward to seeing your next picture! Just a thought, what if you made a background that you could put up when you're taking pictures, then just take it down when finished! Like I said, just a thought!

 

[urbaneks]

Great pictures. Thank you for sharing. What do you have for camera? My most frustrated thing with taking picture under LED is setting the white balance. Still struggle this day.

Thle009 - thanks for your kind words. I have the Canon 70d. Most of my photos are taken with the Canon 100mm L series macro lens. The lens is of equal or more importance than the camera body. My lighting is about 18k so when I process my photos in photo shop, I just set the white balance to 18k and I get pretty good results.

Beautiful, I've been looking forward to seeing your next picture! Just a thought, what if you made a background that you could put up when you're taking pictures, then just take it down when finished! Like I said, just a thought!

drstratton - I loved reading that you were looking forward to my new post. That is awesome. I've actually used some pieces of painted wood as backgrounds for photography. This helps for sure. It does not help for daily viewing of the tank which I think is improved with a background.

 

[revhtree]

Beautiful!

Project 365 - January 11th, 2016
Here is the 11th entry into Project 365

I've had a couple requests for a FTS which I don't really have one that I'm happy with. (I'll keep trying) At any rate, this is the view of half of the aquarium from the hallway side of the peninsula. I guess that makes this a 1/4 FTS. I classify this as the back of the aquarium since the scape is really designed for view from the other side but I'm still pretty happy with the view from this side. Peninsulas have their pros and cons, the biggest pro is more room for coral, the cons for me are difficultly to make the aquarium look great from all sides and the lack of a background causes a lack of contrast with the corals. I find that shooting photos at night with the rest of the house lights off gives me a better contrast.

In this shot, the dominating corals are clearly the stags. From left to right, ORA Green Slimer, Oregon Tort and the ORA Stuber Stag. In front of the Slimer is the Strawberry Fields Table, sandwiched between the Oregon Torts is my ORA Pearlberry.

Well that's it for today. Thanks for looking.

Project 365 - 1/11/16 - View from the Hallway​

11 down 354 to go!

 

[urbaneks]

Project 365 - January 12th, 2016
Here is the 12th entry into Project 365

This is my Blackcap Basslet which was transferred from my old 110 gallon aquarium. Not sure exactly how long I've had this fish but it's somewhere between 3-4 years now. If you are not familiar with these fish, I would describe them as secretive and loaners. He spends most of his time under a rock overhang that is pretty low in the aquarium. He's also a hoarder. If I have a piece of coral break off during a water change, I have to get the coral picked up pretty quick or he will grab and stash it in his den. He has a couple hundred dollars worth of coral skeletons in his den.

This may be my new favorite fish photo. Much like the anthias photo I posted a couple days ago, I used a wide aperature to get that blurred effect working away from the head of the fish. I really like how the purple pops against the black background.

Thanks for looking
12 down 353 to go!

Project 365 - 1/12/16 - Blackcap Basslet​

 

[Frankyrivera]

Tagging alone. Would you share settings alone with the pics