Still practicing with the macro lens....

[soccerbag]

I have had my macro lens for about 4 months now and am learning more and more everyday. I'm just a rookie with some half way decent equipment. Took some shots tonight in my frag tank and thought I would share. Advice / tips are welcome for sure.

Equipment: Canon Rebel XT with Macro lens
ISO - 100
AV setting (RAW)
DOF - 32
Tripod with remote shutter
Post processing in PSElements (white balance adjusted)

Lighting - ATI Powermodule 6x24w (all bulbs on)
1 ATI Blue +
2 AquaBlue Special
1 Fiji Purple
2 Super Actinics

Here we go...

 

[soccerbag]

And a few more...

 

[coraldiva]

Great pictures Craig! What kind of background are you using?

 

[Lazys Coral House]

That pictures are beautiful. The only recommendation is to adjust white balance on camera prior to taking the pictures. It is a bit off which causes you to loose some of the colors and makes for a lot of post processing work. For an example I took a couple of your pictures and edit white balance a bit.

Before

After

Before

After

 

[Lazys Coral House]

Here is one more for you

Before

After

 

[ca2or]

Those looks like pretty good pic's....how far away from the target are you? I think your avatar pic is the best though.

 

[Tanked]

Nice Pieces!!!!! And great photos

 

[soccerbag]

Great pictures Craig! What kind of background are you using?

Thank you. I am using a piece of black acrylic glued to a mag float. I raise that up about 8" from the top of the water line and position my tripod and camera lens about 10" off the water. I would raise the lens up more to get more coral in the shot it I could...but I can't reach the viewfinder to focus if it's any higher...lol

 

[soccerbag]

That pictures are beautiful. The only recommendation is to adjust white balance on camera prior to taking the pictures. It is a bit off which causes you to loose some of the colors and makes for a lot of post processing work. For an example I took a couple of your pictures and edit white balance a bit.

Thanks lazylivin. I have tried a white card and gray card in the tank but it never turns out how I see it with my eyes. It's just so difficult to get it right with the blue spectrum on the bulbs we use. I would love to get a pro over to the house one day to see if they can get it right for me.

I appreciate your work on the photos. I will say that the red one you posted looks more like the original colors for the most part. The others are pretty much spot on (color wise from the top down) the way I posted them. I agree, however, that it would be much easier to have the WB set from the get go. I'll work on that one. Thanks again!

 

[soccerbag]

Those looks like pretty good pic's....how far away from the target are you? I think your avatar pic is the best though.

Thanks ca2or and Tanked. I am positioned over the frag tank with a tripod. Lens is about 8-10" off of the water. The rack I am using as a background / holder is about 5-6" under the water line.

 

[ca2or]

how do you get such close up shots from so far away? I have to be like 1 foot away.

 

[soccerbag]

Well, I'm not much more than a foot away with the setup. The lens is 8" of so (could be closer) off the water and the coral is just under about 4-6" of water. My measurements are not exact, but just for a rough reference. I'm just using the standard macro lens.

 

[MarvinsReef]

very nice pics and corals... :)

 

[underwaterfirefighter]

Awesome corals and great pics Craig.

Dave

 

[mpoletti]

Great pics Craig. Snapping a lot of shots is the key to photogarphy as there is always something else to shoot :)

 

[143gadgets]

Awesome job Craig! Try shooting in raw and doing post in LR or PS. It makes adjusting WB much easier.

 

[Russellaqua]

Looks like you're off to a great start.

 

[soccerbag]

Thanks for the encouraging words guys. It's greatly appreciated. I'm having a great time taking shots and trying new things. I think I snapped 400 shots last night and kept about 20 of them. Not sure if that is a good average or not...lol

Chris, I did shoot in RAW and I used PS for post. Next time I see you, I need to take a lesson!

 

[myzislow]

Pics look great to me! Very nice corals as well; I really like the red snakeskin, where did you get it? Also, your shades of fall looks really good, and the plug it's on looks really familiar, where did you get that guy if you mind me asking as well?

 

[soccerbag]

Pics look great to me! Very nice corals as well; I really like the red snakeskin, where did you get it? Also, your shades of fall looks really good, and the plug it's on looks really familiar, where did you get that guy if you mind me asking as well?

I was just thinking...how in the world would that frag plug look familiar to him....lol. I believe you sold a few pieces to a fellow reefer here in Richmond, VA (correct me if I'm wrong) and one of them was for me. I LOVE it. I can't wait for it to grow up a bit. But the coloration is still insane!

I can't remember where I got that Red Snakeskin. A few others have asked me about it as well. I can't find the name or where I got it from so I named it the Red Snakeskin as it reminds me a lot of the pattern and texture of the Blue Snakeskins I've seen (another gorgeous piece).

Craig