Salt Water

[superduperwesman]

A few macro shots. I think I'm having a few issues b/c the tank is only a 10 gallon so the glass deflects enough to somewhat distort the images?? If the coral is closer to the glass it seems a bit better (mushroom - first photo- is closest to the glass).. so with the exception of the images ideally being a little sharper any tips for improvement?

Ideally I wouldn't have cut part of the right side off but it seems like you have the tripod in the right spot and then you focus and can change the composition enough.



Camera: Nikon D90
Exposure: 3
Aperture: f/25.0
Focal Length: 105 mm
ISO Speed: 250
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: No Flash


Zoa on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

CandyC on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Frogspawn on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Here's a few other pictures for size reference.

Here's a full shot of everything before I had to shut things down to move.
Tank w stand on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

10 gallon tank is 24 1/4" x12 1/2" x12 3/4". The entire stand is approx 5' long

Here's my new start.

First (mushroom) is on the little rock in the middle
Second is on the right (zoa- partially closed)
Third (candy cain) is directly above the zoa
Last coral photo (frog spawn) is the one on the left

Feb FTS on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Clown fish is approx 1.5" so everything in the tank is pretty small.

[superduperwesman]

Looking again now the front of the mushroom is a little soft.

[puffer_archer]

First of all, let me say great shot! These large mushrooms are hard to capture front to back and you did a pretty good job.

My biggest recommendation would be to shoot into the glass as straight as you can. Any angle (especially with longer lenses) will definitely show up as distortion. I don't see it in the mushroom shot and the other shots look good as well. One thing you may want to consider is using custom white balance for your pictures, that will eliminate the blue cast and give you truer colors in the corals.

[WillaWeintraub]

My husband and I both own salt water tanks so I can really appreciate these pictures. I am new so I have no real input because I think they look great! What type of lighting do you use? My husband has actinics (sp?) and they throw off a bluish purple light which is perfect for pictures. It makes the coral look nicer imo.

[superduperwesman]

Originally Posted by puffer_archer

First of all, let me say great shot! These large mushrooms are hard to capture front to back and you did a pretty good job.

My biggest recommendation would be to shoot into the glass as straight as you can. Any angle (especially with longer lenses) will definitely show up as distortion. I don't see it in the mushroom shot and the other shots look good as well. One thing you may want to consider is using custom white balance for your pictures, that will eliminate the blue cast and give you truer colors in the corals.

Thanks! Yeah I've noticed that I need to stay as straight on as possible to get anything remotely good.

Yeah I have tried setting the custom white balance off the sand before taking the picture and a little in PS but it still seems a little off at times.

Thanks again for the comments

[superduperwesman]

Originally Posted by WillaWeintraub

My husband and I both own salt water tanks so I can really appreciate these pictures. I am new so I have no real input because I think they look great! What type of lighting do you use? My husband has actinics (sp?) and they throw off a bluish purple light which is perfect for pictures. It makes the coral look nicer imo.

Right now I use T5s. I forget which bulbs are in right now... aquablue +, a KZ new generation and I switch in an actinic + from time to time.. think that's right... I'd have to check.

I'd like to upgrade to a 5' soon at which point I think I'll use a halide / t5 combo fixture

Thanks for the comment