Tips for Best Photos of My Tank????

[michael_in_nc]

Is there a thread on basic tips getting started taking pics of the tank? I have a new Nikon (D7000). Kit lens & a 50mm prime. Just trying to learn the basics and get a solid foundation. Would like to take some nice pics of my tank especially the coral. I seem to have more difficulty getting good shots with the tank than say outdoor shots of the kids. I think the natural light is easier to get started with? The lighting on the tank coupled with shooting through glass make it more challenging for the beginner to get really outstanding shots, or maybe it's just me...

Thanks for the inputs!

[Reef Bass]

Some good info here: how to sticky

General tips -
clean glass inside and out
turn off pumps
shoot straight through the glass
shoot in RAW and white balance during post
use a tripod
use a remote shutter release or self timer
remove marine snow from image
for full tank shots, crop out the stuff outside the tank

[michael_in_nc]

Thanks, Reef Bass. I just saw the title about posting photos and didn't realize it had some basic tips, too. Thanks for pointing that out. I have a tripod and remote shutter release, so that should be a good start.

What did you mean by remove marine snow from image?

[Misled]

Originally Posted by michael_in_nc

What did you mean by remove marine snow from image?

It's typically anything in the water column floating around. In PS or many of the other editing programs, there are ways to remove, hide, cover, heal, or whatever your particular editing program calls it, spots or things that detract from the image.

[michael_in_nc]

Ok, I use Aperture 3. Are you talking about "global" type edits or spot editing to clean it up?

[Misled]

Spot. You'll see white specs in the water column.

[michael_in_nc]

I'll read the tips and see how I do. Will post a few for comments....

[michael_in_nc]

Any inputs, advice, critique? I think I need to work on the aperture settings to control the depth of field better, play with the post processing more, and the exposure control. Any other comments???

[Reef Bass]

Great start. Certainly in the ballpark. I can't see any exif info in the pics. Not a problem but makes suggesting specific alternate settings more difficult.

To me, most seem a bit hot, as though maybe a touch less exposure would be good. Have you calibrated your monitor?

They could be sharper.

4 and 5 suggest pumps were on. Corals tend to expand more and have greater polyp extension without the usual flow. Plus it allows detritus to settle and cuts down on needing to remove spots during post.

Shoot straight through the glass (last one not).

Avoid center composition.

[michael_in_nc]

Reef Bass, Thanks for the comments, just the kind of feedback I was looking for!

I agree on the sharpness. I need to work on understanding the focus point system on the camera better for auto focus and maybe try some manual focus? What is the best suggestion at least to start with? I think another problem might be the depth of field is still too shallow so the focus becomes more critical? Maybe smaller aperture settings?

Yes, pumps were on. Didn't even think of that. Good tip.

I had sort of avoided shooting straight through the glass, I think because I had been using "auto" with the old camera which caused the flash to fire and produce glare. Not an issue with the above improvements, just an old bad habit.

Agreed on the composition. I know that is an issue. Probably that 'feel' will develop with practice? Do you have any suggestions on composition tips?

I think I have all the exif info. I am shooting with RAW and pulling into Aperture 3. I can read all the camera settings fine in Aperture. I will read the posting tips and see how to get the info in the post.

Will try some again in the next few days and see how it goes...

[Reef Bass]

You're welcome.

Go manual with your focus. When using a tripod to take pictures of stationary objects, like corals, you can put the focal plane exactly where you want it. And the width of your focal plane can be varied by your aperture (small f number, big lens opening, less depth of field / larger f number, smaller lens opening, greater depth of field). I'd suggest starting midrange (f8ish) and varying as you see fit.

I hear your historic reluctance to shoot straight on because of flash reflections. The good news is that with a tripod and no flow, you'll be able to use much longer shutterspeeds so you won't need to use a flash generally. Not saying flashes are never useful, just that with a tripod and stationary subjects, one can often get by without one.

Absolutely composition will develop with practice, especially if you're conscious of it. You've already got the biggest tip, avoid center composition. While appropriate for online catalogs of corals, center composition produces generally visually much less interesting images. Composition is about the balance of shapes, space, color and light.

Often choosing to include or exclude the exif info in a final image is as easy as checking or clearing a checkbox in the settings somewhere. There can also be iptc info which is more info for the photographer than image settings.

[Reef Bass]

On your FTS, another cropping approach would be to crop out the far left and far right vortechs. If you look down below them, there's very little of interest in those slices and it would focus attention further on the life in the tank and less on pumps and glass seams.

Love the vortechs, BTW. You must have some bomb flow. I have 2 40s on my 100g sps tank and they keep the water moving well.

[michael_in_nc]

Reef Bass, thanks again for the great suggestions. I will do another post with updated pics trying out a few things again. On the flash subject, what is your opinion of the best use of it for say higher motion stuff like fish? Do I need a separate flash over the basic on camera one?

The vortechs are great. I have overkill flow and they are generally turned down, but I didn't want to blast an MP60 on one end to reach across the tank. I have to stay on top of the sand as it's always getting slowly moved around. I need to figure out a solution to that!

[Reef Bass]

There are others with more flash experience than myself, but imho, a flash would be useful adding enough light that one could use a sufficiently fast shutterspeed to stop the motion of a fish without needing an f1.2 lens or ISO 32000. In that situation an off camera flash would be better to avoid reflection.

[Misled]

As RB said, off camera is best, but as long as the lens is almost touching the glass though, you shouldn't have any reflection.

[michael_in_nc]

Ok, a couple more questions, you guys keep me thinking...

At such fast settings (f1.2), I get depth of field issues. This can be great in some situations, but up close in the tank with motion of a fish, that seems hard to get control of?

I haven't had my lens right up to the glass. I was using a 50mm prime (f1.4) lens. That forces my position somewhat since it's a prime. I have the kit lens too, an 18-105mm VR. I needed a basic lens for the wife to carry and be more general purpose out and about. The 50mm prime looked like a great all around lens to give me a reasonably priced higher end lens that was still pretty versatile. I was thinking I might pick up a decent macro in the 85 / 105mm region (prime)? This would be the end of the lens line for me until I got pretty solid with the camera. Any opinions on my direction with the lens? Would the kit zoom lens be good for the tank shots or is the 50mm prime best?

What about shooting top down versus through the glass? Which way do you guys shoot more?

[Misled]

First get off of 1.2. You want a deeper DOF. You can probably get closer with the 18-105 than you can the 50. Just take the ISO up to 400-600 to be able to keep a quick enough shutter speed. Using the flash with the 18-105 should allow you to get up to the glass.There's a list of macros for Nikon in the macro sticky. I very rarely shoot my tank because the front glass is bowed which screws things up. Top down doesn't work for mine because of my lighting, but it's a good option with a Top Down box.

[michael_in_nc]

Ok, that's what I thought, f1.2 is a problem for DOF especially with fast moving targets. I've read that the lens is more important than the camera in many regards, so I was going for the 50mm prime as it's faster and should have better optical qualities, but the kit zoom may give me the flexibility I need here. It goes down to f3.5 which is probably more than enough for what i'm working on here?

What about your lighting limits the top down box? I might have a similar issue? Haven't really tried this before...

[Sharkdog22]

Does anyone have the Nikon mini lens? My wife is going to get one for her camera and I'm going to start using it on my tank photos

[IslandCrow]

Depending on how close up you're shooting, even f/3.5 may not be enough. Granted, when I'm shooting fish, I'm usually using my 100mm macro, but I seldom go wider than f/9. That's when that off-camera flash comes in very handy, because now light is no longer an issue. Top down shots can be awesome, but they're also difficult. The first thing you need is some sort of waterproof device for your lens (I made a box out of acrylic with an open top, the four sides painted black and a clear bottom). Basically, you need a way to get your lens below the surface of the water, or the reflection of the water will prevent you from taking a clear picture.

[Misled]

Originally Posted by Sharkdog22

Does anyone have the Nikon mini lens? My wife is going to get one for her camera and I'm going to start using it on my tank photos

You have to be more specific than mini lens. Do you mean the Nikon 1 J1 camera lenses??

[michael_in_nc]

Originally Posted by IslandCrow

Depending on how close up you're shooting, even f/3.5 may not be enough. Granted, when I'm shooting fish, I'm usually using my 100mm macro, but I seldom go wider than f/9. That's when that off-camera flash comes in very handy, because now light is no longer an issue. Top down shots can be awesome, but they're also difficult. The first thing you need is some sort of waterproof device for your lens (I made a box out of acrylic with an open top, the four sides painted black and a clear bottom). Basically, you need a way to get your lens below the surface of the water, or the reflection of the water will prevent you from taking a clear picture.

How much do you use your off camera flash? It would be nice to have, but I'm not sure I'd use it enough to justify it? Mainly, I will use for the tank shots, kids ( portrait if I get good enough, sports, activities, etc. ), & travel. I wouldn't see using it that much with anything but the tank or maybe the kids on rare occasion if I could get them to cooperate! I'm not even sure how expensive it would be?

Thanks all, this has been a great thread for me. Been making some progress anyway...

[Misled]

This was shot with two off camera flashes. One with a blue gel ond one with a yellow gel. The blue was behind and the yellow was under the flower.



If you start getting into shooting stills, they become a must. This was shot with the on camera flash.



You can learn to be more creative. For the cost. Good speedlights, (flashes), can be just as valuable as good glass.

[IPT]

Jesse that white flower image is awesome!

[Misled]

Thank you and hello Louis!!!! It's good to see you!!!