Information on taking good Pictures.

[D12monkey]

Due to the type of lighting that we all use in our aquaria hobby cameras are not quite able to take those gorgeous pictures without a little help from us. This tread here is being designed as a Q/A seesion regarding taking good pictures of our beloved pets.

First off.... It's not the camera that takes the good picture. It's the person. Though most of us don't know how too. Well this is the trick in being able to take pictures like this:

[D12monkey]

Here's how you can achieve picture that really catches your eyes.

Well most of us know how our animals behave in the tank. Maybe they have a favorite spot to hang out at. USE this to your advantage. More than likely when you go take pictures of you subject they'll be more willing if they are hanging out where they like. If you scare your subject off relax they'll come around when they feel comfortable with the change in the scenery, i.e. you with the camera. PATIENCE is key here.

Ok now you have found the perfect angle to take the picture from. Now comes the technical part of taking the picture. Though it's not rocket science it does take a little persistance in getting that right shot. The best way to get that perfect shot constantly is to take it with the aid of a tripod (or monopod once you start getting more consistant photos).

Most of the cameras have a macro selection... Unless you are shooting full tank shots then the camera should be in this setting as it will allow you to get a focus on your subject that will fill up the majority if not all of your screen/viewfinder. If you have the option of remotely firing you camera via a cable or if you have a remote and are taking pictures of a sessile subject. Then I strongly recommend that you use it. As the action of pressing the shutter button will cause you to move the camera and cause a blur in the picture. If you don't then use the timer delay function to take the picture. This will allow the sharpest pictures to come out of your camera.

[D12monkey]

The following pictures are taken with 2 different cameras. One is an Olympus point and shoot camera 3.3 megapixel camera. The other one is with a Canon Powershot Pro1 8.0 megapixel camera. There are posted in no particular order. Try and find out which one's which.

[D12monkey]

Contrary to popular belief, the megapixel rating doesn't really mean much. except that you can print picture out at a much larger scale without the picture showing it's grain, also know as pixelization. For the size of picture normally taken and posted on forums like these you could actually use a simple 1.1 megapixel camera and still produce gorgeous pictures. 1.1 megapixel cameras will allow approximate maximum size of 4" x 6" pictures without showing signs of grain. Versus an 8.0 mega pixel camera that'll approximate a picture of an 11" x 17" print without getting anywhere near the possibility of showing it's grain.

[D12monkey]

Please feel free to ask questions pertaining how to take pictures and I'll attempt to provide you with an answer.

[FragOutpost]

Excellent thread! It looks like you've done some homework. :D



Well most of us know how out animals behave in the tank. Maybe they have a favorite spot to hang out at. USE this to your advantage. More than likely when you go take pictures of you subject they'll be more willing if they are hanging out where they like. If you scare your subject off relax they'll come around when they feel comfortable with the change in the scenery, i.e. you with the camera. PATIENCE is key here.
Many times I have found myself perched in front of the tank with camera in hand waiting for a fish to stop paying attention to me and resume normal activity. I have noticed that my fish are much more startled when I have a camera in front of my face. Everytime my jawfish sees the camera he hides in his burrow making it very difficult to get a decent pic.

Another tip is to turn the flash off. Using a flash will drown out the aquarium lighting. Use your aquarium lighting to your advantage. Using a flash could also cause the photo to pick up reflections from the flash off of the aquarium glass.

[FragOutpost]

The following pictures are taken with 2 different cameras. One is an Olympus point and shoot camera 3.3 megapixel camera. The other one is with a Canon Powershot Pro1 8.0 megapixel camera. There are posted in no particular order. Try and find out which one's which. Great side by side comparison shot from your two cameras. I guess that the first is the canon 8.0.

[FragOutpost]

Another tip - Most cameras tend to focus the most on the very center of the image. Always try to center your object in the viewfinder.

[D12monkey]

LOL Frag... you beat me too it. I was actually going to post the flash info right now. All the photos taken with flash will have a flat feel to them. Without using the flash you will have more of a three dimensional feel providing a more appeasing feel to the picture. Also the color will be shifted like Frag has mentioned. Most flashes will be of a 5500K temperature on the digital cameras. Which is going to provide with a very yellow look to the picture and drown out the colors that we want to capture and show off. :D Most of our lighting is at a minimum of 10000K temperature range, yet this is more of a whitish-blue hue as you go higher up the Kelvin range then the color becomes bluer. We want to catch these colors as it is more appealing to our vision. Hence the use of actinics with metal halides and/or daylight bulbs.

[D12monkey]

Below are two pictures taken of the same subject. The first one is with a flash. The second without a flash.

[D12monkey]

Color balance also plays an important role in getting that perfect picture. as you can see by this picture taken of the same subject as the two previous but using a different color balance.

[FragOutpost]

Excellent example on using (or not using) the flash and on using color balance.

By the way, Nice acro too!

[D12monkey]

By the way, Nice acro too!

Another $20 piece courtesy of my LFS :D

[D12monkey]

If you absolutely need to use flash due to your subject moving around too much, I strongly recommend using a diffuser on the flash to soften the light and make it more appealing to the eyes, by making the lighting less harsh both on the color balancing and the subject.

Diffusers can range anywhere from $20 to over $200 depending on how it fancy you get one. But a good tip is to take a 2 ply tissue paper (whether it's toilet tissue or not is up to you as long as it's completely white). You can fold it several times and place it over the flash. This way is more of a trial and error way of trying to figure out how much light you want to soften and still be able to see the subject you are trying to photograph. I have found that 2 folds so that there is 4 layers of tissue on toilet paper usually works fairly well. This is the whole purpose of a diffuser, to block out some of the light and make it a softer illumination.

But of course the best way to take macro photograph is with the use of a ring light, a.k.a. Macro flash. It combines the features of a flash with a diffuser but is place in line with the lens allowing the subject to be illuminated correctly without the appearances of a shadow. But this is the more expensive way to go as a ring light usually start around $185 and can surpass the $1000 price.

[FragOutpost]

Great tip for diffusing the flash.
I'm not sure about other cameras but when I disable the flash on mine it causes the shutter to stay open for a split second longer when taking pictures. This results in a higher frequency of blurred photos when not using a tripod. I think I might try your trick of diffusing the flash. Thanks! Great thread by the way.

[D12monkey]

Great tip for diffusing the flash.
I'm not sure about other cameras but when I disable the flash on mine it causes the shutter to stay open for a split second longer when taking pictures. This results in a higher frequency of blurred photos when not using a tripod. I think I might try your trick of diffusing the flash. Thanks! Great thread by the way.

All cameras have to keep the shutter open longer without the use of flash. Other wise you would get an extremely under-exposed photo. And your not tricking the camera your just minimizing the amount of intensity of the flash. lighting will still be the same but just softer.

[D12monkey]

I think I might try your trick of diffusing the flash. Thanks! Great thread by the way.

So has the trick worked out for you?

[FragOutpost]

Great trick. I've been experimenting with different levels of diffusion.

[D12monkey]

Here's a better example of what color balancing will allow you to do with your pictures. These pictures as all of the other ones taken in this tread are not photoshoped in any way other than resizing.

They are taken with a variety of different settings with the same camera to show you what's the true potential of the machines in your hand. The first would be a picture taken with a white balance using the sun as a gauge. The picture was then taken under PC lighting. This is what most cameras will take a picture like under the sunny setting for the WB.

[D12monkey]

Now if you are lucky enough to have purchased a camera that allows you to evaluate the white balance under a variety of lighting then you would turn the same picture as above into what we really would see if we were looking at it directly.

This picture was color balanced for PC lighting before taking. This is the true colors our eyes would see that same picture above.

[D12monkey]

AS you can see what our camera registers as a blue color in reality was a purple. Now these same effects can be acheived using photoshop but you will loose some image quality as you change the color drastically. If you cannot adjust the camera settings are will be using a photo editing program then I would strongly suggest that you take the pictures in the highest resolution so you can have the most amount of play when editing.

[FragOutpost]

Great demonstration on using the camera's color balancing features to take photos that replicates more of what the eye sees naturally. I often have problems getting my photos to show colors as they appear in my tank with my old 2.1 olympus. I'm long overdue for a camera upgrade. Keep the tips and tricks coming!

[salazar]

Hello, i was wondering if anybody knew if my camera a Fuji A350 5.1 Mega pixel should be good enough to take pictures like the ones on this forum. I seem to not be able to do this i have trouble getting focus and zoom like this through the glass.

[FragOutpost]

Hello, i was wondering if anybody knew if my camera a Fuji A350 5.1 Mega pixel should be good enough to take pictures like the ones on this forum. I seem to not be able to do this i have trouble getting focus and zoom like this through the glass.I am unfamiliar with that camera but it is propably much better than my camera. Are you using macro mode on your camera?

[FragOutpost]

You do not need a great camera to take decent pics.
My camera is an example of that. Reading the camera manual can really help you to get to know the ins and outs of your camera.

[FragOutpost]

If you have photoshop then the unsharp mask function is a great tool to help your images appear more crisp.

[salazar]

No, no macro mode im gonna pull out the manual

[FragOutpost]

No, no macro mode im gonna pull out the manualMacro mode is the first step to taking good close up photos of your reef.
Usually it is represented by a flower icon in most cameras.

[FragOutpost]

No, no macro mode im gonna pull out the manualDid you get the macro mode working on your camera?

[dickie52]

Glad to see this thread....

I got a new camera a couple of months ago and I can see that this thread is going to be a great help.

I just picked up a 100mm lens for it and it has made a world of improvement in my pics :)

Here are a couple of shots I took last night in my 6.6 bookshelf nano....

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2004-2/624520/IMG_1569.JPG

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2004-2/624520/IMG_1573.JPG

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2004-2/624520/IMG_1576.JPG

[FragOutpost]

Hello Dickie52 and welcome to Frag Outpost!
Amazing photos! What kind of camera are you using?

[dickie52]

Frag,
Thanks for the welcome, I had forgotten that I had registered here, awhile ago. Then I got your email...... :p

I picked up the Canon Rebel XT, a couple of months ago and added a Canon 100mm lens. I am just now getting time to play with it a bit. I am so glad to see the photo thread.

One problem I am having is getting a good looking, in focus, shot of the whole tank. I also have a "28mm-200mm" I have tried both lens and I am still not happy with the results. I will post the last pic of my 6.6 Bookshelf Nano and you can see what I mean......

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2004-2/624520/6.6feb06num2.jpg

[FragOutpost]

The Rebel is a nice camera. Here are some additional photography tips (http://www.melevsreef.com/take_great_pictures.html) you might find useful.
Nice nano. What are the dimensions? Looks kind of big for a 6.6 nano.

[dickie52]

Nice nano. What are the dimensions? Looks kind of big for a 6.6 nano.

It is 24 inches wide by 8 inches high by 8 inches deep, quite a unique tank. I bought it off a girl over at nano-reef, she had it custom made, it has 1/4" glass. I light it with 130watts of pc lighting.

Thanks for the link to the photo tips.....

[FragOutpost]

That is a very unique tank indeed!
I like it. It is definitely on my list of the best looking nanos I've seen.

[dickie52]

Now if I could just get a good picture of it.... :p :D :confused:

[D12monkey]

Now if I could just get a good picture of it.... :p :D :confused:


Ok lets give this a shot... try setting the lens to 50 mm... with the 1.4x factor it should be aprox equivalent to 70 mm... You could acutally prob put the lens a little higher in zoom (60 mm)... next set the lens on a tripod and back up until you get your entire tank in the viewfinder. Set the lens in manual focus and focus on the the shot. NOW here's the tricky part. The shooting setting. That all depends on your lighting that you have on your tank. With PCs and VHOs you could prob get away with 4.5 f/stop and 1/4 shutter speed. (Will confirm later. I'm not infront of the tank.) You can set this via manual mode or you can leave it in P and it'll set the shutter and f/stop automatically.

Let me know how that comes out.

[FragOutpost]

Tips from the pro! :) - Thanks D12

[D12monkey]

Tips from the pro! :) - Thanks D12

If it's Canon you count on me. ;) Live by Canon love their stuff.

But I'm no PRO.

I should be a Canon Rep. :D

[D12monkey]

Hello, i was wondering if anybody knew if my camera a Fuji A350 5.1 Mega pixel should be good enough to take pictures like the ones on this forum. I seem to not be able to do this i have trouble getting focus and zoom like this through the glass.

Let me dig around myself on the settings of this camera.

[D12monkey]

Here's a nice photo taken top down. The way to get to look like it's in the water is with the use of a mask to take the photo. A good tip if you don't have a mask to place around your lens you can use a glass container that has a flat bottom.

[D12monkey]

Don't mind the algae :p

[dickie52]

Let me know how that comes out.

D12,
Thanks for the tips, I will give a try tonight and post the results.

Dickie

[FragOutpost]

Here's a nice photo taken top down. The way to get to look like it's in the water is with the use of a mask to take the photo. A good tip if you don't have a mask to place around your lens you can use a glass container that has a flat bottom.Excellent tip.
Nice acro, too! :)

[dickie52]

Well here is the test shot of the 6.6....I left the camers set on "P"

I think it is much better, but I am trying for that crisp look.....

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2004-2/624520/testshot1.jpg

[FragOutpost]

Do you have photoshop? If so then the unsharp mask tool helps to make your images more crisp.

[FragOutpost]

Here is an example of the unsharp mask -
Edit - The second is your original image the first is the sharpened image.

[FragOutpost]

Are you using a tripod?

[dickie52]

I see what you mean..... :)

too bad I don't have photoshop. :p

I do have a couple of pretty good photo edit software programs.....

I will give them a try!

[dickie52]

yes on the tripod and auto release.

[FragOutpost]

What photo editor are you using? Other programs likely have this same function built in.

[dickie52]

Here is the type of shot I am trying to get. This is a picture of Mike Guerrero's pico tank.....

Mike, asked me to be sure and mention, this picture is not for reproduction....thank you.


http://nanotank.com/images/contests/05tots2.jpg

[dickie52]

I am using ArcSoft PhotoStudio and Paint Shop Pro Studio

I mostly have been using the ArcSoft

[FragOutpost]

I think part of the reason is that with a smaller tank you can get much closer with the camera and still get a full tank shot where as your tank is much longer requiring the camera to be positioned further away in order to get the full tank in the shot.

I have paint shop pro 7.
Try using "Effects->Sharpen->Sharpen More" and see if that helps any.

[dickie52]

OK....thanks!!!

I will keep trying till I get it

even if it's by accident!!! :p :D :) :o

[D12monkey]

Here is an example of the unsharp mask -
Edit - The second is your original image the first is the sharpened image.

The Beauty of Photoshop and the digitall darkroom... :D

[D12monkey]

OK....thanks!!!

I will keep trying till I get it

even if it's by accident!!! :p :D :) :o


What resolution are you shooting at? And how are you saving your files? That photo is fairly well focued but it looks like the resolution was fairly low when the photo was taken. Try shooting at the highest resolution.

[D12monkey]

No, no macro mode im gonna pull out the manual

Hey Salazar this is what I found regarding your camera. "The macro setting allows users to capture images of items only 4 inches away from the lens. In addition, AVI movies can be captured at a rate of 10 frames per second with sound. " Taken from http://www.steves-digicams.com/2005_reviews/fuji_a350.html

It's going to be under your menu/ok button... that will allow you to set the macro mode I believe. Let me know how if it works out. Otherwise I'll get ahold of one and find out exactly.

[FragOutpost]

Thanks for doing the research D12! :)