Another thread for macro help!

[der_wille_zur_macht]

I have a general interest in photography but have never been happy with pictures I've taken of fish tanks. Recently I've decided I'll never be happy unless I put some effort into it.

So, here's where I am. I have a Cannon Rebel XT with a kit lens (28-80) and another crappy no-name lens of similar focal lengths that I never use (I think it's a Sigma). To date, for macro photography in fish tanks, I've used screw-on close up filters on the kit lens. I have 1x, 2x, and 4x. No flash except the built-in one on the camera.

What I'd like is some point-blank advice on what I'm doing wrong. Do I need different equipment? Different settings? Am I just not cut out for this stuff?

Here are some macro shots I've taken recently. All were in an LFS that had no ambient lights (just the tank lights) which seemed to make the entire environment way too dark. The camera was on full-auto for most of these shots. I'll include my own thoughts.

This one I like:

Though the focus isn't very clear on the crab.

This one is OK, but clearly the white balance is WAY off, and again, focus isn't good:

Poor focus, colors washed out, bad composition:

Focus maybe a bit better, depth of field too small, colors accurate but not popping like they did in real life:

I can get very good results in bright light outdoors doing macros of bugs, flowers, etc. with the same equipment and technique, but when I point the bloody thing at a fish tank, it all goes to heck. It seemed like half the time the camera was stuck on it's biggest aperture and trying to use a really long exposure. Do I need a lens that stops down lower? Or simply a real macro lens and ditch the filters? I can't imagine a flash would help since it would just create glare on the glass, correct?

Clearly, I need to either start shooting in RAW and adjusting white balance later, or figure out how to adjust it on the camera, or both. . .

Please help me, oh gurus of the photography forum!

 

[raliuha]

The idea of taking photos in aquarium is simple, but sadly - difficult to achieve.
The big issue is that you need speed and light at same time, which is expensive, more than state of the art LED lighting.
Also avoid using flash, because it is going to wash and change the colors.
So, to give you some advise try to follow these rules:

- open the aperture, you will need at least 2.8, but with the kit lens you can go with max of 3.5. It is generally not enough, but you can try. Have in mind the DOF.
- increase the ISO - the more, the better. Digital Rebel XT is difficult above 400, 800 i consider to be the absolute maximum. Experiment and decide for yourself.
- shoot at 90 degrees angle against the glass
- increase the speed - you will need at least 1/500 to get a good shot.
- when possible, use tripod. In my opinion is a bit useless when taking photos of a fish, but for corals and other static objects you better have one.
- stop any pumps during the shot
- adjust the white balance

Below is an example of a shot of my star polyps with the following: Canon Digital Rebel XT, SMC Takumar 50/1.4 manual focus lens, tripod. Shot was taken at aperture 1.4, speed 1/1000, ISO 400. The lighting of my aquarium is not the best since it is temporary and consists of 4 T5s. I have to point out that none of the pumps were stopped during the shot, which is to my benefit.

P.S.
I forgot to mention - i'm brand new to the hobby, so probably i miss something. These are some general rules.

Good luck with your hunting!

 

["Umm fish?"]

A decent macro lens will help you. They tend to have really sharp glass and are fast lenses. But they aren't necessary at all.

I don't use the magnification filters. They will reduce sharpness and I'm already shooting through the enormous, coke-bottle-glasses filter of the aquarium glass itself, so I don't need _more_ reduction in sharpness.

If you don't want to shell out the money for a macro lens yet, try using extension tubes. They sell them in sets of three that you can mix and match. Get the more expensive ones that have pass-through electronics to match your camera that will still let your camera communicate with your lens. _The only_ thing that extension tubes do is move the lens away from the body of your camera (they are just hollow aluminum tubes). But that effectively enlarges the subject as projected against the sensor inside the camera.

I shoot most of my macro handheld whenever possible. But to do so, I _have_ to supplement the light enough that I can use a fast shutter speed (though I don't think I've ever shot a macro at 1/500, more along the lines of 1/100 or so). I have external flash that are mounted out near the end of the lens. (When shooting macro, the distance from the lens to the subject is not very far. The lens itself can cast a shadow over your subject if you try to use the flash on the camera.) You can make a flash mount pretty darn easily. The flashes themselves don't have to be very powerful because the subject is very close.

As raliuha says, some corals look very different in the light of the flash. Some corals look fine. Some look washed-out and brown. It's a matter of experimentation.

Handheld is pretty much the only way that I've found to get decent macro photos of things that move, like fish and insects.

I try to keep my ISO as low as possible. You get deeper colors and finer grain detail with lower ISO.

But, the biggest issue is to practice. Try to take some macro photos every day. Make the commitment. Then, LOOK at your photos and THINK about them. That's how you'll get better.

 

["Umm fish?"]

Oh and for photo criticism, the crab photo is really very nice. Try to get the eyes in-focus next time and you'll be good to go. (For some reason, if there are eyes in a photo and if they are in-focus, our brains will ignore the fact that other parts of the photo are out-of-focus. But if the eyes are not in-focus, our brains will see the whole image as blurry. The same seems to be true for corals' mouths. Crazy that.)

The second one is interesting, but there's nothing in the image for a viewer to latch onto to draw them in. Mostly what I focus on is the clear diagonal line, but then I'm left wondering what you wanted me to see.

Third image: looks like you took at an angle to the glass, so you've lost a lot of sharpness.

Fourth: Well, see above about coral mouths. DOF is a problem with macro. There's no escaping it. Even if you're shooting at high f-stops, you still aren't talk about a large increase in the width of your DOF and you sacrifice some sharpness when you increase the DOF too far. So, what to do? You have to be aware of the fact that you're only getting a slice of focus and you have to take control of the placement of that slice. Be aware of the issue and THINK about where you want it and why. Slow down and have a reason for pushing the shutter button. As you get more practiced, the decisionmaking comes more quickly, but when you are starting out there's a lot to be said for slowing down.

 

[smb2]

Just following along. Have never shot tank images.

If you are shooting static stuff why do you need such a fast shutter speed ? Esp. with a tripod?
If you hand hold a flash on an extension cord off to the side will it not light the subject coral with out a reflection ?

Fish of course are different and the closer the better, so focal length of the lens is an issue.

105mm lens at about 12 inches, f11, SS 500 with dual flashes, not at full power, in 8 feet of water.

 

[dendronepthya]

I think you are discovering now the main difficulty with taking photos of tanks: THEY ARE DARK!!! In order to take a photo of a dark subject, there are three things you can play with, each with their own set of disadvantages:
1. Use a larger aperture. A larger aperture (lower f-number ie. f/2.8 or less) will allow in more light. The disadvantage is you get shallow depth of field so much of your picture will be blurry. Some like this look, but in some cases you want more of the subject in focus.

2. Turn up the ISO. ISO is the light sensitivity of the sensor. ISO 100 is normally the base ISO, and you can turn it up to about ISO 1600 without losing too much image quality. ISO is like the volume dial on a crummy radio. The more you turn it up, the more you will hear the noise and static. Sure, you can hear the song better, but that background noise can be an issue as you go up. In photography, the image will look more grainy, less 3-dimensional, and the colors won't be as vibrant.

3. Let the shutter stay open longer. The longer it stays open, the more light it collects. The disadvantage is, if you are trying to shoot a moving subject this just won't work. If you are hand-holding, this won't work. The best use of this is with a tripod shooting a stationary target.

Some combination of those three things can help take tank photos. What I would suggest doing is the following just to see:
1. Get a tripod.
2. Set ISO to 100.
3. Use Aperture priority shooting mode and set Aperture to about f/11.
4. Shoot at something stationary (as the shutter speed will probably be slow).

 

["Umm fish?"]

If you are shooting static stuff why do you need such a fast shutter speed ? Esp. with a tripod?

You don't, if you are shooting static stuff. Corals aren't really static, though. People try things like shutting down pumps to get less tentacle movement, but in the end corals are animals and animals move. So that's why I use a faster exposure.

If you hand hold a flash on an extension cord off to the side will it not light the subject coral with out a reflection ?

Yeah, that works fine. That's essentially what my lens mount for the flash does. It moves the flash forward and off to the side. Plus, it gives me an extra hand to hold the camera.

 

["Umm fish?"]

Than--Exactly right. The other option on (1) to get more light is to supplement what light is available by using a flash.

 

[dendronepthya]

That's true, you can always add more light. I always forget that option because I so rarely use flash. Rarely as in I don't own one. I have added more light onto the aquarium and pointed blue LED flashlights at coral for photography before though.

 

[reefman23]

To the OP, you've got some good advice here. Some of the shots can also be salvaged. I played with one, hope you dont mind.

original:

edited:

Jesse

 

[diverdick]

Nice coral.....looks just like mine! LMAO it is..... Nice work guys