Hi Ken,
My edits represent my view on tank shots .) I do them as my view pleasure - while I agree 100% with you, if you were to buy the corals based on those pictures, you most likely to get really pis%%ed ; however, I take pictures to represent my corals - and to indulge my photographic pleasure
Also, our tanks and corals are not something fixed and static - actinics come one, sunrise, full lights blast, etc etc - and corals react to that and we see them during those moments as well. So while my pictures are a bit on the more dramatic side, I'm sure they are lifeless compared to that blastomussa under actinics - it must be glorious to look at .)
I worked for a while as a photographer - and if in weedings I had to do a faithfull reproduction of the guest, bride and groom - I pretty much got loved and booked all the time because apart from those, I also did a whole new set of pictures with funky angles, dramatic post processing and black and white contrasty pictures - and that is what people loved.
So these days - my personal take on Photography is something to entertain me - not exactly about faithfull reproductions. Unless I'm selling corals that is eheheh
All this to say - we are both absolutly right - just on different camps
Regarding to the post processing, bear in mind again, that I had razor thin "playroom" so based on your lens choice ( again, Canon 100mm macro is a sharp lens but one with quite low microcontrast ) , I did the following :
- bumped contrast a bit
- adjust levels ( more on this later ) top and bottom
- small USM mask ( more on this later
)
** about levels
levels are all the white, black and midtone zones of an image, in a graph.
here is a levels graph of an image :
see the first black triangle ( top ) ? thats where you can set the new level. now , look at the graph - on the left is the black areas of the imagem, mid graph is the mid tones and on the right is the bright parts of the image.
if you take a almost black pictures, the graph will skew almost everytinhg to the left - meaning it as a lot of black areas and somewhere along the middle with abruptly end - meaning no white/bright areas
on the contrary, if an image is taken with a lot of light, the graph will be the inverse.
now your image is more or less like this graph - specially about the blacks. you see where the black top triangle starts ? then there is a gap and then the graph starts. this means that you do not have deep contrast and the image is a bit "washed out". if you slide the triangle next to the graph, you will deep the blacks - more drama.
again on the other side - white triangle - you have the same thing. meaning again the image is washed out and lacks "brilliance". sliding the white triangle a bit to the right, will correct that ( and that is what I did )
** clarity & structure
I also did a touch of clarity and structure - to improve micro contrast, ie, the "3D" or "pop" effect of the image. Some lens - and your is known for that - are low on microcontrast. Ie, doesnt separate things with a defined edge. Can be a good or a bad thing - people usually want a lot of microcontrast, giving a 3D or "pop effect" on the image - although too much and will be to "plasticky". Some lens manufacturers are known for this, for having high microcontrast lens - and charge hefty sums for that : Leica , Zeiss for example. However, low microcontrast is not necessarily a bad thing - means you have more playroom in post processing - you can , to an extent, adjust the clarity, structure and sharpness of a low micro image. Its much harder to soften a high contrast image, without loosing detail.
++ sharpness
just a small bit, so the polyps and such are more visible. carefull with this one - a bit too much and things can go from "ooohhh" to "yeeewwww".
++ pitfalls & advices
few pitfalls to avoid : tone yourself down when it comes down to contrast and sharpness ; its easy to overdo them and images will look awfull. I have loads of fun, revisiting older images and see how much I exxagerated on contrast and sharpness
shoot raw and focus stack - but do not forget also to buy a couple of extension tubes - they are cheap and shorten a lot your macro distance and make your DOF razor thin - great when you focus stack - a usual mistake with focus stack is to keep EVERYTHING focused - be creative. let backgrounds be blurry, let distractions be out of focus - with extension tubes, everything is blurry ( lool since dof is so thin ) so use focus stacking creativly to extend sharpness where you want it and create a very pleasing image
oh and practice practice practice .) I'm a good photographer ( I say thing humbly ) but after all these years, still perfecting my macro technique(s)
