bought a sony DSLR... first attempts of reef photography

[LOTUS50GOD]

My tanks is mostly a swim tank and the water isnt as clear as I would like... so please be gentle. Lighting is 6500k

These were taken with the standard lens, zoomed to about 80mm then cropped down to 800x600...

Are you all using a macro lens... there is a sony 100mm macro that I have my eye on right now.

So what am i doing wrong?

G

 

[EvoX]

im no photog expert but it looks like the iso is too high? im pretty new the the whole dslr too myself, just got a nikon d200 last year and still having problems getting things right

 

[LOTUS50GOD]

i left it on auto.. where should it be for these type of pics...

 

[Saiyan]

Too me it looks like as you said your water isn't that clear which isn't helping and that the pics are underexposed with too high an ISO.

If there is a way to tell the auto setting to boost the exposure I would do that. I find that for fish most of the time I have to use a flash to get the best results. It changes the color but helps freeze the action. Also if you only took a few shots you probably wont get the best results. When I take pictures of fish I take a lot of shots to end up with a few that I really like. I frequently take 100 to 200 shots in a session and delete 75% of them. Fish that are swimming are tough and take practice. The best thing to do with a new camera is just use it and play with the settings. When I bought my first DSLR I took 2000 pictures in a couple of days (all with the camera set to manual) and that was the best for me to figure it out, a bit of a crash course but I learned a lot fast.

 

[LOTUS50GOD]

I have taken lots of action shots at racetracks, but wanted to try my hand at what you guys do here... the pics here are AWESOME!....

Here is some of my work of motorsports
www.arizonaautoracing.com/Gallery-RoadRacing.htm

This is from last weeks proautosports event here in Phoenix.
most of these were shot with a 200mm lens... i have a 300 now that i cant wait to try out on this weekends event.

 

[Saiyan]

By the title of the thread I thought you haven't used your camera much. The pics at the track are very nice. It seems that you have the tracking of a target down.

I have found that taking pictures of corals is pretty easy. I just turn off the pumps and wait until the tank is still. Then I shoot at the lowest ISO with whatever aperture I need for the depth of field I am looking for. I prefer to use manual mode but some like aperture priority. Also a tripod is a must and shooting straight through the class and not at an angle makes a big difference by minimizing distortions. I also don't like to use a flash on corals as the colors aren't as true.

For me the real challenge is the fish shots. With your practice of shooting at the race tracks you may have a knack for shooting moving fish better then me. The only successful strategy for fish that I have found is what I suggested earlier. Take a bunch and hope a few turn out. The key is a fast shutter and a higher ISO to get the faster shutter. And I would have to say that most of the really good shots on the forum were taken with a macro lens. For tank shots I think they are a necessity.

 

[LOTUS50GOD]

I reduced the ISO to 100... and got better results...

again.. pics are taken of my swim tank.. and there is crap in the water...

I love this little guy....

 

[EvoX]

much better
the thing about iso is that the higher it goes the faster it can take pics but the grainier the picture will be
lowering it will clear it up some but itll take a little longer to take pics so sometimes, using a tripod is very helpful

 

[LOTUS50GOD]

I was going to do a tripod.. but then I saw a better idea....

Get a bolt, some string, and a big washer...

The bolt should thread into the camera bottom
the thread should be about your hieght
the washer should be good size and weight.

Thread the bolt into the bottom of the camera, where the tripod will go...
Tie the string, to the bolt....
Tie the other end to the washer...

When you are taking pics... you stand on the washer... and pull the string tight... the camera wont move....

I use this technique when shooting motorsports, so I can follow the action and have a steadier hand.. works well.

 

[EvoX]

thats an interesting idea, im deffinately going to try that, lol when i was reading what you were saying i was like...wha?
but i think i get the concept now