Can anyone share some tips..

[Annadvn]

I have seen amazing pictures of corals on this sight. I was wondering how you get those shots?

Do you do lots of editing after the pictures?

I have a Canon EOS Rebel and a Sigma 50mm macro lens i use. I am working on saving for an upgrade in body and macro lens, but the LFS just keeps getting in too many cool corals and fish!

Can anyone give any tips for helping me improve?

Thanks in advance :thumbsup:

Anna

 

[fatrip]

I'd say first tripod. shut all the flow off in the tank, be perfectly parallel to the glass or acrylic. get a remote button. shoot in RAW. those should help a bit but other than that knowing the basics of photography would go a long way.

 

[maroun.c]

That would be perpendicular to the glass!!

Tripod
Cleaning the glass one day earlier to avoid smudges and allow alga to settle and not appera floating in the pics...
if possible setup the photoshoot a couple of days after a water change as corals usually are looking they're best.
A fresh batch of carbon to clear up the water a couple of days earlier is also a plus (if you want to take it to that level.
bouncing your flash up and to an angle to avoid flash reflection on teh front glass.
I tend to press my lens on the glass to give more stability and avoid flash reflection
use the meter in your camera to set the aperture and shutter speed as if you're not using a flash and then activate your flash (use manual mode) this ensures that flash contribution is limited so the colors of corals are not washed out from flash as the shutter speed is rather slow ans the camera can pickup real colors from existing lighting.
at teh same time the flash will freeze any motion that could result from the lower shutter speeds.
For fish I tend to use fast shutter speeds 1/60 and faster as fish move more than corals this makes the flash contribution bigger which is not as problematic as in coral shots where colors in fish don't wash out with flash lighting as much as corals.
I tend not to stop the flow completly in the tank as then Polyps look hanging down and very unnatural. Maybe decrease flow a bit.
HTH

 

[xtm]

Exactly what problems are you having?
I think that 50mm is too short for macros.... I have a 105mm myself and I think even that is not enough sometimes and I still end up cropping. That would be the first one I would upgrade. As for editing, I use LR3.2 and usually tweak the WB, Contrast, black levels and a little NR. Shoot in RAW, manual mode for full control. Get as much DOF as possible (>f/11), and of course, use a tripod.

 

[fatrip]

That would be perpendicular to the glass!!

humm idk about you but if my lense glass was perpendicular to my tank glass i would be taking a picture of my TV...

 

[Brett9917]

Parallel means they run side by side and never intersect. IE: 2 rails on a railroad track
Perpendicular means they intersect at perfect 90 degree angles.

So yes, when you put it that way... you do want the lens glass parallel to the tank glass (minus the whole convex surface of the lens.) However most people would refer to having the camera body (your vision) to be perpendicular to the tank.

 

[Gill_bucket]

never mind

 

[maroun.c]

humm idk about you but if my lense glass was perpendicular to my tank glass i would be taking a picture of my TV...

I'm sure we both mean the same thing
The way I think about it is that when you say lense you usually think of the whole lense ie the black housing and not just the glass front element.
so I would say have the lense perpendicular to the glass.:hammer:

 

[Annadvn]

Thank you everyone.

I have taken the points you all made and saw an improvement, its nothing like the pictures that you all post still but they are better!

I am saving for a 100mm macro lens, hopefully it will be a Christmas present!

Anna