Got my Macro! First shots...

90sShooter

90sShooter

Active member
I got my Canon 100mm Macro in the mail today and what can I say... I am in love! :D After I took the first picture and saw what it could do, I was giddy like a little school boy :lol: grinning from ear to ear. :D

I learned very quick that getting a sharp picture is IMPOSSIBLE through the curved front glass of my aquapod (That really sucks!). However I was able to get some side pictures through the flat side panels. As well as some pictures of my 55g with less appealing SPS.

Anyway here they are... with little post processing. I did have to increase the exposure on 2 or 3 about 1/3 stop on 2 and 1 full stop on the other. I am very new to all of this so I was really guessing... But I did do a little cropping as well. Also I am not sure what is the best way to crop and if there is a good size or resolution that I should be cropping to?

Please critique! And suggestions on cropping size would be helpful (I did 2 different so it should be interesting how they display on the thread...)

IMG_0944.jpg


IMG_0945.jpg


IMG_0953.jpg


IMG_0954.jpg


IMG_0961.jpg


IMG_0964.jpg
 
I'm glad to see you off to a running start young grasshopper. I don't think the white balance is off as much as they could use some contrast? While white balance is probably the single most useful RAW trick, contrast adjustments are up there as well. I don't know what photo editing software you are using. I know you have Canon's Digital Photo Professional, so I'll explain with that.

Under the "Picture Style" selector, you should see a bar graph. Drag the sides from left to right to make blacks blacker. Drag from right to left to make whites whiter.
In the top tabs, "RAW RGB NR", select RGB. Click in the very middle of the slanted line. This will set an anchor point. Click elsewhere on this line and pull up or down to change contrast. A RAW file will respond to this better than a like JPEG file.
 
Thanks guys!

TS I really need to just sit down and learn to PP. I got a trial of Lightroom but it is really confusing with no instruction. I have been meaning to watch their tutorial videos via their website. But have not had time. Also, I have yet to install the software that came with the camera (oops..lol). Which one is better? Should I learn lightroom or install the canon software?

I will dabble with it a little right now and see what I come up with.

TS if you have a couple minutes, can you try to PP one (even though it is already a JPEG) and see what you can get out of it? Maybe that will help me mess with it and see what my end result should be. Thanks man!

BTW scorpio, these were all shot in JPEG... I have yet to figure out how to PP so I stuck with JPEG for the time being ;)
 
Ummm Canon's program is very simple and down right intuitive. Lightroom is far superior but there is a need to know what your doing.
 
lol Maybe I will just install the canon software.... lol But I am watching the tutorial videos right now to atleast learn my way around... :D
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14167520#post14167520 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by 90sShooter

TS if you have a couple minutes, can you try to PP one (even though it is already a JPEG) and see what you can get out of it? Maybe that will help me mess with it and see what my end result should be. Thanks man!
Click to expand...
I don't know what the coral is supposed to look like in the first place, but I could tell it was under actinics. I toyed around with it for a little bit and this is what I got:
Untitled-1copyb.jpg

TSedit.jpg
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14167570#post14167570 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by 90sShooter
lol Maybe I will just install the canon software.... lol But I am watching the tutorial videos right now to atleast learn my way around... :D
Click to expand...
Like I said the Canon software is easy to learn and use. You will develop a feel for what controls do what and lightroom, which works off the same principles just more of them, should be much easier when you revisit it a couple weeks later.
 
lol that is so funnny! I just got done watching the video about tonal and color correction and I tried it out on the SAME photo! lol this is what I got...

before
IMG_0964.jpg

after
IMG_0964-2.jpg
 
weird... in lightroom it looked like a bigger difference. Anyway, it wasn't taken with actinics specifically but T5's with 4 out of 6 on the actinic blue side (I think 2 actinic, one pure actinic, and 1 actinic plus, then 2 daylight bulbs). But the true colors are similar to my after editing...

You have been very helpful! Thanks for taking the time to do that for me! The reason I was so confused with Lightroom was I wasn't even on the "develop" section... lol oops!
 
Progress progress! I think mine was too red. You went more for the green end of the spectrum. I wanted the best of both worlds with neon green and bright red. Unfortunately they battle for dominance like clownfish. In my image RED became female, GREEN the male, and BLUE was the 3rd clown who didn't make the cut and got killed off.
 
lol yours looks like I used flash ;)

Which brings me to another thing, should I be using flash? and adjusting to compensate? I have a picture of my purple monster that I took like 20 times and could not get a good one because it is opposite the light (I am taking it from the shaded side)
 
I think reef flash photography could be great if you have a speed light. The pop up flash is all but worthless IMO. The more expensive DSLRs don't even have them. I like your light thinking though. Underexposing the ambient light and using flash should cure your problem...but you can't control what the in camera flash does. =(
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14167698#post14167698 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by lowbudget
ustin where you order the lens from nice pictures you going to the meeting tomorrow. you can show me a thing or two
Click to expand...

Yeah I think I will be attending... I am really very new to all this myself... but I would be more than happy to show you what I do...

I ordered my lense from J&R.com. They had it for $444 after the $35 Canon rebate (that I think ends on saturday) and through live.com you get 7% back. So it came out to like $414... Not bad! (but you have to wait like 60 days for the 7% cashback). But no tax (that saves you another 7.75%) and free shipping! :D Sooo worth the money let me tell you! This is a FREAKIN LENS! lol Only thing is it weighs like 10 lbs! lol atleast it feels like it...
 
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