Help me Take Good Photos

[kb3777]

Camera
Nikon D5200 24.1 MP CMOS Digital SLR Camera Body Only (Black)

Macro Lens
Nikon 85mm f/3.5G AF-S DX ED VR Micro Nikkor Lens for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras

Most of my coral photos are coming out dark or washed looking. I'm starting to think my lighting needs a change for good photos. I have an Acan 18" LED over my 36" tank. Tank is 10" deep.

What light should I buy? I don't care what it costs. Kessil A360? Hydra? Radion? T5?

 

[IslandCrow]

First thing's first, be sure to resize your photos to something more convenient for viewing. That said, upgrading your lighting for pictures of static corals would be pointless. You just need to use a tripod (if you're not already) and set an appropriate shutter speed. That said, here are the issues I see with these specific photos.

1) Your white balance is off. You'll either need to set a custom white balance or shoot in raw format and adjust the white balance in post processing.

2) You need more depth of field for your subjects. Many people overestimate the depth of field they're going to get for a given aperture when it comes to macro photography. If you don't already understand the relationship between aperture (or f-stop) and depth of field, that's something you'll want to look into.

3) Skill in post processing is extremely valuable when it comes to aquarium photography. Camera companies generally don't have this type of photography in mind when they design their cameras, so you're probably not going to find a perfect picture style. If you insist on shooting jpeg, I'd probably suggest using a landscape picture style (or whatever Nikon calls their jpeg processing settings).

I realize you may or may not understand everything I'm saying, but I'm not sure what your experience level is. Also, you may have other issues, like shooting at an angle through the glass, which often times induces excessive distortion. Aquarium photography is probably one of the most difficult types of photography I've done. It first requires a very solid baseline in general photography and then a lot of practice in this particular discipline. In short, though, you have the right equipment. Now, it's a matter of gaining the required knowledge and then practice, practice, practice.

 

[Ssteve]

Try shooting in A/V mode a little. biggest issue I see is the dof. try the same exact shot(make sure its on a tripod) around f8 and use either a timer or a remote. From there you could get it to look good in a basic program if shooting in raw. White balance is greatly off as well but could easily be fixed in post if shooting raw.

 

[jdaniels175]

its fairly common for cameras to have trouble getting the color right under LEDS. I am not advocating changing your lights though. It can be overcome with the advice from above, but i think it helps to know what you are dealing with. you will be amazed at how much better your pictures look when you use a stable platform ( tripod, table whatever).