Learning/rebuilding from my epic fail

[Acronic]

Hey Tim, thanks! I forgot to mention that those were all taken with my canon 100mm f2.8L macro lens. .



Wel, Kevin, I know that that hate is really just misdirected love.

AHA! I know your secret! .... It's your fancy pants L glass!

I really need to use that last line on my wife when she expresses her dislike for my sass.

 

[Pife]

Matt i think you need to give some acro picture taking tutorials to us guys that try but struggle getting anything as good as the pics you take.

He did just a page or 2 ago .


I'm still trying to get the shots to look the color I want but I have been getting a lot focused pictures.

 

[MichaelW]

A video tutorial

 

[tmc1313]

Hey Matt, Great pictures! I really like the one you're calling "The Bruise". Any more information on that one? It's such a deep purple/blue. Similar coloration to a purple monster, but definitely different corallite growth.

 

[reefmutt]

I didn't have a swing of alk.
My alk was at 5.5 dKH and I bumped it up in one dose of alk straight to 8.0 dKH without issues on Friday.
I would agree if I didn't know what I am doing.

Glad to hear there were no issues. I get the feeling that sps tolerate things like alk and nutrients going up better than going down.. only my personal feeling on that. No clue if it's true or not..

Matt i think you need to give some acro picture taking tutorials to us guys that try but struggle getting anything as good as the pics you take.

I'd love to do something like that but it would be tough to pull off. Especially because everyone uses different equipment for taking pics..

AHA! I know your secret! .... It's your fancy pants L glass!

I really need to use that last line on my wife when she expresses her dislike for my sass.

Trump can have that line too! On me.

He did just a page or 2 ago .


I'm still trying to get the shots to look the color I want but I have been getting a lot focused pictures.

Focus is absolutely key. It's probably the most important thing. Without focus, there is no macro shot.

A video tutorial

Maybe I'll try to just give a run down on one shot.. from start to finish. Go through it with my camera.. I'll think about this.

Hey Matt, Great pictures! I really like the one you're calling "The Bruise". Any more information on that one? It's such a deep purple/blue. Similar coloration to a purple monster, but definitely different corallite growth.

Hey Todd, thanks! It's definitely not a purple monster. It's probably a red diablo/Red Bull type coral. That's what I bought it as.. a no linneage RR Bull or diablo. It have been an extremely slow grower for me but like several corals in my tank, since the alk swing it has peeked up. It even reached over and burned my orange passion, so it's in the grow. Once it grows out a bit more, I'm sure it'll be more identifiable..

 

[jsdancer]

Again! Unbelievable corals and pics!

 

[drawman]

Hey Tim, thanks! I forgot to mention that those were all taken with my canon 100mm f2.8L macro lens.
Depending on the depth of the coral I am trying to shoot, I will definitely crop to fill the frame with the coral.
With macros,I always try to really get the coral right to the edges of the frame. And when the coral is a little farther away or I want to eccentuate a particular part of the image, I will crop.
Sometimes, just for aesthetics, I will crop out empty space or just to alter the dimensions of the image.
For example, the bonsai shot is cropped dramatically.

Well good to know! I have the non L series 100mm canon. I just can never seem to get close enough for good close polyp shots so I'm sure there is something I'm missing.

 

[reefmutt]

Again! Unbelievable corals and pics!

Thank you very much! I get a lot of satisfaction out of knowing people like the photos.

Well good to know! I have the non L series 100mm canon. I just can never seem to get close enough for good close polyp shots so I'm sure there is something I'm missing.

Tim, do you shoot in raw? If not, or if you don't have that option, make sure the camera is set to the highest image quality..
That way, when cropping, the image still looks as sharp as possible. Every time you crop an image, the density of the pixels diminishes, so the more pixels you have to start with, the better the cropped image will look.
I used to have the non L lens. If you go back to the first couple pages of this thread, you'll see images I shot with the non L lens from my old tank.
What camera are you using?

 

[drawman]

Tim, do you shoot in raw? If not, or if you don't have that option, make sure the camera is set to the highest image quality..
That way, when cropping, the image still looks as sharp as possible. Every time you crop an image, the density of the pixels diminishes, so the more pixels you have to start with, the better the cropped image will look.
I used to have the non L lens. If you go back to the first couple pages of this thread, you'll see images I shot with the non L lens from my old tank.
What camera are you using?

Yes I do but there was a long period where I didn't shoot in RAW which was stupid of me . I'm certainly getting better over time but even in a small tank I seem to not be able to get close enough.

I have a canon 50D so I know the sensor size isn't the same as say the 5D, etc. I know that "increases" the length of most lenses but I'm not really sure how that affects macro lenses.

 

[reefmutt]

Your 50d has 15 mega pixels. That's pretty darn good.. and also a very good camera. my shots from the beginning of this thread were with a 20d at around 12 mp and not raw..
When it comes to cropping, it's all about useable information. What I mean by that is that the camera records information. The more of it you have and the more of it that is sharp and in focus, the better the image will look cropped. Doesn't matter which lens but obviously, the sharper the lense, the better the image will be. And that canon 100m macro is an excellent lens. No matter which lens, the camera will take in the most information when it is set to raw.
One would get the best, closest images from a subject that is higher up or nearer to your lens..
The sensor size of a camera only increase the length of a lense in the same way a 'digital' zoom does. Again, the bigger the sensor, the more information it can take in and thus produce clearer cropped images, so it's a false increase because it is still only extrapolating from the original information obtained when the picture was taken.t.. not sure that makes sense.. anyways not really important..
You have excellent tools with that lens and camera.
Do you use a viewing box when shooting top down?
Also, does the LCD screen on the back of your camera swivel?
And can you use the LCD screen as the viewfinder?

 

[drawman]

Your 50d has 15 mega pixels. That's pretty darn good.. and also a very good camera. my shots from the beginning of this thread were with a 20d at around 12 mp and not raw..
When it comes to cropping, it's all about useable information. What I mean by that is that the camera records information. The more of it you have and the more of it that is sharp and in focus, the better the image will look cropped. Doesn't matter which lens but obviously, the sharper the lense, the better the image will be. And that canon 100m macro is an excellent lens. No matter which lens, the camera will take in the most information when it is set to raw.
One would get the best, closest images from a subject that is higher up or nearer to your lens..
The sensor size of a camera only increase the length of a lense in the same way a 'digital' zoom does. Again, the bigger the sensor, the more information it can take in and thus produce clearer cropped images, so it's a false increase because it is still only extrapolating from the original information obtained when the picture was taken.t.. not sure that makes sense.. anyways not really important..
You have excellent tools with that lens and camera.
Do you use a viewing box when shooting top down?
Also, does the LCD screen on the back of your camera swivel?
And can you use the LCD screen as the viewfinder?

Oh all that absolutely does make sense . No viewing box but it is on my list of things to get. The LCD is fixed so at this point I'm pretty much tripod pictures through the glass. I can get some decent polyp definition as well just not quite there yet...

 

[reefmutt]

For shooting through the front glass, I don't bother with a tripod. I put the lens right up against the glass of the tank.
This way, I use the tank to stabilize the camera when the shutter speed is slow and also it ensures that the lens is completely, perfectly perpendicular with the tank glass. As soon as the lense isn't exactly perpendicular, you start to get refractions and you lose clarity..

 

[markalot]

5 days, shirley you've taken some pictures.

 

[joshky]

Just somewhat caught up on your thread Matt, really beautiful as always!

I especially love the growth on this acro, I think it's absolutely stunning.

 

[DiscusHeckel]

Hi Matt,

Have you started to use kalkwasser yet? If so, have you noticed any changes in your water test results, such as phosphates?

 

[biggles]

I like this one Matt, very high contrasting dark polyp acros are my favorites.

Do you have any new acros in the works, do you have any spath ?

Some gratuitous acro porn wouldn't go astray...........:wavehand:

 

[jsdancer]

reefmutt - without going thru your thread again did I read that you had a previous problem with red cyanobacteria? Did you use Boyd's Chemiclean? If so how did you remove it from your tank?

 

[Geeray]

reefmutt - without going thru your thread again did I read that you had a previous problem with red cyanobacteria? Did you use Boyd's Chemiclean? If so how did you remove it from your tank?

I'm fairly certain your skimmer will remove Chemiclean

 

[jsdancer]

I'm fairly certain your skimmer will remove Chemiclean

I agree except I've done two 20% water changes and the skimmer is still going bonkers. I will use a reactor with lots of carbon and also adjust the skimmer so it has as little pressure as possible.

 

[Pife]

Just let the skimmer overflow for awhile and it will get itself back to normal.