Lots of equipment but i dont know what im doing
- Thread starter GSMguy
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Blazer88
Premium Member
I made a tutorial a while back on color correction but didn't bookmark it. I would really suggest reading a few books on photoshop though. I have read two and picked up tons of great tips and tools. I have read The Photoshop CS2 Book for Digital Photographers by Scott Kelby and Adobe Photoshop Restoration & Retouching (3rd Edition) by Katrin Eismann. I just checked them out from my local library so they didn't cost anything. Each book has some great tips/examples and teaches different ways to accomplish stuff in CS2.
Blazer88
Premium Member
Yeah, L glass may not always be the answer but it sure is nice 
I have never used a flash on an aquarium as I find out it washes out the colors (at least when I tried). These SPS shots were taken with 20K lighting and supplemental VHO actinic's. The pics came out pretty blue (even after RAW adjustment) so color correction was the biggest challenge. There is probably more PS on these shots than I would normally do but the picture still has to be in focus and decently exposed to begin with. So GSMguy, start posting up some progress!
I have never used a flash on an aquarium as I find out it washes out the colors (at least when I tried). These SPS shots were taken with 20K lighting and supplemental VHO actinic's. The pics came out pretty blue (even after RAW adjustment) so color correction was the biggest challenge. There is probably more PS on these shots than I would normally do but the picture still has to be in focus and decently exposed to begin with. So GSMguy, start posting up some progress!You may know this already but the difference between raw and jpeg is that RAW stores data for every single pixel, so when making adjustments you have full data. Jpeg is compressed and slightly post processed by the camera.
His subjects may seem well lit because he uses a high aperture so it's all in focus and then makes sure the exposure is right.
Blazer88
Premium Member
Using a high aperture will give you more depth of field but that doesn't necessarily mean everything will be well lit, that has to do with how the picture is exposed (metering is important here). But shooting in RAW will make it easier to recover any details later on in post-processing. The picture of my firefish below was taken at F/2.8 leaving just the nose/mouth in focus yet everything is still exposed well.
jeffbrig
Premium Member
I know what you mean, I'm just wondering if any of the RAW importers allow "exposure smoothing" for lack of a better term. Something to combat the too-bright on the top, too-dark on the bottom that you get sometimes when shooting in a tank. With the raw pixel data, it seems like you would have an opportunity to play around, but I don't know if the tools support it.
Here's an example in a shot I took yesterday. The topmost tip of this branch is very bright, maybe a little overexposed. The rest of the shot is a little underexposed, to my eye. This shot was taken straight on from the side of the tank to avoid distortion, but that brings in the uneven lighting problem.
(btw, this isn't what I'd call a great shot. It was a quick handheld shot of a new coral, taken with the EF 100 2.8 macro)
Another example, good exposure for the topside, dark elsewhere.
Here's an example in a shot I took yesterday. The topmost tip of this branch is very bright, maybe a little overexposed. The rest of the shot is a little underexposed, to my eye. This shot was taken straight on from the side of the tank to avoid distortion, but that brings in the uneven lighting problem.
(btw, this isn't what I'd call a great shot. It was a quick handheld shot of a new coral, taken with the EF 100 2.8 macro)
Another example, good exposure for the topside, dark elsewhere.
Blazer88
Premium Member
Processing in RAW can really help out in situations like that. I do notice that my lighting is much better when comparing it back to the original jpeg (I shoot in RAW+jpeg). But you can also easily correct lighting issues with PS as well, which I almost always do even after processing the RASW. The picture of the mushroom below is much different than the jpeg. The mushroom was actually really dark but I changed it in PS so it stood out from the rocks. It's easy to darken/lighten certain areas that you are trying to showcase, it's all in the books that I posted
xxxbadfishxxx
Active member
Blazer, can we see before and after pics of that mushroom?
Rosseau
New member
Without trying to stray... I found this almost immediately under the first link there.
http://photoworkshop.com/canon/contest/ls1.html
This photo won a contest for XTi's or something..... is there not a giant reflection from glass or something in the middle of this image?
BeanAnimal
Premium Member
Those photos are breathtaking... I guess I need to go back and get schooled some more.
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