My Recent Pics

[ssick92]

Hey everyone,

Just thought I'd share some of my newer photos. Let me know what you guys think, and also feel free to give me pointers as I am still new at this whole photography deal...

A Rainbow Acan from the LFS:

Rainbow Acan by JHelmuthPhoto, on Flickr

Green and Purple Acan:

Green Acan by JHelmuthPhoto, on Flickr

Bi Color War Coral:

War Coral by JHelmuthPhoto, on Flickr

Rainbow Green Acan:

Rainbow Green Acan by JHelmuthPhoto, on Flickr

Purple Hornets and Unknown:

New Zoos by JHelmuthPhoto, on Flickr

Extreme Misbarred Clown:

Misbar Clowns by JHelmuthPhoto, on Flickr

Pair of Clowns:

Misbar Clowns by JHelmuthPhoto, on Flickr

 

[Capt56]

Looking really good. What type equipment are you using? Settings?

 

[ssick92]

Looking really good. What type equipment are you using? Settings?

I shot using a Canon T3i and a Canon 100mm f/2.8 macro lens. I shot these on a tripod with an ISO of 800, aperture at f/11, and SS at 1/80 I believe. The clown pictures had a higher ISO, wider aperture, and a much shorter shutter speed. All shot in RAW and edited in Lightroom to make it look as close as it does to my eye.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk HD

 

[the real fishman]

Fantastic pictures, love the acan coral pics

 

[JaYbIrD1969]

Wonderful work!! anyone can grow beautiful coral. Not everyone can share it

 

[ssick92]

Got a new Purple Firefish from the LFS. Here are some pics of this beautiful fish and my most recent Chalice purchase:

Purple Firefish by JHelmuthPhoto, on Flickr


Purple Firefish Eating by JHelmuthPhoto, on Flickr


Pinky Dinky Chalice by JHelmuthPhoto, on Flickr

 

[jroovers]

Looks good to me! Keep em' coming.

 

[ssick92]

Thanks! I know I could be spot removing all that "snow" but honestly I didn't feel like taking the time to do that haha

 

[Reef Bass]

Thanks! I know I could be spot removing all that "snow" but honestly I didn't feel like taking the time to do that haha

I find removing the snow makes a large positive impact with how the photo looks and feels. It can be as easy as a single click on each spot to remove it. I also find turning off my pumps before shooting helps to cut down on the amount of marine snow in the pic to start with.

Have you calibrated your monitor? A number of the pics look overly dark to me, as though your display is perchance a bit bright?

Good looking subjects, btw.

 

[ssick92]

I find removing the snow makes a large positive impact with how the photo looks and feels. It can be as easy as a single click on each spot to remove it. I also find turning off my pumps before shooting helps to cut down on the amount of marine snow in the pic to start with.

Have you calibrated your monitor? A number of the pics look overly dark to me, as though your display is perchance a bit bright?

Good looking subjects, btw.

I'm sure my monitor is contributing a lot of poor aspects to my photos. Honestly, when I'm post processing, I can't tell what is "snow" and what is just spots on my dirty screen. I also haven't calibrated it so my screen very well might be too bright, but I also like the darker feel of the photos to bring out nice contrast in the highlights and midtones. I also usually put a fairly strong vignette on my aquarium photos to help separate the subject.

How do I go about calibrating my monitor?

 

[ssick92]

Here are some more DARK pictures


Black Ocellaris by JHelmuthPhoto, on Flickr


New Friends by JHelmuthPhoto, on Flickr

 

[ssick92]

Here is my newest clownfish. I lost my extreme misbar due to carpet surfing :/ He was always very twitchy whenever the lights turned on and off and he hopped out when I wasn't looking

Anyway, here is my new Mohawk Puzzle Clownfish to go with my B&W.

Mohawk Clownfish by JHelmuthPhoto, on Flickr


Mohawk Clownfish 2 by JHelmuthPhoto, on Flickr

 

[cfmx]

Very nice pictures!!
Thanks for sharing and also the sharing the camera settings.

 

[sbreefer]

do you do a lot od vignetting in LR?

 

[Montireef]

Awesome!

 

[ssick92]

do you do a lot od vignetting in LR?

Ya, for my aquarium photos I try to get a strong vignette in order to bring the bright subject more into view. For my landscape and outdoors photos I usually do a lot less vignetting.

 

[Reef Bass]

How do I go about calibrating my monitor?

Sorry, missed your question.

I use Spyder4 Pro, basically a USB colorimeter which reads your monitor and then sets up an ICC profile on your system to bring your display closer to standard. It's simple and effective.

While one can never be sure that one's photo is being viewed on a calibrated monitor, one can have piece of mind that it was created on a properly balanced display, and will thus display well on other reasonably calibrated devices.

There is an unfortunate loss of visual experience when a photographer produces an image with say just a delicious hint of detail remaining in a shadow, only to have it lost entirely in a pool of dark black or conversely, stick out in an overly bright dark gray area.

 

[Michigan Mike]

Nice pics!
I need a macro for my T3i.

 

[frankyrivera]

I still can't achieve pictures as sharp as everyone else's is it because I'm not shooting in raw and then post processing. I shoot all my images in jpegs. Are the acan and other coral pictures shot thru the glass or are those too downs with some kind of viewing box pictures are sick. I'm starting to think I should've bought a canon lol. Also a lot of your shots have great dof wow wow wow lol

 

[ssick92]

I still can't achieve pictures as sharp as everyone else's is it because I'm not shooting in raw and then post processing. I shoot all my images in jpegs. Are the acan and other coral pictures shot thru the glass or are those too downs with some kind of viewing box pictures are sick. I'm starting to think I should've bought a canon lol. Also a lot of your shots have great dof wow wow wow lol

All of the pictures were shot through the glass. When shooting through the glass it is important to shoot straight through the glass and not at any sort of angle. If you start to shoot at an angle then the glass will create distortion and make it virtually impossible to get a clear photo.

Also, it is important to use a high shutter speed in order to minimize motion blur either from camera shake or from your subject moving. For my coral photos I usually turn the power heads off which helps encourage polyp extension and helps to eliminate your corals flowing in the current. I also use a tripod along with a longer shutter speed and a lower ISO in my camera.

Your camera choice shouldn't matter that much as long as it is a DSLR with a decent lens. If you're trying to use a point and shoot camera then it will definitely be harder to get quality shots but certainly still doable.

Let me know if you got any more questions and I'll try to help but I'm a beginner myself.

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