My Shadowbox Background Project
- Thread starter euromomtx
- Start date
Foxy Brown
New member
Amazing stuff... I'm totally trying this for my next tank.
euromomtx
New member
Thanks.
Here's an underwater photo that illustrates pretty well what I mean with haziness in the distance:
The rocks in the foreground are pretty clear (as will my real rocks in the display tank be) but the rock in the distance (left side) sort of disappears into the water.
I've seen this in lots of diving pictures and it's the reason I tried to diffuse the edges of my cut outs by sponging on colors similar to the background around the edges to get that fuzzy far away underwater feel.
Makes sense?
Here's an underwater photo that illustrates pretty well what I mean with haziness in the distance:
The rocks in the foreground are pretty clear (as will my real rocks in the display tank be) but the rock in the distance (left side) sort of disappears into the water.
I've seen this in lots of diving pictures and it's the reason I tried to diffuse the edges of my cut outs by sponging on colors similar to the background around the edges to get that fuzzy far away underwater feel.
Makes sense?
agentgreen
New member
This is really awesome. Making me want to scrape the paint off the back of my 120G and do a similar thing!
Nice job!
Nice job!
jbird69
New member
Brilliant idea and work! I am really impressed with this.
Something to thow into the pot... Similar to the original inspirational picture you posted, maybe have another rock pinacle in the center but a lighter shade of blue than the other two rocks. The lighter blue will give it the illusion of distance and you may get a "deeper" 3-D effect.
Keep up the great work!
Something to thow into the pot... Similar to the original inspirational picture you posted, maybe have another rock pinacle in the center but a lighter shade of blue than the other two rocks. The lighter blue will give it the illusion of distance and you may get a "deeper" 3-D effect.
Keep up the great work!
This is coming along nicely. I really love the idea and can't wait to see the finished product. So far it looks fantastic!
Jason S
New member
Yeah, I am really digging this one. I can not wait to see the final product.
ReefEnabler
Premium Member
Very cool. I did a lightbox a couple years ago but never tried putting something inside of it to make background detail. I like your method of roughing up the acrylic to make the background hazy.
I noticed you used the same pic as me for inspiration
Here's what mine looked like before the tank:
And this is taken with a long exposure time with just the lightbox on at night time. The brightness is very exxagerated but it gives a really cool effect at night:
Cant wait to see your finished project!
I noticed you used the same pic as me for inspiration
Here's what mine looked like before the tank:
And this is taken with a long exposure time with just the lightbox on at night time. The brightness is very exxagerated but it gives a really cool effect at night:
Cant wait to see your finished project!
ReefEnabler
Premium Member
Also, I started scraping the coraline trying to form background mountains, half because I wanted to achieve what you are going for, and half because it reduces the amount of area to be scraped Doesn't quite get the same effect as the blurryness though. This shot is 6mos old before I had some parameter flux and lost a good number of SPS
Doesn't quite get the same effect as the blurryness though. This shot is 6mos old before I had some parameter flux and lost a good number of SPS
euromomtx
New member
Lots of stuff is possible!
I am really looking forward to seeing what others will come up with.
For my Caribbean reef the minimalistic rock is what I feel gives me the most realistic 'diving in the Caribbean' look -especially once my field of gorgonians takes center stage!
I think shadowboxes could vary so much from aquarist to aquarist and system to system.
I put a lot of work into this but in the end I want it to just visually 'disappear' and let the goodies in the display tank take center stage.
If you wanted to put more effort into the background I bet you could get very elaborate though.
Seriously people: if you are making one please post to this thread. I think there could be some really fun solutions and approaches with this.
I am really looking forward to seeing what others will come up with.
For my Caribbean reef the minimalistic rock is what I feel gives me the most realistic 'diving in the Caribbean' look -especially once my field of gorgonians takes center stage!
I think shadowboxes could vary so much from aquarist to aquarist and system to system.
I put a lot of work into this but in the end I want it to just visually 'disappear' and let the goodies in the display tank take center stage.
If you wanted to put more effort into the background I bet you could get very elaborate though.
Seriously people: if you are making one please post to this thread. I think there could be some really fun solutions and approaches with this.
ReefEnabler
Premium Member
Thanks euromomtx
Erikk, that's definitely a worth experimenting with. Having a nice fine haze on the acrylic would help hide the sharp silhouette.
I also like Jbirds idea of tinting different pieces to simulate different depths. Using a color only slightly darker than the background would look like a very far away formation. maybe even throw some tiny dabs of distant color Bob Ross style to hint at distant colonies.
Erikk, that's definitely a worth experimenting with. Having a nice fine haze on the acrylic would help hide the sharp silhouette.
I also like Jbirds idea of tinting different pieces to simulate different depths. Using a color only slightly darker than the background would look like a very far away formation. maybe even throw some tiny dabs of distant color Bob Ross style to hint at distant colonies.
euromomtx
New member
Yeah I did like Jbirds idea too but I've painted this over and over and probably spent 100 bucks on spray paint and I am ready to call it a day.
I'd use the same approach though:
spray paint the far away rock in the same color as the background and then just sponge over it lightly with something darker and something light to make the defining factor more the texture being different from the background (light and dark faking texture) than to differ all that much with color
I did think everything looked more realistic once I sanded the acrylic. There's a company called defusco that sells the round sanding disk for my orbital sander by the sheet (rather than having to commit to a whole box) so I was able to order a few of 400s and a few of 800s and I thought the 800 turned out great on acrylic.
I'd use the same approach though:
spray paint the far away rock in the same color as the background and then just sponge over it lightly with something darker and something light to make the defining factor more the texture being different from the background (light and dark faking texture) than to differ all that much with color
I did think everything looked more realistic once I sanded the acrylic. There's a company called defusco that sells the round sanding disk for my orbital sander by the sheet (rather than having to commit to a whole box) so I was able to order a few of 400s and a few of 800s and I thought the 800 turned out great on acrylic.
ReefEnabler
Premium Member
I wasn't at all suggesting you redo what you have done, just saying that route had strong potential for whoever wanted to explore it.
I like the small silhouette details you added (fake gorgonians as you called them), seeing those crisp shapes blurred adds to the illusion.
I like the small silhouette details you added (fake gorgonians as you called them), seeing those crisp shapes blurred adds to the illusion.
