Need recommendations on a boom tripod!

[MSX-Jeff]

Thanks Emmett....my skills could definitely improve, but at least the equipment isn't at fault any more :lol:

For the granulosa and carduus the camera is ~24" away, and ~12" for the echinita.

I think you'll be happy with the Benbo...just don't try and go hiking with it

 

["Umm fish?"]

Those are coming out really nicely. Much better than the before shots. There's a heck of a lot less noise. The white balance is a little on the blue side on the last two, but that looks like it's just from the aquarium lights. There are things you can do about that, but I tend to think that it shows the coral coloration as aquarists will see it anyway, so I wouldn't worry about it.

Thanks for posting an update!

 

[MSX-Jeff]

Yeah, WB is a whole other issue....I hate pics that look like windex and don't show the corals colors well, but if you get into a higher K WB none of the colors look real at all, they just look like pee water. I try to get the WB so that the picture looks like the coral does in person. Maybe I am wrong for that, but like you said, you want it to look like the aquarist see's it in their tank....and no one is running 6500K halides anymore

 

[Emster]

I got my Benbo today and love it! It's everything I wanted and love the fact that it can boom out over the tank Thanks Jeff

 

[Reef Bass]

The easiest and most accurate way to deal with "blue pics" is to shoot in RAW mode and set the color temperature while post processing. Then you'll see colors in the pics as they are in the tank even under 20kK MH lights.

 

[MSX-Jeff]

Yeah, I always shoot in RAW and handle all post processing (other than watermarking) in Lightroom. IME, you lose true "blue" colors of the corals if adjusting the WB to where greens and reds look true....any tips on that?

 

[MSX-Jeff]

Glad you are happy Emmett...did you get the 1 or 2?

 

[Emster]

I got the 2 because in the future I could have a tank up high. I also picked up the Manfrotto 3265 grip action ball head and it's fantastic. Oh and also a 40d

 

[MSX-Jeff]

Man, make me feel like chump change with my Benbo1, Giotos ball head and XSi :lol::lol:

 

[MSX-Jeff]

Here is a pic of my not-so-professional-looking setup with all of the new gear....plus some buckets, a cardboard box "light-shield", a couple of 2x4's, a bar clamp, and my DIY photobox :lol:

I'll also include my favorite pic that I took tonight for some critiquing....out of 70 or so pics, that is the only one that turned out that good. The rest are much better than they used to be...but don't have the focus, clarity, and "pop" of this ric picture.

 

[Hop]

Looks like a decent setup there! Pic looks pretty good too!