New to photography and have a couple of questions.

[Froggy]

I purchased a Sony Cybershot DSC-H5 7.2 MP 12 X optical zoom camera today. I know it may just take practice and experience with the camera but generally speaking what manual settings seem to produce the best tank pictures in your experience even though it may be with a different camera ? What combination of aperature, ISO setting, and shutter speed seem to yield the best results? Are the values drastically different for macro shots of stationary corals compared to a full tank shot? Any help to get me started would be appreciated.

 

[gregr]

The settings for a full tank shot are going to be different than macro shots generally speaking. You can't say "these are the best settings... use them" because you have to decide how you want the picture to look; the settings will change according to what you have in mind. A beginner will just take what the camera gives him in auto mode, and hope it looks good. Someone familiar with how a camera works will be able to decide how the picture would look ideally, and make the appropriate adjustments to the aperture, shutter speed and iso. Of course, you don't always get what you want Photography is a game of compromise, especially in harshly lit reef tanks- aquarium photography can be really tough- glass, water and harsh light... add up to tough.
Anyways- the best thing to do is learn how the camera works and practice, so you can see how the different settings make the shots look different. The first/oldest article on this page will teach you the basics, with some examples of pictures taken with different settings. The newest article has some specific tips that will hopefully help you even more.
It seems like a lot to learn at first but it's not too difficult once you learn how shutter speed and aperture work together.
Posting pictures for critique can be a good way to learn too.
Hope this helps,
Greg

 

[Froggy]

Thanks gregr, the article is a good read. Her are some pictures I took playing with the new camera. Most are blurred even with tripod... I need to practice

Zoas

Purple Digi

Derasa clam

more coming...

 

[Froggy]

feather duster

Pink mille ( finally getting some pink back after nearly bleaching). I need more depth of field as the corals in rear are not in focus.

Unk acro

Actinic of maroon clown and rose

a couple more coming....

 

[Froggy]

misc angle of end of tank

Unk green acro

And full tank shot

.

Obviously, I need some practice. Any pointers on what may be going wrong in the shots to improve the next ones? Some are taken in auto mode and others I just played with the manual settings ( not sure what they were). I used a tripod and timer to take the pictures. Camera is the Sony DSC - H5 7.2 MP 12 X optical zoom camera. Thanks for looking

 

[swjim]

This site has some good tips: http://www.ximinasphotography.com/lessons/

 

[Froggy]

Also forgot to mention that either auto adjustment or auto levels were used in some but not all of the photos posted with Photoshop.

 

[gregr]

Try to shoot squarely into the tank-- keep the camera/film plane perpindicular to the glass. Shooting at an angle causes distortion (softness).

 

[Froggy]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8940502#post8940502 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by gregr
Try to shoot squarely into the tank-- keep the camera/film plane perpindicular to the glass. Shooting at an angle causes distortion (softness).

Thanks, I will try that with the next set.