Photo Journal
- Thread starter maxalmon
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maxalmon
New member
I like the D40x, great starter camera and for the price, you can't beat it, the D40 is even better deal.
I agree about the lens, I also have the 105mm VR Macro that I use 99% of the time, awesome lens and it cost more than the entire camera kit.
Also have the 55-200VR, kinda worthless for tank shots and the 18-55mm that came with the camer, kinda junk lens, but takes nice pics.
I'll probably upgrade to the D200 or whatever model that's comparable at the end of this year.
I agree about the lens, I also have the 105mm VR Macro that I use 99% of the time, awesome lens and it cost more than the entire camera kit.
Also have the 55-200VR, kinda worthless for tank shots and the 18-55mm that came with the camer, kinda junk lens, but takes nice pics.
I'll probably upgrade to the D200 or whatever model that's comparable at the end of this year.
maxalmon
New member
Here are some updates, these are the first images since I got the starphire tank.
Decided to play around with some new settings and try some new compositions.
The blue rics on the next two images created color balance issues, but fairly true to what they actually look like
Echino
This frag started life as the 2larger polyps and then spread to all the new babies, took about 2 months
And my favorite blasto.
Decided to play around with some new settings and try some new compositions.
The blue rics on the next two images created color balance issues, but fairly true to what they actually look like
Echino
This frag started life as the 2larger polyps and then spread to all the new babies, took about 2 months
And my favorite blasto.
maxalmon
New member
Thanks for the nice comments!...Yes, all the corals except for the sea dragons are from my tank..... I would totally agree that the LENS is more important than the camera body, then comes the photographers skills and then the actual camera. Took me a while to master the camera as I had to learn manual settings...I also have a staging area in my tank where I position corals for shots, sometimes it will take an entire day of having to wait for the coral to open/expand etc..Play with lighting and position of the coral.
All the shots taken with D40 and a 105VR Macro lens, tripod is used 100% of the time along with a timer to reduce shutter release vibrations.
All the shots taken with D40 and a 105VR Macro lens, tripod is used 100% of the time along with a timer to reduce shutter release vibrations.
maxalmon
New member
It's been a while since I've updated, here are a few more.
This particular zoa has been a royal pain to capture images, it's a really tiny zoa, maybe .25" across, light blue and yellow.
This is a work in progress, trying to capture some serious depth of field so that the images doesn't look flat, this cause problems in that the exposure is usually pretty long and any movement causes blur. Again, this was a staged setting.
Some of my best images
This particular zoa has been a royal pain to capture images, it's a really tiny zoa, maybe .25" across, light blue and yellow.
This is a work in progress, trying to capture some serious depth of field so that the images doesn't look flat, this cause problems in that the exposure is usually pretty long and any movement causes blur. Again, this was a staged setting.
Some of my best images
H@rry
In Memoriam
Wow! I recently purchased a D40 and I'm trying to learn how to take really sharp pics of my corals. I plan to get the 105mm macro lens.
A few questions if you don't mind:
How far back from the glass can the coral be and still get good shots?
Have you ever tried extension tubes?
What type lighting are you shooting under? I have some problems with the true colors coming through sometimes. I get a red tint where there is no red.
Thanx
A few questions if you don't mind:
How far back from the glass can the coral be and still get good shots?
Have you ever tried extension tubes?
What type lighting are you shooting under? I have some problems with the true colors coming through sometimes. I get a red tint where there is no red.
Thanx
maxalmon
New member
How far back from the glass really depends on the lens, with the 105 Macro lens I can within 8" of the subject.
I've tried extension tubes, but for some reson I just don't like them.
I NEVER use a flash, just doesn't work when shooting thru glass for obvious reason, or atleast doesn't work with my experience level which is still in the "learning curve"
I stage most of shots, which means that I have a dedicated stagging area in my tank that has a clean, black background with no surrounding corals to compete with the image, this is why most of my shots have really clean looking backgrounds and it's also why most of my images appear like they are at eye level.
Lighting is tricky, sometimes I have to move a coral back and forth under the tank lights so that I get good color and correct brightness, then I have to wait for the coral to open, take a shot, inspect the image, reposition the coral, wait, repeat, etc...Thats why sometimes it may take me an entire day to capture the image I want.
I usually try and position the corals directly under my lights and slightly behind the lights. All of these images were shot under 250w 15k phoenix bulbs
The key to great quality, detailed images is
1) turn off all the pumps in the tank, tentacles moving around cause image blur
2) clean the glass on the INSIDE of the tank right before tanking the shot
3) USE A TRIPOD - it's critical for detailed macro work
4) use a shutter remote, if you don't have one then use the camera timer. Pushing the shutter release button will cause minor camera motion which causes image blur.
5) Don't use autofocus, shoot in manual, make sure your eye exams are up todate, I can tell every single time when I need to have my eyes rechecked as I can't capture the details I want, sure enought I make a trip to eye doc and he makes a minor adjustment to my contact lens rx
6) shoot in "A" mode and play around with fStop settings for depth of field
The 18-55 lens that comes with the standard D40 kit is not the best, but will work fine for most people, you just have to be very critical that you follow the above 6 steps and you should be able to capture good images.
Let me dig up some that I took with my 18-55 when I first got the camera
Hope this helps.
I've tried extension tubes, but for some reson I just don't like them.
I NEVER use a flash, just doesn't work when shooting thru glass for obvious reason, or atleast doesn't work with my experience level which is still in the "learning curve"
I stage most of shots, which means that I have a dedicated stagging area in my tank that has a clean, black background with no surrounding corals to compete with the image, this is why most of my shots have really clean looking backgrounds and it's also why most of my images appear like they are at eye level.
Lighting is tricky, sometimes I have to move a coral back and forth under the tank lights so that I get good color and correct brightness, then I have to wait for the coral to open, take a shot, inspect the image, reposition the coral, wait, repeat, etc...Thats why sometimes it may take me an entire day to capture the image I want.
I usually try and position the corals directly under my lights and slightly behind the lights. All of these images were shot under 250w 15k phoenix bulbs
The key to great quality, detailed images is
1) turn off all the pumps in the tank, tentacles moving around cause image blur
2) clean the glass on the INSIDE of the tank right before tanking the shot
3) USE A TRIPOD - it's critical for detailed macro work
4) use a shutter remote, if you don't have one then use the camera timer. Pushing the shutter release button will cause minor camera motion which causes image blur.
5) Don't use autofocus, shoot in manual, make sure your eye exams are up todate, I can tell every single time when I need to have my eyes rechecked as I can't capture the details I want, sure enought I make a trip to eye doc and he makes a minor adjustment to my contact lens rx
6) shoot in "A" mode and play around with fStop settings for depth of field
The 18-55 lens that comes with the standard D40 kit is not the best, but will work fine for most people, you just have to be very critical that you follow the above 6 steps and you should be able to capture good images.
Let me dig up some that I took with my 18-55 when I first got the camera
Hope this helps.
maxalmon
New member
It's been some time since I've updated my photo journal.
Looking back on some of my prior images, at the time I thought they looked great, now I see the mistakes I made and how much I had to learn...
Much has changed over the last year, upgraded the D40 with the kit 18-55 lens and 55-200VR to a D700 with 105mm VR f2.8 macro, sigma 24-70 EX DG f2.8 and sigma 70-200 EX DG f2.8
Did a lot of reading, took some classes, joined a few online photo forums and took lots of images
I've slowly increased my skills, not afraid of RAW anymore...LOL
All of the images after this posting are with my D700, some are RAW mode.
Looking back on some of my prior images, at the time I thought they looked great, now I see the mistakes I made and how much I had to learn...
Much has changed over the last year, upgraded the D40 with the kit 18-55 lens and 55-200VR to a D700 with 105mm VR f2.8 macro, sigma 24-70 EX DG f2.8 and sigma 70-200 EX DG f2.8
Did a lot of reading, took some classes, joined a few online photo forums and took lots of images
I've slowly increased my skills, not afraid of RAW anymore...LOL
All of the images after this posting are with my D700, some are RAW mode.
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