Pics inside my husband's 180 reef

[Lego&Jacub]

A couple weeks ago I got myself a Canon T2i... and ever since have been trying to get some clear photos (this is my first DSLR... so it's a learning experience).

Here are the latest batch, taken handheld last night, with my 50mm 1.8. Let me know what you think, or how I can improve the pics.

100% crop of the one above... finally some clarity is starting to show up!

One of the hippos

One of the clowns

Thanks for looking,
Sandra

 

[Recty]

A couple weeks ago I got myself a Canon T2i... and ever since have been trying to get some clear photos (this is my first DSLR... so it's a learning experience).

Here are the latest batch, taken handheld last night, with my 50mm 1.8. Let me know what you think, or how I can improve the pics.

In general, they are good picture, especially since you just started shooting a week ago.

But, since you asked for tips...

Use a tripod. Especially for coral pictures, use a tripod. If you havent tried it yet, you'll be amazed how much better your pictures turn out. It's harder to use a tripod for fish pictures but if you can manage it, it will help.

When you're taking coral pictures, you'll get more clarity/sharpness if you let the pumps sit off for a couple minutes. Having a non moving subject really helps and some corals even extend their polyps further when the flow stops, so you'll get even better shots. Combine this tactic with tripod use and you'll be blown away how much your sharpness increases.

On your desjardini tang shot, that would have been about perfect except the eye is out of focus. Getting the eyes in focus (and in the case of corals or anemones, the mouth in focus) makes the shot a lot more pleasing to our brains. If that tang had the eye in focus it would be a great shot.

The regal tang, it looks to me like your white balance is off. There are a couple ways to fix that, I can elaborate more if you cant find it. Also it looks to me like you're not shooting straight at the glass, the out of focus background and the fish itself look like you're shooting at an angle, you can see a fuzziness that is caused by diffraction. Whenever possible, and it gets more important as you get closed to the aquarium glass, shoot straight at the tank. That means moving sideways with your camera instead of angling sideways, which is a pain in the neck when photographing fish but you'll get more pleasing results for sure.

Is that a dendro? It's a nice shot, I think if the mouth was in focus it would have been a great shot.

The clowns are blurry. It's hard to say why on the first one, it looks like the focus just wasnt nailed down, but with the second one it definitely looks like motion blur. Use a higher shutter speed to slow the fish down and get a nice crisp image. I typically have to shoot a least 1/160th of a second and preferably 1/250th of a second shutter speeds to get good fish shots.

Again, you're doing very well for only owning the camera a couple weeks

 

[kilroy217]

In general, they are good picture, especially since you just started shooting a week ago.

But, since you asked for tips...

Use a tripod. Especially for coral pictures, use a tripod. If you havent tried it yet, you'll be amazed how much better your pictures turn out. It's harder to use a tripod for fish pictures but if you can manage it, it will help.

When you're taking coral pictures, you'll get more clarity/sharpness if you let the pumps sit off for a couple minutes. Having a non moving subject really helps and some corals even extend their polyps further when the flow stops, so you'll get even better shots. Combine this tactic with tripod use and you'll be blown away how much your sharpness increases.

On your desjardini tang shot, that would have been about perfect except the eye is out of focus. Getting the eyes in focus (and in the case of corals or anemones, the mouth in focus) makes the shot a lot more pleasing to our brains. If that tang had the eye in focus it would be a great shot.

The regal tang, it looks to me like your white balance is off. There are a couple ways to fix that, I can elaborate more if you cant find it. Also it looks to me like you're not shooting straight at the glass, the out of focus background and the fish itself look like you're shooting at an angle, you can see a fuzziness that is caused by diffraction. Whenever possible, and it gets more important as you get closed to the aquarium glass, shoot straight at the tank. That means moving sideways with your camera instead of angling sideways, which is a pain in the neck when photographing fish but you'll get more pleasing results for sure.

Is that a dendro? It's a nice shot, I think if the mouth was in focus it would have been a great shot.

The clowns are blurry. It's hard to say why on the first one, it looks like the focus just wasnt nailed down, but with the second one it definitely looks like motion blur. Use a higher shutter speed to slow the fish down and get a nice crisp image. I typically have to shoot a least 1/160th of a second and preferably 1/250th of a second shutter speeds to get good fish shots.

Again, you're doing very well for only owning the camera a couple weeks

what he said! haha...

 

[Whisperer]

What is the 5th pic?

 

[Lego&Jacub]

Recty... thanks SOO much for all the tips and suggestions you offered!! I am going to keep trying until I figure it all out! I'm considering getting a 60mm 2.8 macro lens... but am wondering how much better I can do before I go that route!

Thanks again everyone, for the kind comments and the help!!
Sandra

 

[JustinWong]

Pictures are amazing!

 

[dfixallman]

Great Pics !!!

 

[Lego&Jacub]

Thanks again everyone... I aim to keep trying, so I can improve the quality!!

Whisperer... as far as I know #5 would be a "rock anemone"... but I'll admit, the tanks are my husband's gig... so I'm not positive on that.

Sandra

 

[snorvich]

In general, they are good picture, especially since you just started shooting a week ago.

But, since you asked for tips...

Use a tripod. Especially for coral pictures, use a tripod. If you havent tried it yet, you'll be amazed how much better your pictures turn out. It's harder to use a tripod for fish pictures but if you can manage it, it will help.

When you're taking coral pictures, you'll get more clarity/sharpness if you let the pumps sit off for a couple minutes. Having a non moving subject really helps and some corals even extend their polyps further when the flow stops, so you'll get even better shots. Combine this tactic with tripod use and you'll be blown away how much your sharpness increases.

On your desjardini tang shot, that would have been about perfect except the eye is out of focus. Getting the eyes in focus (and in the case of corals or anemones, the mouth in focus) makes the shot a lot more pleasing to our brains. If that tang had the eye in focus it would be a great shot.

The regal tang, it looks to me like your white balance is off. There are a couple ways to fix that, I can elaborate more if you cant find it. Also it looks to me like you're not shooting straight at the glass, the out of focus background and the fish itself look like you're shooting at an angle, you can see a fuzziness that is caused by diffraction. Whenever possible, and it gets more important as you get closed to the aquarium glass, shoot straight at the tank. That means moving sideways with your camera instead of angling sideways, which is a pain in the neck when photographing fish but you'll get more pleasing results for sure.

Is that a dendro? It's a nice shot, I think if the mouth was in focus it would have been a great shot.

The clowns are blurry. It's hard to say why on the first one, it looks like the focus just wasnt nailed down, but with the second one it definitely looks like motion blur. Use a higher shutter speed to slow the fish down and get a nice crisp image. I typically have to shoot a least 1/160th of a second and preferably 1/250th of a second shutter speeds to get good fish shots.

Again, you're doing very well for only owning the camera a couple weeks

All of these are excellent suggestions. You might also compose with a point of interest (e.g. eye, mouth, etc) at one of the power points in the frame.

 

[Lego&Jacub]

Updated with new photos from tonight... (I'm listing common names)

Rock Anemone

Clown Fish

Sailfin Tang

Coral Beauty (I know this one isn't very clear, but he is extremely ellusive and difficult to capture)

Damsel

Bird's Nest

Elegance

Orchid Dottyback

Sandra

 

[Brett9917]

Much better!!!

I know Recty already said it, but turning off your pumps will make a difference. All those particles in the water should settle. Also, don't forget to clean the glass before you start taking shots...
Your photography has improved, but just things specific to aquariums!

 

[Lego&Jacub]

Thanks Brett!! lol on the cleaning the glass b4 you take pics... I was snapping away, and then said "holy moly... look how dirty the glass is!". So some were thru dirty glass, then the some thru clean-ish glass. I can't seem to get it totally clean.

My hubby was asleep, or I would have asked him to turn off the pumps too. And I *really* need to dig out my tripod... I'm just tooo lazy. All my photos are handheld.

I can't wait to get a macro lens. I also found extension tubes... so am looking into that option as well. But as always, it all comes at it's own pace lol!!

Thanks for the tips!!
Sandra

 

[Lego&Jacub]

I had hubby clean the tank front for me... and I also set up on tripod for the first time with this camera. Here are the results.

Frogspawn

Sun Coral

Baby Bubbletip... this started as a tear from trying to move one!

Another Bubbletip (we have like 3 or 4 running around lol)

Zoas

More zoas (I think)

Unidentified, but we liked it (if you know what it is, let me know!)

Closer

 

[Lego&Jacub]

A few more...

Bubble Coral

Leather of some kind

Torch

Toadstood

Star Polyps

Also unidentified... but love it!

Elegance (this is a big boy)

Paly?

Candycane in Feeding Mode

 

[Recty]

You're definitely improving and since you're not doing this with a macro lens you're doing very well.

Toadstood? A new coral?

I think you might be cropping just a little too much, some of the pictures are starting to look grainy like they are being digitally zoomed in on.

If you're using a tripod now, take the pictures with the 2 second or 10 second timer. What this does is let the camera stop doing the small shakes caused when you press the shutter button. You'll get even clearer pictures.

I'm not sure what you're shooting at for ISO, but I would try to keep it very low, under 200 if possible which it should be if you're using a tripod and the pumps are off.

 

[Lego&Jacub]

lol... did I name it incorrectly? that's what my hubby calls them.

Thanks for the advice! I've definitely been trying to keep the iso low... I'll have to look at what level I used last night.

I'll try the timer... but I'm on the hunt for a remote shutter release button. One thing I have to watch out for is our Sailfin Tang... he's a camera hog lol!!

Can you explain what you mean by "cropping a little too much"? What I've been doing is using the "stretch" feature in paint to reduce the size of the pictures to 25-50% of the original and then taking a crop of that reduced image. The bubble coral pic is actually pretty cool when you're looking at the detail of the full-sized image... but of course, then you don't see the whole coral... so I wasn't sure what to do with that one.

Thanks again!
Sandra

 

[rezaktp]

Great so what is your secret settings:

ISO?
Shutter speed?
F stop=
White balance ?
Tripod, yes or no

We are all dying to know the secret!!!!!

Sorry but I am a Nikon DSLR man!

 

[Brett9917]

l
Can you explain what you mean by "cropping a little too much"? What I've been doing is using the "stretch" feature in paint to reduce the size of the pictures to 25-50% of the original and then taking a crop of that reduced image. The bubble coral pic is actually pretty cool when you're looking at the detail of the full-sized image... but of course, then you don't see the whole coral... so I wasn't sure what to do with that one.

Most digital cameras, including most cameras on cell phones, have a higher resolution than pretty much any computer monitor so most software and internet sites will resize the picture to viewable frame for you. This means when you crop the image it actually appears to be zooming in, and opposed to making the image smaller. When you crop down to 100% (meaning that you cropped the image so that the image you are viewing is in full resolution) you can start to notice individual pixels. I think what I am trying to get at is, only crop out the distractions, and so your image is framed properly, then let photobucket determine the proper size.

I am sorry if this didn't make sense, I am just finished taking a final which I pulled an all nighter for. I realized my brain hurt half through this... :hmm3:

Great so what is your secret settings:

ISO?
Shutter speed?
F stop=
White balance ?
Tripod, yes or no

We are all dying to know the secret!!!!!

Sorry but I am a Nikon DSLR man!

Some tips for shooting aquariums? Tripod = a must. If you aren't shooting with a macro try to keep your Fstop between f/8- f/11. ISO as low as possible. Shoot with "aperture priority" or "A" on your mode dial and let the camera figure out shutter speed. And adjust white balance on the computer... Also, shut the pumps off and let the tank rest for about 5 min or so before you start shooting so the corals settle down and the "Marine Snow" settles too.

 

[Lego&Jacub]

Great so what is your secret settings:

ISO?
Shutter speed?
F stop=
White balance ?
Tripod, yes or no

We are all dying to know the secret!!!!!

Sorry but I am a Nikon DSLR man!

Oh, sure... I can post that tonight. I'll let you know what I used last night, as those are the best pics so far. But I can tell you that I'm using my canon 50mm 1.8 prime lens, and a tripod.

 

[Recty]

lol... did I name it incorrectly? that's what my hubby calls them.

Thanks for the advice! I've definitely been trying to keep the iso low... I'll have to look at what level I used last night.

I'll try the timer... but I'm on the hunt for a remote shutter release button. One thing I have to watch out for is our Sailfin Tang... he's a camera hog lol!!

Can you explain what you mean by "cropping a little too much"? What I've been doing is using the "stretch" feature in paint to reduce the size of the pictures to 25-50% of the original and then taking a crop of that reduced image. The bubble coral pic is actually pretty cool when you're looking at the detail of the full-sized image... but of course, then you don't see the whole coral... so I wasn't sure what to do with that one.

Thanks again!
Sandra

Well, I imagine he calls them a toadstool, not a toadstood

The timer helps a lot until you get your remote release. The remote release is very nice once you do get one, I use it for tanks and for night time star pictures.

I'm not sure if you're planning on spending any money in the photography hobby, but you'd probably benefit from picking up a copy of the latest version of Adobe Elements, it's around $100. You could also use GIMP for free. I wouldnt use Paint for my photo editing.

It's hard to explain cropping too much in text... if you were in person I could do it much better. It basically looked to me like you were taking a picture, say it's 2000 pixels wide by 1500 tall, and then just cutting out the center portion of it, say a 800 x 600 pixel image, then enlarging it back up to around 1000x700 again or something like that.