Reef photography for idiots.

Led Fish

In Memoriam
Hello. I was hoping to learn how to take those amazing photos seen on reef central. All of my picks look blue without any color. I have tried to turn down my blue lights, but it still looks like poop. My camera is a Nikon D3100 with stock lenses. I know nothing about photography but I'm willing to listen and learn from anyone who knows more than me. Where do I start?
 
gritjc


Dont laugh.
DSC_0052.jpg


I give up... how in the world do you post pictures to reef central???
 
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The issue you are having with blue pics is a result of the camera not being capable of auto white balancing the image because of the high color temperature of the lights. Completely normal. The easiest solution is to shoot in RAW and white balance during post processing.

There are stickies at the top of the forum which are very helpful with reef specific photography tips as well as image posting. They are worth a read. To include pics in your post, upload the pic to an image hosting service such as Photobucket and then copy the IMG code snippet and paste it into the body of your post.
 
The issue you are having with blue pics is a result of the camera not being capable of auto white balancing the image because of the high color temperature of the lights. Completely normal. The easiest solution is to shoot in RAW and white balance during post processing.

There are stickies at the top of the forum which are very helpful with reef specific photography tips as well as image posting. They are worth a read. To include pics in your post, upload the pic to an image hosting service such as Photobucket and then copy the IMG code snippet and paste it into the body of your post.

Great. I will try it when I get home. What kind of lense do you need to capture a photo like your avatar? Thank you.
 
Wow, so another expensive hobby leads into another expensive hobby. What would be a good choice of lens for my Nikon D3100 in a range of $500-$800? Is there anyone else out there that uses Nikons?
 
Jesse being helpful as always! What a nice guy, for a Nikon shooter. :D

I use the Canon EF 100 mm usm macro lens on my EOS 50D.
 

Wow, Thats awesome. Thanks! What kind of difference will I see between a 60mm vs 105mm?

Also, do you use photosope for post processing?
 
Yes, those are better White Balance wise, but if done in raw with good software the colors would look better. They seem a bit overexposed though.

I have Photoshop Elements, an older version of Photoshop, and Lightroom. For webposting, I normally use Elements.

The difference is working distance. The 60mm will produce a pic at 1:1 magnification at 60 mm, the 105 at 105mm.
 
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Before you start investing a lot of money on new lenses, I'd recommend investing time first in studying the basic concepts of photograpy and post processing (i.e. Photoshop, Lightroom, or whatever software you decide to use). It's a trap many fall into (with no help from the marketing departments at Canon, Nikon, etc.) that upgrading your lens or camera body is going to automatically yield significantly better pictures. Except for some specialized areas of photography, it isn't going to make as much difference as many people think. Other things, as simple as photographing your tank at night when you won't get that reflection of your window in your photography have far greater immediate impact. That's really not a bad photo by the way, especially for someone just starting out.

Bryan Peterson's "Understanding Exposure" is a pretty good intro level book to photography, along with a ton of others. I'm unfortunately unaware of any books that speak directly to aquarium photography, but there may be some out there that touch on it. You can sometimes find online seminars on the subject. I took one a few years ago that was pretty good. . .I can't remember who it was through, unfortunately, but I found it through one of these online forums.
 
I downdoaded Photoshop the other day. It's a little over my head. I have a friend who will help me figure it out.

Why do my pictures on this thread disapear and say they have been moved or deleted? Did I do something wrond or is there a time limit or something?
 
If you link them from Photobucket, and presumably other sites, and move the file _after_ linking to them, they will disappear. Place them into a folder you want them to stay in, then link them.
 
If you link them from Photobucket, and presumably other sites, and move the file _after_ linking to them, they will disappear. Place them into a folder you want them to stay in, then link them.

Cool. Thanks for the info. I learn something new every time I log on to RC.
 
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