Reef Shots Help with Nikon P90

[customdusty]

I have to be honest that I don't know much about photography at all. I bought a Nikon P90 last year as my first digital camera before a trip. I've taken some amazing shots with the camera so I know what it is capable of, but for whatever reason I can't take any good pictures of my reef. I can't get the color to ever be accurate. I play with white balance and sometimes get close, but never how it really looks under my T5 lights. Other times I get too much reflection off of the front of the tank. Does anybody have any experience with this camera or some basic pointers to help me understand what I'm doing.

 

[customdusty]

No help?

 

[Woogiekids]

1. Make sure you are as close to the tank as possible.
2. If you have a flashgun, try bouncing it off to the side instead of pointing it straight on.
3.ummm... The white balance is hard. Not too much ideas on that.

 

[Reef Bass]

To get proper colors, shoot in RAW mode and set the white balance during post processing. Simple, easy, accurate.

Always shoot straight through the glass, not an angle. Shooting at an angle through glass introduces clarity killing distortion.

Turn off your pumps so debris isn't flying around and polyps extend.

Set the camera on a tripod and use either the self timer or a remote shutter release to trigger the shutter. The tripod will allow you make use of much longer shutter speeds than holding the camera. The timer or remote shutter release will prevent jiggle and thus image blur when activating the shutter.

Being close to the tank can help, but it is also possible to be too close to focus, depending on the lens. This is where macro lenses do their thing best.

Here's a link to a site with good coverage of the basics of photography, including a slant towards reef tank photography: Ximinas site

 

[customdusty]

Thanks, everything there helped. I do not have a tripod or any additional accessories, just the basic camera, bag, battery, and memory card. I am very much so a novice and I think a have a camera that is for someone with a little more experience.

Here is a picture from about 7-8 feet. No other lighting on other than the tank, no flash. The color is very light, no pop in the colors.

 

[Norberg]

If you dont have a program for picture managin, try a free try out download of Lightroom 3 from Adobe.
If you have this picture in RAW you can import it to Lightroom and play with the setings. In the basic adjustments you have 2 controls that you can try. One for colour temperature (K) and one for exposure try those and you will see that you will find some colour in that picture.