oneradtek202
Pitcher Hill Reef Society
let me know what i can do better, or what i have done good
some coral pics
- Thread starter oneradtek202
- Start date
oneradtek202
Pitcher Hill Reef Society
canon rebel t1i w/ 100mm f2.8 macro lens
f 5.6 to capture more of the background
iso 400
1/100th
about average for the
f 5.6 to capture more of the background
iso 400
1/100th
about average for the
faulkincanyon
New member
your pictures are awesome
oneradtek202
Pitcher Hill Reef Society
my xrays, or my reef pictures??
haha nice, we do the same job
haha nice, we do the same job
faulkincanyon
New member
haha didn't even notice that....but the coral does look great
faulkincanyon
New member
now your x-rays are another story....you keep clipping the costophrenic angles
sedor
New member
3rd pic is my favorite too! Reason being is because the out of focus objects frame the main subject in the shot...its beautiful!
Although your other shots are good as well, my only comment goes right along with my praise. It takes away from your main subject if out of focus objects are in front of the main subject. A viewers eye naturally will go to the center and look at the front most object in a picture. You don't want to confuse them and make them look around a blurry branch to see the macro beauty behind
Try to keep everything in the foreground sharp and crisp unless for a specific reason, but don't forget to take advantage of organic props such as stray branches etc in the background as you've done. Hope you don't mind the constructive criticism. I look forward to seeing more from you.
Although your other shots are good as well, my only comment goes right along with my praise. It takes away from your main subject if out of focus objects are in front of the main subject. A viewers eye naturally will go to the center and look at the front most object in a picture. You don't want to confuse them and make them look around a blurry branch to see the macro beauty behind
Try to keep everything in the foreground sharp and crisp unless for a specific reason, but don't forget to take advantage of organic props such as stray branches etc in the background as you've done. Hope you don't mind the constructive criticism. I look forward to seeing more from you.
oneradtek202
Pitcher Hill Reef Society
NOOO i want criticism, itll make me better lol
see now i like the 1st pic, just because its the sharpest. but true with the blurred background, it makes for a nice subject
see now i like the 1st pic, just because its the sharpest. but true with the blurred background, it makes for a nice subject
Reef Bass
colors and textures
I have to giggle. I've made the same plea before. As was pointed out to me then, with photography not being the primary focus of this site, people here are generally far more inclined to utter "nice pic" or "beautiful" instead of "your depth of field is very shallow. Use a smaller aperature to capture more of the image in focus".
However, I will tell you "Your depth of field is generally shallow. Use a smaller aperature (higher fstop number) if you'd like more of the subject in focus." Judging from the shutterspeeds used (1/100 - 1/125), you are hand holding the camera. I strongly recommend setting the camera on top of a tripod and shooting using say f11 instead of f5.6. You'll need to slow your shutter, but that's why you're using the tripod. Much more of your subjects will be in focus.
That said, the amount of depth of field and aperature selection is part of the art of photography. Some images are better suited for shallow depths of field and others for deep.
Avoid center composition like in #3 and 4. Much less interesting.
Your pics look generally a touch overexposed. There are hot / blown areas in each.
I also recommend "de-icing" them or removing the marine snow. It makes the pic look a whole lot more polished.
I hope I am not coming off as overly critical. You're totally in the ballpark and on the right track. What matters is that you are happy with the pics, not me or anyone else.
oneradtek202
Pitcher Hill Reef Society
yea, i was using a tripod, i think the blur might of been because they were not shot perpendicular to the glass. Im going to go shoot a few more, before my tank crashes when im Europe starting tomorrow lol
oneradtek202
Pitcher Hill Reef Society
hey reef bass, i got some new better pics that i just took using your advice on exposure. I LOVE the acan pics and the depth of focus is much better.. could use some more practice, but i think i have a better grasp on it...keep the advice, criticism coming lol
sphelps
Premium Member
With regards to the first set, I'd shoot with a smaller aperture (higher f stop) and frame the pictures a little different. For example the second picture I would have moved over to the left a little to get more of the green coral in the frame and less of the out of focus purple coral. I like blurred backgrounds but don't care for blurred subjects which to me take away from the main focus point.
Did you use a tripod?
Your second set is much better, nice work, but I still see the need for a little more DOF, IMO.
Did you use a tripod?
Your second set is much better, nice work, but I still see the need for a little more DOF, IMO.
Reef Bass
colors and textures
Much better! (imho)
I like the composition in #1 with the focal plane set on the cluster of polyps on the left.
#2 I might have cropped the bright tip on the left out or framed the shot a bit to the right to eliminate it. It's a bit distracting.
#4 (acan 1) I might have framed a bit right also to loose the out of focus area on the left and get more of the in focus interesting polyp mouth on the right.
#5 I might have framed a bit to the left to loose the dark area on the right and get more of the lighter area on the left. Would probably balance out the exposure more.
#6 I would probably have tightened up on to just show the coral and the sugary / sparkly frosting.
Again, these are just my opinions and you should decide for yourself what you like. And don't be afraid to try other fstops too. With f18 even more will be in focus, although one tends to start loosing micro detail due to diffraction at tiny aperatures.
You're on a roll!
I like the composition in #1 with the focal plane set on the cluster of polyps on the left.
#2 I might have cropped the bright tip on the left out or framed the shot a bit to the right to eliminate it. It's a bit distracting.
#4 (acan 1) I might have framed a bit right also to loose the out of focus area on the left and get more of the in focus interesting polyp mouth on the right.
#5 I might have framed a bit to the left to loose the dark area on the right and get more of the lighter area on the left. Would probably balance out the exposure more.
#6 I would probably have tightened up on to just show the coral and the sugary / sparkly frosting.
Again, these are just my opinions and you should decide for yourself what you like. And don't be afraid to try other fstops too. With f18 even more will be in focus, although one tends to start loosing micro detail due to diffraction at tiny aperatures.
You're on a roll!
dendronepthya
Premium Member
The pics look clean at ISO 400, but when I have access to a tripod, there aren't too many times I would pass up the chance to shoot at ISO 100. You probably do not need much shutter speed taking pictures of SPS.
Reef Bass
colors and textures
That all depends on what you're shooting. Some exposures of night skies for example can be many seconds to minutes. A stationary hard coral without current could be shot using a shutterspeed of several seconds. A moving fish would be hard to get a non blurred image using a shutterspeed any slower than 1/100th of a second and a fast moving object might require an even faster shutterspeed to keep from being blurred.
