Still struggling to get good coral pics with my SLR....

[reefdude135]

I am hoping that someone can offer me some advice on tank photo efforts. I just can't seem to turn the corner on getting good shots.

I am using a Nikon D50 with the Nikon 28-80mm lens. I turn off the pumps when taking pics, and use an inexpensive tripod to mount the camera. Photos are shot in RAW format. Pics are taken in Manual mode, ISO 100, shutter speed 1/15, and f4.5

Previously I had to make significant effort to adjust the white balance in Photoshop Elements. I have now preset a custom white balance on my camera that has addressed this issue. However, now I must increase the tint in Elements for the reds to appear accurately.

My remaining issue is a lack of detail.... dare I say out of focus? I am really not sure how to increase clarity. Any advice is appreciated!

 

[Joshporksandwic]

I don't know how to take pics but a friend set my camera at ISO 400 speed1/40 and f3.8. If stuff was too far in the tank I changed to ISO 800.

Sent from somewhere

 

[Wolverine]

I almost always have to do some color adjustment for coral pictures, so I don't worry to much about it.

What kind of tank are you trying to get the shots from?
If it's an AIO, such as the Biocube, most of them have a little curve to the front glass. Bowfronts and corner tanks also obviously have a curve to them. If you're shooting through curved glass, you'll almost never get a perfect shot.
Assuming you're shooting through straight glass, one trick I've used is to use the Liveview, rather than the viewfinder. On liveview, I'll zoom in the image really tight, and manually get that into focus. If you have a little detail in focus through that, then you should be in good shape.

 

[Wolverine]

Forgot to mention, you may want to adjust to get to a faster shutter speed. Even with the pumps off, there's often some movement to the water, and, at 1/15s, that's going to show up.

 

[reefdude135]

Pumos off... Straight glass tank. Will try that technique for view and focus. Thx!!!

 

[Recty]

Can you post an example pic? We can help tell you what you can change to get a clearer sharper "better" picture if you can show us what you're coming up with.

 

[IslandCrow]

An example would definitely help identify the exact problem. A couple possibilities I see are a depth of field that's too narrow (for individual coral pictures, f/4.5 may still be too wide) or possible camera shake with your selected shutter speed if the tripod is not perfectly stable (using a remote shutter or the timer can help eliminate camera shake from pushing the shutter button). Other common issues are glare from external lights or distortion from shooting at an angle through the glass or shooting through curved glass. Depending on how bad it is, it could even be your post processing. Unprocessed images (i.e. raw format) are inherently soft and almost always require some degree of sharpening in post processing.

Please post an example picture for us, though.

 

[reefdude135]

Thank you... here's a few photos. No sharpening done, just some tint and crop on one of them....

 

[Recty]

The first picture of the green coral... you're basically focused way too far back into the shot. The very back branches of the green slimer is in focus, but everything else in front of it is out of focus and just totally ruins the shot. Try not to let anything in the shot be between the viewer and the point of focus, otherwise it wont look right.

The second one is so dark it's hard to tell, but the entire thing looks out of focus to me.

There is no reason for having a dark image when you're using a tripod and shooting a stationary object unless you're going for some artistic effect, but that's not what you're doing here. Turn your shutter speed down until you get a properly exposed image, even if that means a 1 second exposure you'll still have better results than something dark that isnt discernable.

Are you using a timer? If not, you should. Pushing the shutter slightly shakes the camera, so set your 10 second timer up on your camera, and take the shot, then step away and let it release the shutter on it's own, this will help avoid minute camera shake that can make a long exposure look slightly blurry all over.

 

[reefdude135]

Thanks for all the feedback folks! I went back to my friend's house and shot some new pics. I have some improvement but some issues remain.

Changes: I focused on, well, focus a bit more. I tried to make sure that the marker was centered on one of the branches to the coral being targeted as the subject. I also used the tripod a bit more effectively, made sure it remained steady, and used the timer as well. I kept shutter speed at 1/15 and f4.5 (I was going to try something different but simply forgot) and continued by Pre-defined custom White Balance setting. Finally, in Elements, I added tint (as before) but also clarity, Unsharp Mark @ 150%, and also cropped the last two of the three new photos below.

1. I think the Green Slimer (with an added visitor hamming it up) is greatly improved. Took several shots, and most seemed to have much greater focus.

2. I think this acro also came out MUCH better. It is at the back of the tank under bluer lights; I had to add some brightness in post production.

3. Finally, this one is an example of where I still struggle. The Blue Tort was the target; it appears out of focus; in fact, the acro behind it seems in greater focus than the tort. I am unsure why this is occurring!

 

[Misled]

Did you have the camera set to AF?? If so, tou should use AF to set it, switch it to manual, fine tune it in manual, then take the shot.

 

[Recty]

Yes, definitely use manual focus. All my tripod shots of reef tanks are manual focus, it just ensures that you get exactly what you want in focus to be in focus.

Your green slimer picture is definitely improved from your first attempt.

What is your ISO? Your other two shots have lots of noise in the out of focus area, making me think you're either using an older camera that cant handle high ISO at all, or else you're letting your camera set your ISO and it's putting it up really high.

If at all possible, and since you're using a tripod and shooting stationary objects, take your ISO down to at least 400, lower if you can.

 

[reefdude135]

Thx for the feedback! Camera is in M and ISO is at 200. Could Elements be introducing the noise due to the tank being darker in the back?

 

[Recty]

If the camera is in M, that still doesnt mean you're on autofocus, you set that on the lens. Just in case you werent aware...

Does the image look noisy before you process in Elements? Are you raising the "brightness" from within software? Because that could be the case, if you're trying to raise the exposure in software it's just like you took the picture with a high ISO.

Basically, expose the image EXACTLY how you want it to look when you're using the camera, dont rely on the software to brighten it any, and you should be away from having any noise issues.

 

[reefdude135]

Sorry, I didn't respond very clearly, did I? Yes, the AF is on.

I took more pics of the tort today, and placed greater emphasis on focusing upon the thicker branches. I think the results in there two pics are much better:

And....

In terms of the colony in the back, yes, I turned the brightness up in post due to the lack of white light in that portion of the tank. Most likely, when additional LEDs are added, this will not be a problem.

My goal was to highlight how that bonsai-type acro has totally merged into the A. pulchra. Again, better, but not great pic (and the second shot cropped):

and...

Getting closer! Thank you for the constructive comments!

 

[Recty]

Sorry, I didn't respond very clearly, did I? Yes, the AF is on.

I took more pics of the tort today, and placed greater emphasis on focusing upon the thicker branches. I think the results in there two pics are much better:

In terms of the colony in the back, yes, I turned the brightness up in post due to the lack of white light in that portion of the tank. Most likely, when additional LEDs are added, this will not be a problem.

My goal was to highlight how that bonsai-type acro has totally merged into the A. pulchra. Again, better, but not great pic (and the second shot cropped):

Getting closer! Thank you for the constructive comments!

Basically, you're taking pictures of a very "busy" scene. The amazing coral shots you see here normally have nothing distracting in the foreground or background, they are set off by themselves. What you're doing is akin to taking a portrait of someone in a crowd full of people... it's not going to look like a professional portrait.

So if there is any way possible, which there probably isnt, separate the subject from the other mass of corals.

One way you can do this is to zoom in as far as possible. Again, that's often not even possible beyond the extent you already are.

So you're still shooting in AF mode? That's a bad idea if you want to get the exact focus you want every time.

Also, all but the last two of your pictures have tons of blown out, way over exposed area. Most of the branches you cant even see any detail in.

What I do for coral shots is expose until things start blowing out, then lower the exposure just 1/3 of a stop, or 2/3, making sure that nothing is then blown out and way overexposed. I'd prefer a slightly dark photo than one which has huge white branches jutting out everywhere.

And yes, if you're brightening in a photo editing software, you are directly inserting noise to the photo. You're way better off, especially with SPS corals that arent doing any movement, just leaving your shutter open longer to get the brightness you want, instead of relying on software to artificially try to enhance the image.

Hope that helps. You're definitely making steps in the right direction. And to be honest, your pictures are good, most people would be more than happy with them. But you seem to want to improve so I'm just trying to help!

 

[reefdude135]

Oh, this all helps! Thx!! Very much appreciated!

So, adding brightness inserts noise: this fact in itself is a big lesson.

I know the shots are busy.... maybe I can put a black drop cloth over the background corals. :crazy1: Hey, that's not such a bad idea; can I patent it?

yes, agree, a lot of these last pics were over-exposed..... probably putting too much focus on, well, focus.

I took a few additional pics today. I took two very different approaches to the same coral....

1. Shutter speed back to 1/15 (I had kicked up to the 1/8 thru 1/12 range) and f5.3. Probably could bring exposure back to f4.5. No post production other than bringing up tint, crop, and Unsharp Mask.

2. This one was shot in the Nikon's Macro mode! Post production minimal again, kicked white balance from apx 7k to 16k, crop, and Unsharp Mask. It actually wasn't a bad shot, to be honest.... a bit under-exposed, if anything, but it's hard to effectively light the lower branches of this acro.

On both shots we have the depth of field going still.... and still other opportunities. By the way, forgot to turn off the pumps, so, considering that goof, not too bad....

 

[DrBlueThumb]

Not sure if you use the histogram on your camera?

I just started using it and it helps a lot.

every time you change something like the shutter,iso,aperture, the histogram changes telling you how over/under exposed your image is.

 

[Recty]

That last shot is good. Definite huge improvement over your first attempts.

The first one looks blurry, either motion blur like you arent using the 10 second timer? Or else you bumped your tripod? Or something. Or, it could be diffraction. Are you shooting exactly perpendicular to the tank? You need to have your lens at a perfect (as much as possible) 90 degree angle to the front glass and you'll avoid dealing with diffraction which no amount of post processing can fix.

As far as a black drop cloth, bad idea. Good idea is buying a small piece of black acrylic that you can place behind your corals and make them look like the only thing in the picture.

 

[Reef Bass]

I find often with a reasonably exposed macro of a coral, if there is nothing behind the coral for say 6 inches, that I get almost no visible background without having to work at it. For example: