Taking Pics of LED Tanks

[chris023]

I am having some trouble taking pictures of my new frag tank which has a new DIY LED fixture on it. Everything is coming out very purple/blue and not a good representation of how it looks in person. Granted the LED fixture does have more blue LEDs than white, but my display has more Blue T5s than other.

I am wondering if there are any thing special I should do when taking pics when LEDs are used or any color settings/tricks on camera, or experience anyone may have had with taking pics of tanks lit by LEDs. Below are a couple sample photos of my display and my frag. All pics are set to 6400 ISO and auto everything else. I am using a Canon T2i. Thanks.

FRAG TANK:

DISPLAY:

 

[rc4kinu]

Well, your display tank looks incredible!

 

[Recty]

What software are you using to process your pictures afterwards?

The blue/purple tint is due to your white balance not being correct. If you use Photoshop you can correct easily in there, as well as with many other versions of photo processing software.

You can try to select it in camera by setting your white balance to something custom and making it a very high number, but you're better off doing it in post processing, imo.

Shoot in RAW mode on your camera for the most flexibility in adjusting the white balance afterwards.

 

[chris023]

Well, your display tank looks incredible!

Hey thanks, I appreciate it!!!

 

[chris023]

What software are you using to process your pictures afterwards?

The blue/purple tint is due to your white balance not being correct. If you use Photoshop you can correct easily in there, as well as with many other versions of photo processing software.

You can try to select it in camera by setting your white balance to something custom and making it a very high number, but you're better off doing it in post processing, imo.

Shoot in RAW mode on your camera for the most flexibility in adjusting the white balance afterwards.

I am fairly ignorant with post processing. I do use Picasa to do some very basic stuff. Just played around a bit and was able to adjust the color some. Thanks!

 

[SushiGirl]

Post-processing doesn't always work that well with that much blue. Always better off playing with the white balance setting in the camera first...at least that's been my experience over the years.

 

[dendronepthya]

I have had that same issue. Something about the really blue LED lights totally bonks out the camera sensor. It's not limited to just white balance I don't think. Whole patches of the image just look like purple blobs.

 

[Recty]

I have had that same issue. Something about the really blue LED lights totally bonks out the camera sensor. It's not limited to just white balance I don't think. Whole patches of the image just look like purple blobs.

From what I've dealt with, that tends to be caused by overexposed or underexposed parts of the image. It seems like those areas you aren't able to recover, there isnt enough data there for your software to be able to do anything with. That's just a guess though, you might be dealing with some entire other issue but for me I can normally fix a reef tank image fine as long as I have everything exposed correctly, which sometimes means I have to exposure bracket and mix in one of the darker exposures, it's usually not the overexposed image I have to mix in.

 

[chris023]

Will have to play around with white balance and post editing and see what I get...

 

[JHemdal]

Why not use a flash? Most camera flashes will help correct the blue tint, no post-processing involved in camera or out. Of course, you have to deal with reflection and backscattering, but the colors will be truer....

Jay

 

[chris023]

Good point, will give that a shot. I just haven't used a flash in so long as I usually get the results I need by adjusting everything else (iso, etc.).