taking pics under 20k radium/halieds

[NocturnalReef]

does anyone have any good general settings to take pictures under 20k radiums? i try to shoot at the bottom of the tank with 20/5.6 sometimes 15/5.6 but getting the killer amount of blue out is impossible and when i do basic color corrects it obviously tends to change shades of the pics. what can i do to shoot a crisp clear pic?

i am shooting with a d40 with a 18-55 3.5-5.6 vr/dx lense

 

[NocturnalReef]

or what can i do to properly color correct and not damage the original colors

 

[Recty]

What photo editing software do you use?

You need something where you can adjust the white balance, this will help you compensate for your actinic lighting.

 

[kmu]

I got a D90 and got the same problem while taking pics, will tag along for the solution

 

[NocturnalReef]

yeah i have noticed the white balance seems to take it away but on my software i have to take as much out as possible save it then come back to the saved one and take out more again to balance it properly.. i didn't know if i could set the camera to adjust it better or anything.... my editing software sucks its just some basic thing that came with the computer.. but i have photo shop on here.. i never use it. i also have photo shop on a mac and whatever comes standard on a mac but i never use that either. i guess i need to start screwing with photo shop more.

 

[NocturnalReef]

i just want the pics to be as real in color as possible without them losing any type of tone or shading Etc..

 

[NocturnalReef]

recty what do you shoot your pics at mines normally 1/20-1/15...3.8 i think that's my largest apature option.. somethings i have to shoot at 5.6

 

[NocturnalReef]

3.5 sorry

 

[Recty]

Use a tripod, turn off your pumps, shoot the targets when they become totally still.

Use an aperture of somewhere between 7 to 11 and you'll get a decent depth of field and nice clear pictures for the most part.

Since you're on a tripod, you'll be able to use a long shutter speed.

You'll still need to adjust white balance in a program after you take the picture to get the blue out.

I normally shoot my coral pictures at a stop above the largest aperture I can... so if it can do 2.8, I go to around 4. If it can do 5.6, I go to around 7 or 8. Most lenses, especially the cheaper ones, cant take a good sharp picture wide open (at their largest aperture) so it helps to stop it down a little bit.

 

[Reef Bass]

I suggest shooting in RAW mode and then using Photoshop to set the color temperature / adjust the white balance. It's very fast, very easy and very accurate.

+1 for turning off your pumps, using a tripod, and using an fstop in the 7-11 range. As for shutterspeed, take a pic and if it's too dark, use a slower one. If it's too bright, use a faster one. Repeat until satisfied.

 

[Reef Bass]

I suggest shooting in RAW mode and then using Photoshop to set the color temperature / adjust the white balance. It's very fast, very easy and very accurate.

+1 for turning off your pumps, using a tripod, and using an fstop in the 7-11 range. As for shutterspeed, take a pic and if it's too dark, use a slower one. If it's too bright, use a faster one. Repeat until satisfied.

 

[oneradtek202]

i hate canons RAW files, they aren't recognized until converted by photoshop. anyone have any ideas for good RAW software conversion

 

[Recty]

i hate canons RAW files, they aren't recognized until converted by photoshop. anyone have any ideas for good RAW software conversion

Aren't recognized by what? My computer recognizes them.

Picassa, Irfanview, Gimp... all of them will open the RAW files just fine. You will eventually need to convert to some other format to show on the web but who cares, the benefits from shooting RAW are worth it.

Irfanview is free and does batch conversions, although why would you shoot in RAW if you just want to convert anyway?

 

[oneradtek202]

.RAW files are not .RAW files when taken with the canon rebel, they only come onto my computer as CR2 files and they are not recognized by photoshop. they are saves as something else and you need to convert them to .RAW atleast for my rebel T1i


believe me id love to shoot in RAW but havent taken enough time to figure out the conversion. there are alot of forum talks about it.

 

[Reef Bass]

.CR2 is an updated RAW format from Canon. You can download the codec from Adobe or Canon. You can also simply select Updates from the Help menu in Photoshop and receive the update that way.

I guarantee .CR2 is recognized by Photoshop as I've been using Photoshop to open .CR2 files for months.

 

[Ben Wilson]

You could buy an expo disc. I have used them for years, just point it right at the light and take a pick with the disc on, then set that as your white balance. All your pics of your tank will be perfect with no post processing. For color anyway.

Ben

 

[NocturnalReef]

i never thought to shut off all the pumps when taking pics INSIDE the tank through the glass... makes sens though the light is more balanced as opposed to reflecting everywhere.

thanks for the 7-11 input too i thought since i was shooting under such dark light and it's underwater i would want a larger aperature opening.

i normally shoot in the highest form before raw, raw is a pain sometimes if you have to upload it and stuff...plus most sites don't take raw files on posts do they becuase of the size and loading issues?

 

[Reef Bass]

Using a tripod (and either a remote shutter release or 2 second self timer) allows one to use much longer shutterspeeds and thus smaller, more depth of field yielding aperatures. Of course, the subject needs to be stationary. Long shutterspeeds of moving fish result in blurred pics.

I've never posted a raw file and I don't know why one would care to. The raw file contains the image sensor data and hasn't had all the processing that the camera does (like white balancing). The advantage is that YOU can make the appropriate post processing decisions. In the case of shooting under high color temperature lights, you can set the color temp / white balance so the corals look as your eyes seem them. The camera can't do that which is why most people have super blue pics of their tanks and corals. Plus if you don't like what you've done, you can always reopen the raw file and make different adjustments without loosing image quality. If you save as jpeg in the camera, there's no way to go back and reapply adjustments without loosing image quality.