Took lots of pics today, please critique.

[teto_78]

Please feel free to critique my pictures as I am very new to aquarium photography...

Nikon D70
55mm Nikkor 2.8 Micro Lense
Tripod
2.8 aperature / 120 speed ISO 200 (for most pictures)

* Not shot in RAW format
* Not as crisp as I would like them... why?
* No flash

 

[clippo]

they look good but need more depth of field IMHO. The last 3 are quite grainy too.. assume they were shot at a higher ISO setting? For stationary subjects like the zoos and the monti, if you are using a tripod, you could easily sacrifice some shutter speed for some extra depth (by reducing your aperture size).

 

[Rosseau]

I don't know the Nikon's very well. But can your ISO come down another notch? That would remove a little of the grainy feel, at least in the zoa photo it seems to come through. A tripod IMO is a must also.

I don't know if you've already tried that stuff..

if you have Photoshop sharpening the images really helps too. Also plugins exists to take away some of the "noise" that you might get from excessive ISO etc.


Cheers.

 

[Rosseau]

Sorry.. I see you have a tripod... It's still early here and i'm only half way through my coffee... and the ISO has already been commented on.

 

[teto_78]

unfortunately, 200 ISO is the lowest for the NIKON D70.

And all of them were at 2.8 aperature, hence the lack of DOF.

And I beleive the grainy ones were because they were cropped and zoomed in way to much, since it's a 55mm.

Would shooting in RAW mode help out in that department...?

 

[TheVillageIdiot]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9415562#post9415562 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by teto_78
unfortunately, 200 ISO is the lowest for the NIKON D70.

And all of them were at 2.8 aperature, hence the lack of DOF.

And I beleive the grainy ones were because they were cropped and zoomed in way to much, since it's a 55mm.

Would shooting in RAW mode help out in that department...?

I shot in RAW mode and w/ the largest image size. Also, the D70 has commander mode, you can get an sb600 for relatively cheap. Add a nice diffuser to the sb600 and use the flash above the tank, aimed straight down at the tank.

This will allow you to increase your DoF and shutter speeds (sync up to 1/500th) while maintianing your ISO.

hth,

Matt

 

[teto_78]

ha! nice, I already have an SB600, will try. Thanks

 

[louist]

I reckon you did very well. As the others said, some of the shots could do with a bit more DoF. Huge amounts of DoF isn't necessarily desirable, you just need to decide how much is appropriate for your particular photos.

I don't see any issues with grain. People need to keep in mind that at higher magnification, you can begin to see clusters of zooxanthelea in the corals. For example, I have a shot of a Zoanthid polyp at 5x magnification and everyone keep saying that it was tooooo grainy. That photo was taken at ISO400, which isn't all *that* grainy on the 10D.

There's also a bit of motion blur in your photos. Macro photography requires excellent technical execution, which comes with practice.

BTW, I believe I have the exact same zoanthid as your pink one.

 

[StCraft]

I don't see a lot of noise in the picture, for me its pretty good.
When you say to get a better deep of field...
How to do this ? (in manuel setting)
Its about focus ?
Its about aperture ?

Or its a mode on the camera youre talking...

 

[ssbreef]

aperture. better depth of field would be less blur.
He was shooting at f2.8 if he where to shoot at F8 or F9 his pictures would not have all that blur to them.

#1 and #3 are very nice.