which one looks better and why?

[dflowers]

1.

2.

 

[Luiz Rocha]

#2 because it has a clownfish in it.





But seriously, difference is very very small, almost can't tell in my monitor. If I had to say something I would say exposure on #2 was a tad longer (or lens had a wider aperture, or you photoshopped the raw file).

 

[dflowers]

Thanks for the input. 1 is on my Av setting, that i have no idea how to use but am figuring it out. and 2 is on auto settings.

Thanks

 

[dendronepthya]

#2 the white balance is a bit more towards the longer wavelengths. I am not a fan of overwhelmingly blue tank photos.

 

[JR719]

I like 1, mainly because 2 has spots that look blown out. Both pics appear to have a slower shutter speed due to the blur on the fish. A faster shutter would take care of that.

2 appears to show more detail and brighter, which I like. Although, both look dark, which detracts.

 

[Brett9917]

#2. Like others have said, the white balance is more accurate than the first.

 

[dflowers]

Thanks for the info! so #2 is better, that tells me i have my settings wrong on my manual pic.

thanks again.

 

[IslandCrow]

#2 is slightly overexposed in some areas, and you ended up with a little better contrast in #1. It's not about AV vs. manual, though. Neither inherently gives you better or worse pictures. Proper lighting and exposure give you the best picture. With experience, manual mode is going to give you the most control and therefore the best consistency. AV is going to let the camera do more of the thinking for you, and for a beginning photographer will end up giving you pictures that are properly exposed more consistently. You notice I didn't say "better" photos. If you pick the correct exposure in manual mode, and the camera picks the correct shutter speed to give you the correct exposure in AV, both pictures will be exactly the same. If you haven't learned to use your histogram, it can be an extremely useful tool. There are plenty of tutorials on the web, which I'm sure will do a better job of explaining than I can, but if you'd like a quick breakdown, I'd be happy to do my best at explaining it.

Now, a bit of unsolicited advice. I'd recommend shooting tank photos in RAW. This will allow you to correct your white balance in post process without affecting the quality of the picture, which can be the case when adjusting the white balance of a jpeg. Your photos could use a bit of "warming up". . .i.e. shifting the white balance slider towards the red end of the spectrum. You can also set a manual white balance, but I've found that with the lighting we use in aquarium photos, "accurate" white balance is often times not the best reproduction of what our eyes actually see.

 

[Jeff000]

Now who is using a calibrated monitor?

The second picture is overexposed, the blacks look grey. The first picture has nicer contrast. Neither have proper white balance, but for a fish tank that is more about personal preference.

 

[IslandCrow]

I calibrated my monitor just a few days ago. I agree with your assessment, Jeff.