Why can't I take nice photo's of my tank?
- Thread starter Jeff000
- Start date
I'm not sure what you mean by DoF doesn't get "better" with a smaller aperture, but DOF does automatically increase with a smaller aperture. As for running into potential diffraction issues, that is true, but with the higher end lenses, which it sounds like the OP has, that diffraction is pretty negligible under most circumstances. In other words, if you need f/22, shoot at f/22. Any small amount of sharpness I may lose from using a small aperture is moot if I don't have sufficient DoF to even keep the areas of the image I want in focus.
Just to give an illustration of why we're talking so much about depth of field, let's say you're taking a macro shot with an 85mm lens and your subject is 12 inches away, which is actually not very close at all for a macro shot. At f/12, your depth of field on a Nikon D700 is only .35 inches. At f/22, you still only have 1/2 inch depth of field, so shooting as smaller apertures is often times not a very valid option. I usually find myself around f/18, and I truly doubt I'd find any of my macro images shot wider than f/11.
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Diffraction has nothing to do with the quality of your glass. Diffraction and chromatic aberration are two different things. It's purely a physics issue. When light passes through a narrow aperture, it spreads. How badly it impacts your image is slightly camera dependent, however. The closer your pixels are together, the bigger the problem; i.e. the higher your mega-pixel count the more likely you are to see it. (i.e. my 5D isn't effected as much as a 5D MkII)
I agree that sometimes the trade-off is worth it but one should understand there is a trade-off rather than blindly dropping their aperture to f/22 or smaller.
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luisgo
Member
I agree that the main problem with these photos is the color balance and depth of field but the area that should be in focus has like a glow around and is not sharp. I think that maybe there is a problem that the camera is not perpendicular to the glass causing some distortion from the glass. Same issue happens when shooting a bow front tank.
Another thing you may try is if your leds can be adjusted, use less blue light when taking photos. That way the white balance issue is less of a problem.
Another thing you may try is if your leds can be adjusted, use less blue light when taking photos. That way the white balance issue is less of a problem.
All these experts, and nobody commented on the fact that the OP said that he doesn't use a tripod. Even the steadiest of hands cause camera shake when shooting macro - the best thing to do is get the dust off that tripod, and even use a remote trigger release or the 2sec timer. getting your hands off the camera will help clear the image up. also, make sure to shoot as perpendicular as possible through the tank to minimize distortion from the tank glass. Just my two pennies. 
All these experts, and nobody commented on the fact that the OP said that he doesn't use a tripod. Even the steadiest of hands cause camera shake when shooting macro - the best thing to do is get the dust off that tripod, and even use a remote trigger release or the 2sec timer. getting your hands off the camera will help clear the image up. also, make sure to shoot as perpendicular as possible through the tank to minimize distortion from the tank glass. Just my two pennies.
I can hold my camera much more still then the average shooter. But that said I don't detect any movement in my photos, I do have a tripod and remote trigger, I'll try them both today and use a bit of PP and post my results.
I always shoot perpendicular to the glass
Is that just WB adjustments? Looks real close to actual color under just the blues.
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