Photo's from tonight.

[twisty]

your like is dead
Nice shots!
What lense are you using?
The kit lense?
are you shotting full manual?

[Dave88]

Thanks for the comments.  This is what I shoot with. Canon Rebel XT with 100mm f2.8 macro lens and 430EX flash.  For fish pictures I usually have the exposure time 1/100 and above and for corals I use aperture mode with a f-stop around f8-f11.  ISO at 400.  Thanks


[attachment deleted by admin]

[Cheebs]

Very nice shots dave.  I just picked up a Canon Powershot S5 IS,  so I think I have the potential to get some nice shots.  A couple questions though -  How do you adjust your white balance?  Do you get as close to the glass as you can, or do you stay back and zoom right in?  Also, do you have any experience with full tank shots?  I usually find that my full tank shots are too bright, even when I lower my ISO.

[Dave88]

Very nice shots dave.  I just picked up a Canon Powershot S5 IS,  so I think I have the potential to get some nice shots.  A couple questions though -  How do you adjust your white balance?  Do you get as close to the glass as you can, or do you stay back and zoom right in?  Also, do you have any experience with full tank shots?  I usually find that my full tank shots are too bright, even when I lower my ISO.

My white balance is set on auto. My macro lens is fixed on 100mm so I have to physically move the whole camera closer or further away from the tank but I'm usually about a foot away from the front of the tank.  For your fts shots being to bright try using a faster shutter speed and/or use a smaller aperture (larger f number).  Thanks for looking.

[bitterman]

Dave88 you have out-did yourself yet again.

[fischkopp]

I am out of my league here but read to put the camera lense right against the tank's glass. This was by a pro photographer for one of the aquarium mags. Hope this helps.

While this helps to reduce reflections from flash it limits your viewing angle and can make you trouble focusing. It is a better approach to shot at an angle and keep the glass very clean.

[twisty]

I rented that exact lense from vistek last week.
Were you using manual or auto focus?

I don't own a flash. How vital do you think it is to these shots?

[Dave88]

I use auto focus when possible almost all the time and shoot as perpendicular to the glass as much as possible.  Shooting at an angle will introduce distortion from the glass and yes try to  keep the glass as clean as you can.  The canon 100mm macro lens has internal focusing so I press it right up to the glass and this gives me a steady shot even when shooting with a slow shutter speed. You can't do this if your lens extends in and out.  In this case use a tripod.   Thanks

[twisty]

I found it hard focussing manualy with the 100mm 2.8
Next time i'll try the auto focus.
One thing I also noticed was the small DoF.
It is hard to keep all exposed properly with this lense.

You didn't mention the flash. What's the ambiant light like?
All lights in room off except tank?
If your pressed up against the glass... what's your flash lighting?
Is it pointed upwards or towards the tank?

You mentioned a link in one of your previous post.
The link is dead!

[Dave88]

If I'm right up against the glass the flash is pointed towards the glass and all my room lights are off.  If you want more dof, set to a higher f number.  Thanks

[fischkopp]

I use auto focus when possible almost all the time and shoot as perpendicular to the glass as much as possible.  Shooting at an angle will introduce distortion from the glass and yes try to  keep the glass as clean as you can.  The canon 100mm macro lens has internal focusing so I press it right up to the glass and this gives me a steady shot even when shooting with a slow shutter speed. You can't do this if your lens extends in and out.  In this case use a tripod.   Thanks

Yeah, I using a Tamron macro, which has external focus unfortunately. Also I am using internal flash only (external is wishlist item ), so pointing the camera perpendicular while keeping a little distance gives me a nasty reflections. The glass distortion is a good point though and is really noticeable if you choose the angle too far away from 90; it also depends on the quality of the glass itself. A little bit of the 90 deg helps already with flash reflections and keep distortions negligible.

Thanx for sharing your experiences!

[kennyman]

what file format are you shooting in Dave?

[Dave88]

what file format are you shooting in Dave?

I just shoot in jpeg format.  I know I should use RAW but I'm to lazy to process it.

[chujai]

awesome pictures. is that the new mandarine you snatched up before i had the chance? hahaha

so pretty. is he out and about most of the time or does he hide a lot?

[Dave88]

awesome pictures. is that the new mandarine you snatched up before i had the chance? hahaha

so pretty. is he out and about most of the time or does he hide a lot?

Yup, thats the one.  He's doing great in my tank, always out and about looking for a bite. 

[Tyler.L]

still trying to figure out what that fish is in the 5th pic. is it some sort of damsel or what?

[Vallely4]

that is a green chromis I believe Tyler,

I think you mentioned it yourself

[Tyler.L]

i said it doesnt look like a chromis, but could be. its very stocky and stubby and not very chromis looking but as i said i could be wrong, just would like to know what it is thats all. could be a damsel of some sort also just, it looks wierd to me

[xenon]

Hey Dave!

Do you have a full tank shot you can show us? 

[Dave88]

Hey Dave!

Do you have a full tank shot you can show us? 

Check out my gallery.  There's a full tank shot in there.  Thanks