Interesting

maxalmon

Active Member
The shot was taken with the zoa's about .5" away from the water surface, pumps off, can't get great detail due to the angle of shooting upwards thru the glass.
 

maxalmon

Active Member
Frags of the same zoa colony, different lighting (20k) These polyps are really small, less than .25" and hard to capture details.
 

maxalmon

Active Member
Yeah, I agree. This hobby is one of those PIA's one where you love/hate it, leave it/get back into it......Hopefully tomorrow I find out if I got my next home (will be one that we stay in for many years) If so, I plan on tricking out my 215 starphire and doing a custom inwall system...barebottom sps system... going to use foam for the bottom and back of the tank and create some crazy outcrops
 

maxalmon

Active Member
As always, the members of this forum are always nice, thanks for the nice comment......I Felt guilty posting after being gone for so long
 

1knight164

Member
I'm probably one of a few that don't know how you do it since i've been gone awhile as well. Equipment? Technique? I've had terrible luck with taking pics.
 

maxalmon

Active Member
It's one of those things where practice/practice/practice is the rule....good equipment also helps

Basic rules for good images.
Turn pumps off
Clean the glass on the inside of the tank and I mean scrub it clean, right before taking photos. There is always a thin film of algae on the glass, this will cause mose autofocus cameras to miscalculate.
USE A TRIPOD and a REMOTE - using a tripod will have the most profound improvement in your image quality, if you dont have a remote, then use the timer on your camera, minor vibrations from pushing the shutter button will cause visual noise.
Shoot images at eye level, if you notice, most of my images are straight on, like the coral is "at eye level" The reason for this is that the tank glass will act like a prism and cause focus issues that can't be fixed. Basic rule, don't tilt your camera up and down or side to side to capture an image.
 

1knight164

Member
Originally Posted by maxalmon
http:///forum/post/2756911
It's one of those things where practice/practice/practice is the rule....good equipment also helps

Basic rules for good images.
Turn pumps off
Clean the glass on the inside of the tank and I mean scrub it clean, right before taking photos. There is always a thin film of algae on the glass, this will cause mose autofocus cameras to miscalculate.
USE A TRIPOD and a REMOTE - using a tripod will have the most profound improvement in your image quality, if you dont have a remote, then use the timer on your camera, minor vibrations from pushing the shutter button will cause visual noise.
Shoot images at eye level, if you notice, most of my images are straight on, like the coral is "at eye level" The reason for this is that the tank glass will act like a prism and cause focus issues that can't be fixed. Basic rule, don't tilt your camera up and down or side to side to capture an image.
That's great! Never thought about using a timer or the effects of the angle. I used a tripod, but never turned my pumps off.
Would I be safe to assume you're using the tank lighting and not flash? Camera set on macro?
 

maxalmon

Active Member
Correct, I use tank lighting and I usually "stage" my corals, which means that I move them to a specific area in my tank for the best lighting, then wait for them to open/extend....
Flashes are pretty much worthless and cause more problems than they are worth....
I usually shoot in aperature override, (manual settings) I don't like macro settings as I like to play with my depth of field, sometimes my images have detailed depth, sometimes not so much
I'm working on the upgrade to the D300....just gota kiss some serious you know what...
 

1knight164

Member
Originally Posted by maxalmon
http:///forum/post/2757245
Correct, I use tank lighting and I usually "stage" my corals, which means that I move them to a specific area in my tank for the best lighting, then wait for them to open/extend....
Flashes are pretty much worthless and cause more problems than they are worth....
I usually shoot in aperature override, (manual settings) I don't like macro settings as I like to play with my depth of field, sometimes my images have detailed depth, sometimes not so much
I'm working on the upgrade to the D300....just gota kiss some serious you know what...
Great! Thanks for the tips. Depth-of-field does make a huge difference. And good luck with your D300.
 

howardj

Active Member
Wow! Absolutely stunning pictures!

What kind of camera is that? It's Amazing the detail you captured..
 

maxalmon

Active Member
Thanks...Nikon D40 with a 105VR Macro lens....It's albout the prep work that goes into the images....This one took me about half a days work and maybe 20-30 shots till I managed to get the 1 image where nothing was moving... I'm kinda obsessed with image details...
 
Top