Photography Question?

[squidd]

I have a question on tecnique/equipment...
I noticed something in the "Lets see your tank" thread...
Most of the tank pictures came out well lit, clear water, brilliant colors...
And a couple of the tanks looked Green, and I doubt thats what they look like in real life...
I'm having a similar problem taking pictures of my tank...
I posted a thread on lighting upgrade on my tank, someone asked for "before" and "after" shots, so I dug out an old pic with the NO fluorescents and it looks clear and white
Then I took new pics of the tank with PC upgrade and the tank is green, the rocks are green the water is green, my yellow tang and blue hippo are green and it looks way darker...
It's not like that in real life, the new lights are way brighter and whiter and the pic doesn't do it justice..
Is it the difference in the PC lighting? Flash/no flash? Do I not have the camera set up right? It's the same camera I used for the before shots.
Anybody have any suggestions? TIA

 

[squidd]

Here's the pic with new lights...the sand is green, the back wall is green.
It should be white

 

[smokinstarfish]

The closer to natural sunlight, the more accurate the colour will be.
Light can be measured in temperature, or Kelvin’s. The more “bluish” the bulb is, 10,000K and over, the bluer and greener pictures will look. If you took a picture in your kitchen without a flash, it would look orange and red to reflect the cooler light temperature of I'm guessing 3000K.
If you took that picture underwater in nature, it probably would look bluish-green still, because the light deeper down in reefs is this spectrum by nature. Go in for a closer shot and don't use the flash and see if that helps. (The flash would help, but it reflects off the tank glass).

Another thing, a proper lens that can go into macro mode, meaning a much lower mm number, will take pictures of fish up close, and bypass a lot of the discolouration you're noticing.

What kind of a camera are you using?

 

[squidd]

The camea is nothing special...a Sony Cyber Shot 2.1 mega pixel
But this is the picture I took, same camera, of my tank a while back.
It's further away,,, not closer, but there may be more "sunlight in the room...
I'll try another one saturday (when I'm home during daylight hours) to see if that makes a difference...

 

[smokinstarfish]

It might me a software issue then.

 

[aggie05]

You need to learn all the adjustments that you can make with your camera. Most cameras have a white balance and color temperature adjustments that will allow you to change the settings for the shots that you are taking. Play around with the camera and you will see what I am talking about.

 

[smokinstarfish]

Digital cameras especially have adjustments that compensate. A cheaper camera might limit in this. You'll need something more fancy and with a macro lens if you want to take pictures with the best of them... so don't have too high of expectations anyway.
Also, I always tell people, "don't be afraid to get in for a close shot," as my best piece of general photo advice. I know this stuff as a photojournalist.

 

[squidd]

Here it is with the flash...