Please describe your photo taking techniques.

[Doug]

Hi Everyone,

After seeing some of the incredible images posted in this new forum and in the other forums on ReefCentral I thought it would be interesting if some of you could describe how you take such awesome pictures.

Some simple questions that I can come up with are:

Do you use a tripod?
Do you use a special lens (i.e. macro) when taking your pictures?
Do you use a flash.
If you use a flash is it on camera or off.
Do you add supplemental lighting?
Do you edit your images in an image editing software before posting them?
Are you using auto focus or manual?
Are you using other special camera settings like manual exposure or manual aperture?
Do you use specific white balance settings?
Do you have any suggestions for the best settings on the specific camera that you are using?
Are you using special metering modes?

I am sure that some of you can come with some more questions that I might have missed that will help everyone take some awesome pictures.

Doug

[Clyde]

heres a tip or two (some tips say 950, etc some will still apply to 990 995 775 880 885- check your manual for references on these items)

most info are from digital secrets e-book.

set your white balance @ the tank,
White Balance Preset is used when you wish to show the camera exactly and
precisely what you want it to consider white to be. You then “pre-set� to this white reference, and it is remembered by the camera until you change it. At any time you can select White Preset and your last saved white balance will become the camera’s white reference.
Professional video cameras have a similar feature, but even these don’t usually have the range of the Nikon compacts. Setting up the white balance is straightforward.

You are balancing the camera to the existing light.

• Point the camera at a white surface that is in the lighting you wish to balance to.

http://134.84.178.127/reef/phototips/whitebal.jpg

• Tell the camera “this is it� by selecting the Menu choice: White Bal. Preset. This produces a menu screen that asks Cancel or Measure? and shows a square sampling area from the center of the image sensor. The 950 zooms full tele to limit the sample. The 990/995 lets you zoom wider if you wish.

• Choose Measure. If you choose Cancel, the camera’s preset memory
stays filled with the previous manual white balance.

• Press the Shutter button on the 950 or click right with the Multi- Selector on the others, and the camera cycles through a brief exposure sequence during which it measures the RGB content of the target area of the sensor. The camera will now assume that anything it just saw equaled white. The circuits responsible for detecting red, green, and blue pixels will immediately have an internal look-up file that tells them how to create a good-looking color image. This file stays intact through battery changes until you do it again. Point the camera at anything that is pure white or truly neutral gray. Some high quality bond papers and white fabrics have “UV brighteners� in them. They look a little “too white� to your eye and produce a slightly warmer white balance.

Use a Tripod.

Use the timer mode - YES timer.. Use timer when you go into macro mode, so your finger does not jerk the camera resulting in a blurry picture.

if you want macro with your 880 885 995 and maybe the 775 it works nicely to set your nikon into optional lense mode

usually, in manual setting (885 - its called CSTM - on the 990-995's called M)

Fisheye 2 For FC-E8 converter Lens
Lens locks at 15.3mm. The macro point.
No zoom available.
All flashes off.

2 lens setting is also useful with no adapter at all, when you want to move the lens to a locked intermediate position. The lens comes to rest right at the macro sweet spot, ready for your next ultra close-up. Barrel distortion at this point is virtually zero.


in Adobe Photoshop, there is ways to make your picture to come out a bit more realistic.

use Auto Levels, and also use Unsharpen mask.

THE UNSHARP MASK
(FILTER > SHARPENING > UNSHARP MASK)
Who would think that the best control to sharpen an image in a computer would begin with the word, unsharp? But it does. The Unsharp Mask control is a filter in Photoshop in the group of controls labeled Sharpening. Choose the Unsharp Mask, and a window appears with several choices and a small preview window. If the box labeled Preview is checked, the filter is already being applied to your shot. With images the size of the Nikon 990/995/885 and 950/775 shots, you should be able to leave this checked, providing your computer is of reasonably fast speed.
The top slider shows the amount of “sharpening� the control is generating. Under that you have a window that asks for a number. This is the radius, in pixels, of the influence of the filter. It works fractionally as well.

This is important. By being able to influence only about third of a pixel with an entry of 0.3, you are keeping the effect very tightly bound to the contours in your image. A 1.0 pixel radius will extend the influence of the sharpening effect a full pixel in every direction from the one being worked on.
How it works is interesting. It heightens the contrast between pixels of different values. A dark pixel against a light pixel will become a darker pixel against a lighter pixel. Since the original values are slightly exaggerated, the boundary from one to the other is exaggerated, and looks sharper to the eye.

http://134.84.178.127/reef/phototips/unsharpmask.jpg

Locally, the contrast between the two original features is increased, but it is our vision system that interprets this as being a sharpness improvement.
It is real easy to overdo Unsharp Mask. Try numbers like these to experience how they work:
RADIUS AMOUNT
0.2 100 - 500
0.3 80 - 300
0.5 50 - 170
1.0 20 - 90
2.0 10 - 50
Large number entries in the Radius box have a different sort of influence on the picture. Try putting in a number like 60~200 and moving the Amount slider around. Notice how areas of the picture adjust their relatively local contrast into looking more vivid? Watch out for bright areas, though, they can easily become too bright and lose detail. Often a conservative use of this technique will simply add a bit of snap to the image. Try a Radius of 80 and an Amount of 15.
This control is capable of achieving several effects and is worth playing with for a while, just to get a sense of how its various settings interact.

http://134.84.178.127/reef/phototips/unsharpmask.jpg

While the Unsharp Mask tool can perk up the effects of low or no in-camera sharpening, the camera has the image in memory before compressing and storing it, so the very sharpest images with the fewest
artifacts will probably result from appropriate in-camera sharpening. With the 950, this is moot, since the camera has no control over in-camera sharpening, and does fine as is. But with the 775, 880, 990 and 995, the Image Sharpening control may be set to its Normal or Automatic Sharpening setting without fear. Experiment with shots made using Low in-camera sharpening followed by judicious Unsharp Mask tweaking.



SIZING FOR POSTING IN REEFCENTRAL - THIS TIP IS GOOD INFO!

If you are preparing images for use on the Internet, it is doubtful that you will
need to display images larger than 1024 pixels wide. Photoshop’s scaling tool, Image > Image Size > Resample Image: Bicubic, produces the cleanest results. Specify a dimension in pixels in the upper windows and the rest of the window will calculate itself automatically. For the best results apply any sharpening after re-scaling your shot.


HOW DO I FORCE THE CAMERA TO FOCUS WHERE I WANT?

With the 950 you have two immediate methods of focus. Autofocus, and Manual focus. Since the camera is not a single lens reflex, manual focusing is given over to a series of preset focus ranges which lock in at 0.33 (feet), 0.66, 1.0, 1.5, 2, 3, 5, 10, 30, and INF (inity). In meters, the numbers show up as 0.1, 0.2, 0.5, 0.7, 1.0, 1.5, 3.0, 10, and INF. Obviously these are only approximations, but they represent focus areas in which the depth of field compensates somewhat for inexactness.
The 880, 885, 990, and 995 divide up the focus range into 50 manual zones
creating a more refined selection of focus areas. The range goes all the way from infinity to 0.06 feet (0.02 meters).

Almost everybody wants to shoot very close on occasion. While closer focus is available through the Autofocus mode, the minimum Manual focus setting is available at every point in the zoom range. And 0.33 on feet on the 950, that’sa mere four inches. The 990 and 995 achieve this close setting at just a hair under full tele zoom. This is a field of view just over 1-1/4 inch wide! Very closeindeed. Close enough to crop inside the long dimension of a 35mm slide. On top of the 950 there is a button dedicated to being the focus helper. It is the rearmost button behind the shutter release. Stepping through it selects Infinity, Micro, and Self Timer. Wait a minute, how did that get in there? Because the Self Timer in the 950 is in the selection rotation of Normal > Infinity > Micro > Self Timer, most people assume you can’t set up micro shots and have the Self Timer function at the same time.

Some subjects are unlikely to wait for
the autofocus. Preset the focus (here
at 0.33 feet) and prowl by moving the
camera into position.

http://134.84.178.127/reef/phototips/butterflymacro.jpg

The Nikon Manuals aren’t any help here either.
An undocumented procedure works around this problem:

To shoot a Macro close-up and have the Self
Timer trigger the shot, do this:

• First, choose the Self Timer. An icon looking
somewhat like a clock with a second hand will
appear on the view screen and on the camera top
display.

• Next, hold down the M-Focus button on the camera top, and keep it down while turning the Command Dial on the front of the camera. Now you are setting the focus manually while maintaining the ability to trip the shutter while not touching the camera.

The other models include Macro Focus in the Self Timer choice, so all Self Timer shots will be forced to wait through the longer macro focusing procedure. Unless you set the focus manually. The procedure is the same as for the 950. Set the Self Timer, press and hold the M-Focus button while the Command Dial selects the distance. As the manual distance is chosen, the monitor shows you the focus distance, and the camera top display blinks all the focus icons on the 950. The 990/995 shows the numerical distance without the icon animation.

TIP - If the camera falls asleep, the setup is lost and you will have to start over.


http://134.84.178.127/reef/phototips/macro2.jpg

[Clyde]

i forgot one more photoshop tip

CURES OR LEVELS
(COMMAND OR CTRL -M, -L)
The Curves and Levels controls have a special feature useful in color control of your image. Three “eyedropper� controls with black, gray, and white fluid in them are used to sample the image’s brightest, darkest, and most neutrally colored places for fast adjustment.
The middle eyedropper is the one with the greatest color correction use. The default setting is for middle gray. Double click on it to see where it is set on your computer.

Not gray? Easy to fix.

See those boxes labeled H:, S:, B:? B = Brightness. Enter H: 0°, S: 0%, B: 50% and the rest of this idea will work for you. Now touch this Gray Eyedropper cursor on any object in your scene that would naturally be close to neutral gray. It doesn’t matter whether the gray part is light or dark, just so long as it is supposed to be without other color. The white trim of a house in slight shadow, a whitewall tire or the dark gray of the tire itself, a gray patch of pavement, a gray foggy sky, a colorless rock, lettering on a sign, a silver car, a white shirt… all of these will work if you find the right place to click.

As soon as you click on your reference object, the entire scene adjusts to
re-color balance to that sample. The control adjusts the Red, Green and Blue channels in a way that turns the pixel you sampled into a neutral gray hue.
The brightness of the sample isn’t changed, just its hue and saturation. Play with this control a lot. It’s surprising to see how dramatically it works. After a while, you will become quite adept at improving the color of images shot in shade, indoor light, office light, and in errors caused by outright mistakes. Shade often tends to look cool, due to contamination from the blue sky. Indoor light can be recorded too warm, due to incandescent bulbs on dimmers. In office light, which is often greenish due to fluorescent lights, the color is dependent on the exact formula of the bulbs and no one fluorescent setting will get all of them perfect. Then there are the mistakes. Some will be due to your forgetting to put the white balance on the right setting; some will come from mixed light situations that simply can’t be correctly guessed by the Auto White Balance feature of the camera. When any of these show up on your computer screen, hit that center eyedropper in the Curves window, and start looking for a likely gray object in the shot. The image above was exposed with the camera set to the wrong white balance. Fortunately, the strip of cement (arrow) was neutral in color, and simply clicking on it with the neutrality eyedropper created the vivid, realistic result.

http://134.84.178.127/reef/phototips/ladyingrey.jpg

[Clyde]

heres a pict I took a long time ago

1 with pre-editing and after editing.

http://clyde.blackcore.com/beforeandafter.jpg

[coralite]

Well, how much do I owe you for the photography lesson??
Thank you very much for all the info. So i am assuming you like the coolpix, what features does a 995 have that a 775 doesnt. For aquatic photography purposes and macro shot abilities, is there a $400 difference between the 2?

[JohnL]

Nice tips Clyde! :thumbsup:

I'll be trying them very soon

[ATJ]

I have a Nikon CoolPix 950. Other than whole tank type photos, I always use an external flash (Nikon SB24) connected with a sync cord.

For most pictures I use the flash in TTL mode (although the CoolPix does not actually use TTL flash control).

For difficult subjects I use the flash in manual mode set at 1/16 power and move the flash in or out to control the exposure.

For ultra close-ups, I put a white handkerchief over the flash to cut the power further.

When using the flash, I set the camera to aperture priority with the aperture at its samllest (largest f-stop). This increases the depth of field - i.e. more of the image will be in focus.

Here is a sample:
http://www.reefcentral.com/vbulletin/attachment.php?postid=394148
and another:

[Doug]

Hi Clyde,

That is some excellent info! Thank you!

I don't have the same camera that you do but many of the things that you said to most photographers.

Also, I really like the info that you gave about the unmask in Photoshop. I would have never thought about that.

Thanks again.

Doug

[wdt2000]

How do you use Paint Shop Pro images on reefcentral. Paint Shop Pro always makes me use .psp and will not let me switch it to .jpg


Thanks
Will

[Doug]

Hi Will,

I have never used Paint Shop Pro but when you are saving the file does it give you the option to "save as"?

Or is there a choice on file menu to do a "save for web"?

Or is there and "export" option?

Those are some of the more common choices that I have seen with the software that I use.

If you find one of the above options you will want to choose the .jpg format.

HTH

Doug

[JazzMan]

Holy Crap CLyde!!!!! :eek2: :eek1: :eek2: :eek1: :D :p Thanks for all that info!! That's the best thing about this board, people always posting tons of info!!

Thanks again!!!!

[Clyde]

nada, no charge :P knowledge is power.

I have a 885, my parents have a 995.

What a 775 does not have that a 885,995 does not ?

thers several - best is go to a photography store, ask em to read the manual on both (features)

if you're taking point and shoot pictures most of the time and your budget allows for a 775 not a 995 - then I would suggest, maybe check out other cameras.

the 775 is a bit too small for me, the 885 had almost everything that the 995 had, cept the flash TTL, etc etc.

is there a $400 difference between the two. yes.

my aunt has a 775, I noticed the camera was slower in accessing info than my parents 995. I have not studied too much on the 775 myself, so I cannot say TOO much, but do check out these four or five links.

http://www.steves-digicams.com/2001_reviews/nikon775.html

http://www.steves-digicams.com/2001_reviews/nikon885.html

http://www.steves-digicams.com/2001_reviews/nikon995.html

http://www.digitalsecrets.net/ - where I got most of my info.

http://www.megapixel.net/cgi-bin/fs_loader.pl?p=http%3A//www.megapixel.net/html/articles/article-macro.html







Originally posted by aquafresh
Well, how much do I owe you for the photography lesson??
Thank you very much for all the info. So i am assuming you like the coolpix, what features does a 995 have that a 775 doesnt. For aquatic photography purposes and macro shot abilities, is there a $400 difference between the 2?

[Clyde]

Chose File

Then Choose EXPORT - JPEG OPTIMIZER

Then thats it - save to whatever.

when you want to post a picture here in this forum, you ll see '[QUOTE]Attach File:

Find the file on your computer, or click browse - then a window will pop up, you look around where the file is.

after you're done typing your stuff and all then click submit or preview reply, to make sure it shows up.

so like doug says most programs use export, save as etc.

this applies to everyone else whos reading this and is usiing a different program.

to point out, some people say the Photoshop costs too much, but you just spent 600 bucks on the cam :)

I've seen Photoshop for sale at Half-Price books for cheap 80 bucks or so, not the NEWEST version, but heck do you really need Adobe Photoshop 7.0 for macosx, Photoshop 3.0 4.0 will work VERY nicely - but photoshop's save for web, I cannot remember when it first came out in 4.0 ??

Try ebay for photoshop ?

another nice software not as bad is Adobe ImageReady (But I do not think they sell this one seperatly)


[QUOTE]Originally posted by wdt2000
How do you use Paint Shop Pro images on reefcentral. Paint Shop Pro always makes me use .psp and will not let me switch it to .jpg


Thanks
Will

[andyk227]

Clyde - lot's of great tips. I can't wait to try them out.

thanks!

[Rick O]

Thanks for the info Clyde. I have a Coolpix 950. I've also noticed that the camera moves a slight bit when I press the shutter release even though I'm using a tripod. Does the timer mode work in macro mode? It's on the same selector button and it appears that the camera goes out of macro when you switch to macro. Or am I doing something wrong?

Thanks.

[Clyde]

Because the Self Timer in the 950 is in the selection rotation of Normal >
Infinity > Micro > Self Timer, most people assume you can’t set up micro shots
and have the Self Timer function at the same time.

To shoot a Macro close-up and have the Self
Timer trigger the shot, do this:
• First, choose the Self Timer. An icon looking
somewhat like a clock with a second hand will
appear on the view screen and on the camera top
display.
• Next, hold down the M-Focus button on the
camera top, and keep it down while turning the
Command Dial on the front of the camera. Now
you are setting the focus manually while maintaining
the ability to trip the shutter while not touching
the camera.

[Pinecone_Jeff]

First of all, thank you Doug and JohnL for putting this forum together! This is exactly what I was looking for.

And thank you Clyde for posting those wonderful tips! I work in related media, but the finer details of basic photography (let alone digital photography) has had me mystified! :) I'll be using your tips for sure.

Thanks again!

[mgk65]

Clyde:

Thank you very much!

I have the digital secrets book, but have not had the time.... plus, it is difficult to read it in the bathroom. :D

mgk

[gregr]

>Do you use a tripod?
not for fish pics, but i do for about 95% of all my other photography (people pics are the other 5% +/-)
>Do you use a special lens (i.e. macro) when taking your pictures?
i have a set of close-up filters but i don't use them much. i am hoping to rig some sort of off-shoe flash bracket- when i do i will try more really close close-ups because with the flash in the hot shoe the light won't reach that close.
>Do you use a flash.
for fish- pretty much always
>If you use a flash is it on camera or off.
see above. getting the flash off to the side will help a lot i think.
>Do you add supplemental lighting?
just what's on the tank (55g with 150 watts actinic and 150 watts daylight).
>Do you edit your images in an image editing software before posting them?
i use photoshop- mostly resizing, sharpening and levels adjusting.
>Are you using auto focus or manual?
mostly autofocus.
>Are you using other special camera settings like manual exposure or manual aperture?
i like aperture priority.
>Do you use specific white balance settings?
i play around with this- always searching for the "truest" look. sometimes it's the daylight setting that works best.
>Do you have any suggestions for the best settings on the specific camera that you are using?
i use the Canon G2 and as i said i like aperture priority, and i usually have the flash compensation set to minus one stop (although that gets adjusted back and forth).
>Are you using special metering modes?
these new digital cameras have such accurate meters that that really isn't an issue- i use center weighted metering and when i'm using the flash it is almost always good. without the flash there tends to be more contrast because that extra added light evens things out- sometimes that's good sometimes not so good...
greg

[Doug]

Hi Greg,

Thanks for the great info.

I was thinking the same thing about the off camera flash. I am going to try it as soon as I figure out what parts I need for my camera.

That is a nice shot of your angel and tang. The funny part is that I have both of those same fish and I took a shot last week that was almost identical to yours. I even have mushrooms just like yours which were in the same picture that I took. I will have to find it and post it here.

Thanks again.

Doug

[dennisV]

Well I sometimes use a slave unit flash.
It's a secondary flash that has a white-light detector.
I put some cardboard in front of my camera with a hole cut into it for the lens. The flash on my camera hits the cardboard instead of the glass of my tank. The slave unit, being held above or beside the cardboard, detects the flash and then flashes at the same time, so the light hits the subject from this angle instead of straight next to the lens.
This is inexpensive and easy.

[Clyde]

theres another way, tape a small peice of developed film, its powerful enough to trigger a slave flash, but does not affect the picture, or stray light hitting the lense if it occurs.

I will be following up on this on how to build one for your nikon based cameras shortly - in about 30 min, it takes time to take picts, write up a summary and examples :)

[lbussy]

Great. Here 2 days and I went form reef envy to camera envy.

Thanks guys. :P

[Leslie]

Clyde,

OMG, where did you learn all that?

That info is amazing! I have had the 995 for months and gone from taking publishable pics to horrible pics. I have been so frustrated! I even tried to return the camera. I had a photographer who uses the camera, also the sales person at SAMY's, who sold me the camera, come over and give me a lesson. It didn't even come close to what you presented. I keep seahorses and as you probably know they don't move all that much or all that fast and I still have not been able to get anything but a very occasional shot.

I can't wait to try all your great suggestions.

Thanks so much for taking the time to share all that.

Gratefully,

Leslie

[Pinecone_Jeff]

Leslie,
I have a coolpix 990 and I also had trouble taking good closeup pics of my critters. But after Clyde's instructions and, ahem, reading the manual >sheepish grin< I've learned most of the ins and outs of my camera. Now, I really need to learn the nuts and bolts of basic photography before I can really exploit the power of my Nikon. And then I'm sure it'll take even more experience to get the kind of pictures I really want. Boy, this stuff is more involved than even my reef tank! :D Good luck with your new hobby! :D:D:D

[Clyde]

okay, seems we need some 'excercises' to get to know our camera better.

Set the camera on single focus in
manual mode so the background doesn’t steal focus from your subject and ruin the shots.

Nikon settings -

990/995: Menu > Page 2 > Focus > Single AF
950: Menu > Set Up > LCD In/Out > On&S-AF
775: Monitor Off

Other Cameras PLEASE PM me, I ll edit this to add other cameras how to set single focus

portraits

get a subject - a human being -

Some of the best portraits are done with a slightly telephoto lens. In 35mm photography many photographers prefer 105mm and 135mm lenses for head shots. You have both, approximately. Stay at the upper range of the zoom, and try to shoot verticals at least half of the time. This is easier with the
optical viewfinder than with the monitor. By the time you have spent thirty* shots on your subject, you will have probably shot at least two
very good pictures and half a dozen pretty good ones. Obviously the camera is the reason. Stifle that chuckle and keep moving.

*Yes, thirty shots. And make each one slightly different, somehow. The first secret to getting progressively better and better
images is doing what photography does best, capture the moment. The more moments you capture, the better your odds of
getting the Best Moment. When you look back at your images, some will be very good. Others will be excellent. Those won’t
often be your first three or five.
Shoot thirty shots!

[Clyde]

NEXT EXERCISE, GEOMETRY

Now you are looking for one thing and one thing only. Interesting shapes.
The curve of a railing,
the abstract nock of a tree limb,
the pattern of brick, the legs and feet of
somebody sitting,
a reflection,
the texture of peeled paint,
a bunch of birds on a wire,
a leaf,
a row of books,
a cat’s ear,
a car’s grill…

There has been more than one award-winning photo of each of these ideas and you may find a billion other interesting shapes in nature, the city, people, and things around you. If you must shoot a flower, shoot for the radial symmetry, if you must shoot something square, find an angle on it that lends a certain abstraction of its form to the photo. Capture twenty subjects. Keep thinking “Form. Shape. Pattern,� repeating this mantra over and over in your mind. When you review the shots, separate them into three groups, Junk, Hmm, and Okay. Then go out and repeat the exercise.
This time the review will have about 50% improvement in the Okay category. Quality, quantity, or both will have gone up. When you feel stale, do the geometry exercise. The film is free, the shapes don’t need coaxing and often the results are rewarding.

http://134.84.178.127/reef/phototips/excercise2.jpg[CODE]

[Clyde]

THE SKY

Most inspiring at dawn and dusk, the sky can be interesting at any time.
Don’t just think of the sky as a cloudy thing. Think of it as a light or a backdrop. How does the sky interact with trees, buildings, windows, light poles, clouds, horizons, mountains and people? At noon
you might have to get real low to put people up into the sky. At sunset, you might have to get up high to see how the sun casts shadows across
the ground. With flowers, you might just have to put them against clouds or vast expanses of blue. The more you look, the more often you will see an oddly shaped cloud, a blotch, a wisp, or a plume that might someday be useful. Shoot it now, use it later. And on those days when the sky dresses up and just begs to be photographed, take out the Nikon and oblige her.



http://134.84.178.127/reef/phototips/excercise3.jpg

[Clyde]

ROUND

Things that are round. Things that suggest roundness. Circles, semi-circles, ovals, curves, round things against jagged things, round things inside square things. Christmas ornaments, round flowers, watches, bowls of food, wheels, eyes, signs, architectural features, roseate windows, grapes, baseballs, and knobs—whatever works. Now advance the lesson. Shoot them in such a way that if you were to dissolve from one to the next, the “round� would carry concentrically from shot to shot. This, like the geometry exercise, is a good refreshing activity for times when you need a cup of photo java

http://134.84.178.127/reef/phototips/excercise4.jpg

[Clyde]

I'm skipping a few excerises, mainly because it applies to what I've learned how to take Panoramic Vistas (I ll cover this later if theres interest in it)

here is next excercise REPETITION

Here you are combining experiences gained from a number of previous exercises and adding a new foo-factor. Repeating similar elements are the target. There must be three or more similar objects in a creative relationship to each other. They can be as similar as fence staves, windows of nearly identical shape, palm trees all in a row, uniformed people, feet, whatever. There is no limit on things like having them all face in the same direction or be in the same light. Points are subtracted for factors like “too dissimilar� and “too far apart to connect the similarity.� “All boys� doesn’t count. A good thing to try for is dramatic direction. All the flags were blowing straight out, all the cops were looking at the same thing, all the birds were pecking at once, all the palm trees were the same shape, etc. Then there is the special factor. The counter point. All the cops were looking at the same three-yearold in the red dress, all the birds were pecking the same eight inches of birdseed; all the windows were the same except for the one with a person sitting in it. Symmetries of repetition are many. Certainly the things-all-in-a-row idea is easier to find than the things-all-radiating-from-a-point is. But in photography, odd relationships can form symmetries of balance in which “birds of a feather flock together� is counter balanced by “there’s one in every crowd.� As you move through this exercise, try to resist lapsing back into other exercises. Part of what you are learning here is the hunt, the safari that has a single-minded goal. If you come back with a bunch of nice images, but they’re not particularly tangled up in the idea of repetition, go out and do it again.



http://134.84.178.127/reef/phototips/excercise7.jpg

[Clyde]

now something that most of us LIKE - MICROVISTAS !!!

The Nikon digital compacts are very comfortable in the world of the very small. Big images of small vistas, microvistas, are easier to acquire with a Nikon digital than any film camera I know. Now it is your turn to become comfortable with very little. The Autofocus system in automatic mode will focus down to about nine inches. Two focus regimes can be selected using the M-Focus button on the top or back of the camera. The first one prevents the camera from focusing on near objects and puts a little double mountain icon onto the view screen and also on the LCD display. This is the icon you don’t want to see. A second press on the same button gives you the small flower icon and this is the one that causes the camera to hunt for a nearby object. This is the micro focus regime. Nikon calls the control “Macro Close-up�
just to satisfy all those who, over the years, have gotten into the habit of calling the very small, “macro.� Microvistas can be any subject, but the area you are going to shoot is 2-1/2 inches wide or smaller. Do try to avoid clichés. If you must shoot a flower, catch one with a bee in it. ( or an acropora with a comsmal crab in it) If you have to take a picture of a telephone keypad, get a real grubby or real beautiful finger into the shot. If it’s the contents of a pocket tossed on a table, include clues to a crime. If you shoot an eye, make sure it was projecting an attitude.


http://134.84.178.127/reef/phototips/excercise5.jpg
http://134.84.178.127/reef/phototips/excercise6.jpg

[Clyde]

this is enough for now, I will do the next 8 to 12 excercises in the next few days

[MikeG]

Awesome stuff Clyde!!!

Any tips for a Canon S30?

Thanks in advance.

Mike:eek1:

[kevino]

I use a canon D-30, with a 50mm macro. The thing to remember to do is to try and eliminate all glare.

Get up against the tank, utilizing a rubber lens hood to eliminate all stray light from bouncing around in your photo.

Then, I also suggest lighting the flash from the top of the tank, utilizing a cord connecting the dedicated flash to the flash shoe mount.

I custom white balance, as was previously mentioned about the Nikons.

In Photoshop, I convert all images to Lab Color Mode, then perform all unsharp mask or level adjustments on the Lightness Channel. This prevents unwanted color shifts.

Also, I shoot at ISO 400 when possible, to avoid noise "grain", but for fast moving fish, I sometimes have bumped the camera to ISO 1600 equiv.

I will post a few of my images soon, they are on a CD somewhere...

Kevino
Hope that helps...

[kevino]

Here is one I made without auto white balance.
Due to size limits, I had to resize and compress a little in JPG. Hope you enjoy this guy. He sure ate my green hair algae
----------
Parameters:

Shooting Mode
Manual
Tv( Shutter Speed )
1/30
Av( Aperture Value )
8.0
Metering Mode
Evaluative
ISO Speed
1600
Lens
50.0mm
Focal Length
50.0mm
Image Size
2160x1440
Image Quality
Fine
Flash
On
Flash Type
Built-In Flash
Flash Exposure Compensation
-2
Red-eye Reduction
On
Shutter curtain sync
1st-curtain sync
White Balance
Flash
AF Mode
Manual Focus
Parameters
Contrast Normal
Sharpness Normal
Color saturation Normal

[Leslie]

Kevino,

Thats a great shot!!!

Would that be the Canon Eos-D30 SLR Digital Camera?

Thanks,

Leslie

[kevino]

yes leslie, that is right

[Mike_Noren]

Some simple questions that I can come up with are:

> Do you use a tripod?

Not with aquaria. I find that it's hard to get close enough to the glass - I usually photograph very small things.

> Do you use a special lens (i.e. macro) when taking your pictures?

No. I have a Coolpix 4500, and prior to that a Coolpix 995, and they have excellent macro capabilities - which is what I want. Many other digital cameras are great too, e.g. Coolpix 5700, or Sony Cybershot F707.

>Do you use a flash.

No. Flash doesn't seem to work well when shooting through glass; normally there's all sorts of reflections. However, even though the coolpixes have slow lenses (require a lot of light) I have found that it is possible to take free-hand pictures with exposure times as long as 1/2 second without motion blur by supporting the camera against the glass.

>Do you add supplemental lighting?

Nope, but more light is better of course.

>Do you edit your images in an image editing software before posting them?

Usually the only manipulation I do is cropping, rescaling and increasing compression. I've found that if the photo requires extensive manipulation, the end result is rarely very good. Unsharp mask is sometimes a good idea, though.

>Are you using auto focus or manual?

I find the manual focus of the 4500 (and the 995 before that) to be so tedious and awkward that I never use it. I do turn autofocus off when shooting through microscopes, though.

>Are you using other special camera settings like manual exposure or manual aperture?

Yes. I usually force ISO 100, set sharpening to low, and shoot in aperture priority mode. This because the coolpix tends to set aperture very low in macro mode (very shallow depth-of-field) to let in as much light as possible.

>Do you use specific white balance settings?

Yes. I hardly ever use the presets, but calibrate white balance against something that's neutral in color under the light I'll be shooting in.

>Do you have any suggestions for the best settings on the specific camera that you are using?

*Using full auto isn't bad, BUT remember to zoom until the little flower turns yellow in the display when shooting macro - that's the optimal zoom range.

*Never use digital zoom. Ever. Crop your image in photoshop instead.

*When shooting macro you need all the light you can get, and you still need to support the camera and perhaps your elbows against the glass to avoid motion blur. Motion blur is less of a problem with cameras with faster lenses, e.g. Coolpix 5700 or Sony F707.

* Go in close!

* Remember that every time you save your images as JPEG, you lose quality. While working with the image, use TIFF or PNG format. There is hardly ever any use for BMP images.

I've attached a picture I took during a visit to a public aquarium. It's a close-up of the eye of a Dragonet; it's not a brilliant pic, but shows that you can take extreme closeups through glass.

[Mike_Noren]

>Do you have any suggestions for the best settings on the specific camera that you are using?

Man, I forgot the most important advice: keep shooting!
In the words of Axly Suregrip: If you have enough ammo
it doesn't matter how badly you aim.

If you're using a digital camera each shot is basically free, and no matter how poor you are, if you take a lot of shots some of them are going to be good. Just throw away the rest.

I've attached another photo from a public aquarium (Coolpix 995, ambient lighting, freehand with camera supported against glass. Image has been scaled down to 800x600, and compressed. The size of the clam is about 3cm). I think I took about 5 photos of this clam using slightly different settings; this was the one I kept.

[Goby1Knoby]

Brilliant Clyde !

Just reead all the above, any way poss u could recommend the optimum settings for an 880 Coolpix, for taking shots under 400w & 250W M.H's with supplemental Actinic.

Have taken some OK shots but theres just such a huge range of settings , Ize is Flummoxed :)





Thanks


Brian.

[myth]

hey doug do you have any tips for owners of a Minolta Dimage 7i . i just bought one and want to take photos of my tank..any help would be apreacated thanks..

[PaintGuru]

I just got "The Basic Book of Photography" by Grimm and I must say just by flipping through it, it looks pretty impressive and complete. While most does not deal with digital cams, there is a lot on flash, exposure, and how to just take pictures in general. I think it is a textbook for a photography class, but for $12 on half.com ($20 retail), it is a pretty good deal for people like me :D.

[Jimbo327]

I can't seem get a good shot of anything under my actinics. Everything looks purple with my G2. Any suggestions of taking pics under actinic would be appreciated.

Jim

[gregr]

have you tried all the different wb settings?
you could try shooting in the raw mode and then when you convert the shot to a tiff you can select each wb setting one at a time and see how it looks in the preview (assuming you're using breezebrowser).
if none of the preset options look accurate enough try setting your own custom wb. to do that you need to position a white object so that the actinic lights hit it- then just follow the instructions for manually setting the wb. if you aren't sure about the directions let me/us know- i can dig up my manual and get back to you.
greg

[Jimbo327]

Thanks Greg, I'm going to give it a shot, right after I find my camera's manual. :D Greg, it's scary looking at your pictures, it looks so real and vivid. I really like the one of the spider you took, man, it reminds me of looking at plasma television at the electronic stores. Looks like it is going to jump out and bite ya!

Jimmy

I'll let you know if this gets too complicated for me. Thanks!

[ATJ]

Originally posted by Doug
Do you use a tripod?

Only when taking whole tank shots using available light.

Do you use a special lens (i.e. macro) when taking your pictures?

No, but my digital camera (Nikon Coolpix 4500) can focus down to 2 cm.

Do you use a flash.

Almost exclusively (other than whole tank shots).

If you use a flash is it on camera or off.

Off camera.

Do you add supplemental lighting?

Only the flash.

Do you edit your images in an image editing software before posting them?

Usually only just sharpening and cropping.

Are you using auto focus or manual?

Both.

Are you using other special camera settings like manual exposure or manual aperture?

Aperture priority to minimise the aperture.

Do you use specific white balance settings?

Electronic flash.

Do you have any suggestions for the best settings on the specific camera that you are using?

See link below.

Are you using special metering modes?

No.

Close-up Photography Techniques (http://www.petsforum.com/personal/trevor-jones/closeup.html)

[Snail Guy]

Figured I'd jump on the bandwagon...

Do you use a tripod?
Whenever possible. If subject is too active, then I opt not.

Do you use a special lens (i.e. macro) when taking your pictures?
I generally prefer my 105mm macro for aquarium close-ups. Provides an ideal working distance.

Do you use a flash.
Yes.

If you use a flash is it on camera or off?
Off camera

Do you add supplemental lighting?
I prefer using two flash units, using optimum placement for shadow, detail, and prevention of reflection off aquarium glass.

Do you edit your images in an image editing software before posting them?
I try to produce a "perfect" image on film every time. But editing is a reality, often for cropping, minor retouching. Sharpening only if absolutely necessary. I use Photoshop.

Are you using auto focus or manual?
For macro, I prefer manual focus.

Are you using other special camera settings like manual exposure or manual aperture?
Generally prefer TTL exposure. As I'm using film with no immediate feedback for results, I may opt to bracket.

Do you use specific white balance settings?
This is specific to digital cameras...haven't ventured there just yet.
With film, the flash provides a natural daylight color balance. I like Fujichrome Provia 100.

Do you have any suggestions for the best settings on the specific camera that you are using?
Aperture priority is my favorite mode. When it comes to macro, don't latch onto maximum aperture for maximum depth of field. Experiment with shallower depth of field to throw your backround out of focus and place greater emphasis upon your subject.

Are you using special metering modes?
With standard film, I vary metering modes. Generally, I prefer matrix metering, sometimes spot metering, less frequently center-weighted metering.

Final comments...I have had wonderful success with film for years. Those of you who own standard SLR's need not wait to buy digital...use what you've got! Eventually I too will own a DSLR, likely in the near future, likely using each format as appropriate to circumstance.

Cheers,
Bob

[dknape]

I am using a SONY DSC P51. I would like to get suggestions on how to take good quality pictures with my existing camera.

I am wanting to take photos of my propagation tanks which require shots to be from the water surface down. The tanks are lit with 400-watt XM 20k Metal-Halide lamps.

I cannot seem to get my camera to accurately portray what I see. There is alot more blue in the photos and greens are horribly represented.

I have not "messed" with the settings much on the camera other than switching to the "SCN" mode and played with the three default selections affecting the flash.

Even after my editing, colors are not quite accurate. I do not have green on the coral or the rock around it. On other photos of Blue Zooanthids, they showed up as green. :(

Original Photo - Default Settings & No PS Editing (except cropping)
http://www.dustin-tansy.com/tank/pipeorgan_before_edit.jpg

Photo After Editing in PhotoShop - Ctrl+M, Auto
http://www.dustin-tansy.com/tank/pipeorgan_after_edit.jpg

Any help/suggestions are greatly appreciated.

[dknape]

I am using a SONY DSC P51. I would like to get suggestions on how to take good quality pictures with my existing camera.

I am wanting to take photos of my propagation tanks which require shots to be from the water surface down. The tanks are lit with 400-watt XM 20k Metal-Halide lamps.

I cannot seem to get my camera to accurately portray what I see. There is alot more blue in the photos and greens are horribly represented.

I have not "messed" with the settings much on the camera other than switching to the "SCN" mode and played with the three default selections affecting the flash.

Even after my editing, colors are not quite accurate. I do not have green on the coral or the rock around it. On other photos of Blue Zooanthids, they showed up as green. :(

Original Photo - Default Settings & No PS Editing (except cropping)
http://www.dustin-tansy.com/tank/pipeorgan_before_edit.jpg

Photo After Editing in PhotoShop - Ctrl+M, Auto
http://www.dustin-tansy.com/tank/pipeorgan_after_edit.jpg

Any help/suggestions are greatly appreciated.

[maroun.c]

The best thing you could do is to experiment all the features yuo have on your camera that could save you lots of disapointments when you find out that al of some events images are lost due to unappropriate WB setting or OEV.
I have a sony P7 which i belieev is similar in features to your camera so here's what i do:
first of all taking photos under 20k MH which i have over my tank is very difficult they just ruin your pics. try to supplement with some white from a fluorescent or if you have some fluorescents aboev the tank take some pics with MH off.
also try to avoid the blue curcle right under the bulb caused by the reflection of light on water surface by taking the picture at an angle (that is when taking pics from above the tank) also try to take some pics without flash wich i believe is best to avoid reflections and shifts in colours caused by the flash. Most important and i believe this would solve your problem is to manipulate the white balance setting (WB) on your camera. i don't know if you have the same ones as my P7.
the ones worth trying are the folowings:
the overcast one (the one with a cloud sign) that i believe is the one to use, u'll see the results straight on your LCD.
the other one that could work if you use a flash is the fluorescent one (fluorescent tube sign)
when you get the color balance correct yuo can experiment with EV to get the exposure you need.
As you are shooting dorals no need touse high ISO so 100 or 200 would be good if you can use a tripod or stabilize your hands on something if not go highr with ISO .
after that some minor things could always be fisxed on PS like croping, levels, colour balance, image size and sharpness.
HTH
how happy would i feel if your camera doesn't have WB or EV and i wrote all that before making sure

[dknape]

maroun.c

Thank you for your advice! The only difference between the P71 & the P51 is that yours can go higher in resolution and has the MACRO ability.

I will try your suggestions out tonight.

Thank you,
Dustin Knape

[maroun.c]

does your's have the video sound option. i tried it a bt and was fascinated with the quality of pic and voice. try to directly link the camera to your TV and watch them really amazing for such a little camera.
don't be discouraged if photos above the tank aren't that succesful it'e really tough especially with the 20k. can't you position the frags at an angle and just image them directly from the front glass? you'll eb getting a better idea abot their growth if you see them from the front rather from up. also turn off all water sirculation to avoid ripples and distortion if they appear on your images.
that's all i can thik of for now.
just make sure to show us some images when things work out.

[dknape]

Well, I have followed your suggestions and all photos can now be seen from www.BlueReefAquatics.com Not a plug, just showing you where the photos are at.

Please send me your suggestions.

Thanks,
Dustin Knape

[maroun.c]

can't see any pics there

[dknape]

The photos are of the actual items. Choose a category and then click on the thumb. I am very interested in what people think about the quality of the photos.

Does their obivous purpose acheive its goal? Here is one (http://www.bluereefaquatics.com/ePlazaShowProduct.asp?productID=39) specificaly.

Thanks,
Dustin Knape

[maroun.c]

well you're getting there but i believe a little more experimenting is still needed. Good quality corals need best quality images to truely show them off.
in one of the pics you can clearly see the flash reflection so try to angulate the camera a bit in different angles to find out at which angle you'll get rid of it.
on another shot taken with a flash you can see some of the polyps color however other ones a litlle bit at the back are still hidden from the flash and thus not getting fully lt up and they appear bluer and bluer as you go to the back. you coulod either use a slave flash however you'll have to experiment a lot with exposure if you use one for the camera isn't presdicting the additional light it will be getting form the slave. Also i belive that unless you believe a bouncing flash on a camera with a hotshoe you won't be getting decent results.
also the flash i believe is ruining some of the colours you just don't see the great colours you just end up with colours fading and some brownish spots. why don't you try some fluorescent lighting in addtion to your MH or alone just to take the pics. Also i believe some front shots could be worth trying.
lighting is the key and you just have the best lighting for growth and colouring of a coral yet the worst type of lighting for taking pics so either supplement it with some white lighting or use some white lighting alone.
also taking pics from the front with corals a bit closer to the glass means less distance to be traveled by light through bluish water.
try those and other things you might come up with and make sure to show us results.
All of the above is just my way of taking pics with a camera just like yours may be others might have some other suggestions to you however i'm pretty sure that if you try those you will have great pic quality. i'll try to find some pics that i took from a tank at the lfs lit by 3 20 k MH and post them i believe i got good results not as those taken with a bit of white supplementation however still acceptable ones.

[dknape]

Thanks maroun.c,

I am unable to take pictures through the sides of the tank as they are not see through. :(

What would you suggest for supplemental lighting? How much of what for good results?

The room has two small 100-watt bulbs as standard room lights. I do have an 80-watt (i think) standard flourescent light (such as used in garages) that I could move into their if you think that would make a difference.

But, is that enough to compensate for 2 XM 400w 20k lamps? The lamps are still in their burn in period, having only been running for about 60 some hours. I will be adding the second new 20k bulb tonight.

Did I understand one of your suggestions to be to turn off the camera's flash for taking photos?

Thanks for all of you help,
Dustin Knape

[maroun.c]

Did I understand one of your suggestions to be to turn off the camera's flash for taking photos?


With our modest camera with no hotshoe for a bouncing flash or a connector to a handheld flash we end up with reflections. and in order to avoid these reflections we have to angulate the camera which sometimes distortes the pics and we endup with suboptimal quality images. So for me yes sometimes and probably most of the times i get better quality images with the flash on however shooting mooving fish is another story in wich colour changes are more tolerated than motion and there flash use becomes a necessity.
i'll post a few pics that i took with no tripod at the lfs from the lfs owner tank which is lit by 3 20k MH
i tried to remember the way i took those images for the exif data doesn't appear on them anymore and also they are a bit of bad quality due to the compression to be posted here.
also tomorrow i'll take a set of pics from my tank which is lit by 20 k MH with suplemental 3 fluorescent marine ultra white tubes and one fluorescnet actinic. i'll try to take pics of the same item with the most combination of parameters changes and i'll restrict photoshop to resizing this way you'll be able to notice how lighting can affect your images. Unfortunately i won't be able to take photos from above my tank for the fixed part pf my canopy won't allow it
Just don't go buying any additional supplementation before you see hoe lighting can affect your images and before trying everything with your existing setup and then if you still believe you need better images you could start getting soome lighting till you endup getting a newer camera..
so here comes the first set of pics this one is of the whole lfs owner tank with overcast white balance

[maroun.c]

fluorescent white balance notice the bluish shade. yet in closeups a flash is supposed to give overcome those blue tints and give whiter images

[maroun.c]

ande the auto white balance wich i don't like because of the whitish tini it gives most of the times

[maroun.c]

one above tank views with WB on fluorescent with flash on. notice how the flash is able to wash out those blues to a certain extent beyhond which the blue is still back.
also the image looks a bit more crisp than without flash

[maroun.c]

wb on overcast

[maroun.c]

in the 3 following pics i used overcast with flash off which in my opinion gave the beest results after some of the blues are taken out by photoshop

[maroun.c]

in this one i couldn't remember if it's with flah or not however i think it is with overcast wb and some of the blues were taken out by photoshop

[maroun.c]

also one above tank with overcast and flash off

[maroun.c]

now a couple of fish photos which show that you can still capture some motion free shots of fish if you wait enough to have the fish still or mooving slowly. the problem with 20k MH is that the ligthing is a bit dimmer so 400 iso or more if available is a must and you have to take the oev a bit up ate least 1. also photoshop can help a bit in taking out some of the blue cast if present. also without flash the fish position with respect to the light can affect the overall exposure so you have to focus on one area and take a few test shots in order to decide about exposure compensation before wiating for the fish to go in the frame. the small light reflection you see on the upper part of the fish in this photo is from the MH not from a flash. this big is so big that the front part of it is in an area with a bit morelight than the tail for i clearly remember that this shot was with no flash

[maroun.c]

i know you are interested in coral phtography that doesn't include lots of motion but i believe you'll always have camera shake unless you can have an above tank stand to support the camera against. this photo shows how delicate working without flash can be as the tank seems to be freezed, the yellow tang is in mild motion and the angel is more in motion than the others so your success rate can be influenced by your camera shake

[maroun.c]

those images have been manipulatd in PS a bit and i might be wrong in some of the parameters so before you get any supplemental lighting just wait for me to take images in my tank under different tank cnoditions and with flash on and off with different white balancesand i'm sure that it will clear things up a bit.

[gregr]

great series of shots- thanks for all the work you put into that.
greg

[maroun.c]

The great series of shots is the one to come. i have ended taking the last of them. they are all of the same composition (except for a litlle bit of angulation when using flash) and i took pics with all lighting combinations and with different WB i only changed iso when lighting went too low or high and i wrote each pics info anyway they show up on exif data hope resizing them in PS won't ruin that. I'll resize them tomorrow ans post them as soon as i have the time two (it's around 25 pics) it will take some work however it'll be nice downloading them all and then watching them one after one to see the differences.

[gregr]

looking forward to it. have you tried the photoshop slideshow maker?
greg

[maroun.c]

not yet, but i will try it to view them with the parameters of each shot added to it. anyway to creat a slideshow and post it instead of adding all the pics one after the other?

[gregr]

yeah- that's what i try to do when i have a bunch of pictures to share. i have a slideshow program- photo elf that does a great job, but photoshop can generate a darn good slideshow and so can breezebrowser.
in ps go to file>>automate>>web gallery and play with the options. not sure if you can add captions or not.
greg

[dknape]

maroun.c, You are awesome! Thanks for all that help!

I will try using the overcast setting on my camera w/o the flash from above. What do you suggest having the ISO set at for coral shots from above? Also, what is the 'EV' setting and what should it be set at?

Thanks!

[maroun.c]

dknape from the set pf pics i have taken and from my experience with this camera ibelieve the best thing is the overcast WB with MH and white fluorescent lighting.
if you can support the camera well to avoid motion go with iso 200 and if you cannot try 400
OEV is a way of telling your camera if you want it to over or underexpose things at 0 the camera replicates what it sees andsometimes images appear good on the LCD however they are dark on your pc when in dark conditions go up with OEV the camera will either select awider apperture or a slower esposure allowing more light in the pic this way the image will no t be dark. and vice versa for verywell lit areas. if you use the flash especially on closeups and find that it burns the whole image go down with ISO and with OEV till you get the appropriate exposure.

Greg i managed to get the slide show however it is saving it as a webpage how am i supposed to post that on RC or appload it to a website? i don't need to add the captions in the program i could just resize teh images and then use the typing tool to write their parameters on them and then create the slideshow that i could either upload to a hosting website and then link to it on RC or just attach it as a normal photo on RC?is that correct or is there any easier way to do it?

[gregr]

the way i've been doing is to upload the folder that contains all the slideshow files to my server. if you don't have a website or webspace from your isp then i don't think you can do it. the slideshow will be an html page so it won't load as an image (like a jpeg). so once the folder with the images, pages and thumbnails is uploaded you would just post a link- like this:
http://www.gregrothschild.com/carlos11-03/carlos11-03.html

my website is gregrothschild.com and the folder that holds the slideshow is carlos11-03 and the first page of the slideshow is carlos11-03.html.
hope this helps,
greg

[maroun.c]

Hi, i tried to upload the slideshow to photo.net but it didn't work guess i need to own my own website.
so i'll just post the 22 pics here it's a shame that pic quality has detetriorated a bit due to compression however we can still see colour changes clearly. one way to see all the images is to download them all to a file on your pc and scroll through them this way you can compare images directly without waiting for each one to download or you could put 2 pics next to each other for direct comparison

[maroun.c]

pic 2

[maroun.c]

pic 3

[maroun.c]

pic 4

[maroun.c]

pic 5

[maroun.c]

pic 6

[maroun.c]

pic 7

[maroun.c]

pic 8

[maroun.c]

pic 9

[gregr]

if you want, when you get them all posted i'lll gather the pictures up and make a slideshow and post them on my server.
and did i thank you for all the work you're putting into this? :D
greg

[maroun.c]

That would be great Greg.
it's a project i always wanted to do just to be able to physically see the differences made by the lighting.
I am sure that with image editting some of the shots that are a total waste here would be turned into good images however i always believe that i should start with a realatively good image so that image editing can be kept to a minimum and IME any image that needs too much editing can be turned into something good however it wouldn't really replicate what we photograph.
i'll continue to post the images there are 22 images. however my internet connectin is a bit slow today so i guess they'll take a bit of time.
Also i would appreciate if you could check them out so that i can take any missing pics if you find out any combination is missing.

[gregr]

will do.
i'm gonna have to leave the house for a couple hours but i'll have some time later this afternoon.
greg

[maroun.c]

Those last 3 pics posted incompletely due to the bad internet connection. i'll jus trepeat them later when it get s a bit faster here.

[maroun.c]

pic 8

[maroun.c]

pic 9

[maroun.c]

pic 10

[maroun.c]

pic 10

[maroun.c]

pic 11

[maroun.c]

pic 12

[maroun.c]

pic 13

[maroun.c]

pic 14

[maroun.c]

pic 15

[maroun.c]

pic 16

[maroun.c]

pic 17

[maroun.c]

pic 18

[maroun.c]

pic 19

[maroun.c]

pic 20

[maroun.c]

pic 21

[maroun.c]

and finally pic 22

[gregr]

i was going to add the url for the slideshow here but it occurred to me that this deserves it's own thread so it will be easier for people to find- look for "White Balance Slideshow".
here's the links to the slideshows anyways though:
http://www.gregrothschild.com\marounc\HTML\index.htm
or if you prefer this layout:
http://www.gregrothschild.com/maroun/maroun.html