Got my digital camera! Here's a teaser. . .

[flamehawkfish]

I want to post some of my pics, but it's kinda' late and I don't want my post to get buried in this message board by morning. Nevertheless, I'll be on-line for a bit, so if you want to see more pics, let me know.

http://www.digitalpose.com/mbr/1/21129/p/342942_1558196208154922299_vl.jpg
Close-up shot of zoos; finally a photo depicting these guys the way I see them! My 20 gallon reef is centered around zoos.



http://www.digitalpose.com/mbr/1/21129/p/342945_2876501656986943925_vl.jpg
This is a pearl coral; sometimes is plays chemical warfare with the zoos, but they tolerate each other. My pair of gold-barred maroon clown love this coral as their host.

If you want more, I'll send more!

[Python73]

No, we don't want to see anymore sweet pictures. So knock it off. :rolleyes:

S !

ps - oh, I forgot... :)

[arcab4]

nice! what color is that pearl bubble normally?

[flamehawkfish]

The pearl bubble is usually white or slightly blue (probably b/c of the lighting); I actually have a few of those in my tank. . .

Oh. . alright; here's a few more. This camera (a Nikon 775 Coolpix- recommended by a Reefcentral member) is awesome!

http://www.digitalpose.com/mbr/1/21129/p/342968_2999548440253357880_vl.jpg
This is a picture of a somewhat unusual blue hermit crawling on my zoos.

http://www.digitalpose.com/mbr/1/21129/p/342967_5011329056251895688_vl.jpg
Here are some other zoos; on this piece, there are 3-4 varieties mixed together

http://www.digitalpose.com/mbr/1/21129/p/342970_8691516650119043371_vl.jpg
Here's a mix of red/orange and green zoos. The green ones have really expanded recently.

http://www.digitalpose.com/mbr/1/21129/p/342944_7621591503236995017_vl.jpg
This is a decent shot of the whole tank.

[stonreef]

flamehawkfish,

great pics. i have the coolpix 775 camera and haven't pictures that good yet. what settings are you using? was the tank light on? was the room light on? did you use one of the macro setting on the camera?
thanks for the help.
chris

[flamehawkfish]

Stonreef,

I just set the Coolpix 775 to the little flower icon setting. At that point, just aim the photo, steady the camera, zoom, wait for it to focus, and take a shot. I had more success almost leaning the camera up against the tank glass to prevent it from moving. Taking pics of fish seems more difficult. Here's some for for ya'!

If you want more, I'll post more!
http://www.digitalpose.com/mbr/1/21129/p/343126_5492101585752939274_vl.jpg
Here's another shot of the whole tank; I'm still having trouble getting this shot into focus.

http://www.digitalpose.com/mbr/1/21129/p/342941_4682289308050691032_vl.jpg
This is my cerianthus, tube anemone. It's bright pink/orange with an electric green center


This is the first camera that attempted to capture these zoos' color; it most cases, these zoos are too bright for be photographed.http://www.digitalpose.com/mbr/1/21129/p/342943_162412337774853306_vl.jpg

[flamehawkfish]

bump!

[flamehawkfish]

Here are a couple more:

http://www.digitalpose.com/mbr/1/21129/p/342971_6640945618050735502_vl.jpg

http://www.digitalpose.com/mbr/1/21129/p/342971_6640945618050735502_vl.jpg

[flamehawkfish]

Sorry; I got trigger happy and doubleposted 1 photo; I meant to put on this one:

http://www.digitalpose.com/mbr/1/21129/p/343125_8463907896333682361_vl.jpg

[somethingfishy]

That is what I am working for. That tank is a beauty.Can you tell me what you paid for your camera please?
I have the Sony Mavica but it doesnt take true color pics as yours does close up.
Awsome tank.
You can never post to many pics of it. More more more lol

[john76]

Sweet tank. How long has it been setup?

[flamehawkfish]

Somethingfishy,

I bought that digital camera for $180 (product & shipping) from eBay; I HIGHLY recommend it; those were my very first photos! Here are the specs on the tank:

20 gallon all-glass tank equipped with:
- 2 protein skimmers (they're not skimming much these days, but they give good aeration & circulation); one Cyclone and another Red Sea Prizm- both hang-on-the-backs.
- 55W 1/2 & 1/2 PC and 36W Actinic blue PC.
- 3 small Aquaclear powerheads; the circulation is inconsistent- which is what I like.
- 79-80 degrees, salinity: 1.024, pH: 8.1-8.2
- 4" Live sand and various live rock
- Supplements: Bi-ionic (5 ml from two bottles) everyday, 5 ml Iodine every week. Flakes for fish
- Water changes: 2 gallons every week, top off with Safeway deionized water.
- The tank has been set up for over 2 years, but most of this growth occurred in the last 6 months.
- Inhabitants: 1 yellow-tailed blue damsel, 1 banana wrasse, 1 six-lined wrasse, 1 purple Red Sea pseudochromis, a pair of gold-rimmed maroons, 3 peppermint shrimp, cerianthus anemone, several small blue-legged hermits, a bunch of snails, 4 pearl/bubble corals, some green shrooms and green stars, and TONS and TONS of zoos!

Here's another good shot of a huge rock of red/orange zoos; they all compete for light, so they stretch out like a goniapora:

http://www.digitalpose.com/mbr/1/21129/p/342969_481330907518511278_vl.jpg

[flamehawkfish]

Bump! (I know; I'm greedy and glutonous for feedback!)

[Xtrakritical]

Nice pics Great tank!:thumbsup:

[Gusto]

I must be going blind, I dont see any pics... :-(

[electric130]

very nice. :rollface:

[Lunchbucket]

very nice. i need to mess w/ my new nikon 3100 and get some good pics too :D

Lunchbucket

[Pepito]

AWESOME!!

[Gusto]

okay this is driving me nuts. Were is everyone seeing these pics..
I don't see any attachments or weblinks??

[flamehawkfish]

I posted the pics on via Digitalpose.com. I'm not sure why you're unable to see the photos, but here's a hyperlink to see one of the pics:

http://www.digitalpose.com/mbr/1/21129/p/342942_1558196208154922299_vl.jpg

[RockyHeap]

Nikon 775 was "recommended by a reef club member"?????? WHAT??? <grins> so thats the thanks I get.....sniff sniff sob sob.

and who "also" showed and told you about the nice free website posting and HTML method to get your pics posted?

rockyheap rockyheap rockyheap.......

Geee, thanks flamehawk, or should that be flickerchicken? <grins> Send me 3 frags and you shall be forgiven.....

yes I'm being sarcastic here...glad you're enjoying the CHEAP and GREAT digital camera that "someone" recommended to you......

[flamehawkfish]

Rockyheap!

I'm happy that you found my posting. I got caught in such a fever to post these photos, that I forgot to give due-credit! Your recommendation to go with the 775 was HUGE! I'm so happy that I didn't pay too much, but also didn't compomise the quality of the digital photos.

As for frags, I'll keep you in mind, but I haven't really been fragging my zoos much- although I should; they're literally growing on top of each other.

When do we get to see more pics from your tank!?

[Mmaggicc2]

Congratulations on the new camera !
Beautiful pics !!! Beautiful tank !!
Thanks for sharing.

[Lunchbucket]

so how cheap is cheap??

Lunchbucket

[flamehawkfish]

It was a Nikon 775 Coolpix, bought from eBay. It was in its original packaging. In fact, it had an old price tag from Staples (dated 11/02 for $670). I bought mine for $180 (product & shipping). I guess digital cameras are advancing so quickly, you can find good deals on quality cameras that are slightly outdated.

Here's one last pic; I'll have to take more when I'm finally done with work today:

http://www.digitalpose.com/mbr/1/21129/p/343127_6652931719636170344_vl.jpg

[flamehawkfish]

Alright. . . I accept that my 15 minutes of fame are almost up. I'll repost with new pictures later. . . here's my last bump on this posting.

[Newreeflady]

How about non-tank pix... have you taken any of your family n stuff. I'm about do go purchase one after seeing your thread:p Just wondering how true the color is out of the tank, and how clear pix come out from distance, etc... you said you're having a hard time keeping it straight to get a shot? Is that correct? hmm If you have any pix of flowers, people, water, etc, pls e-mail them to me or post or something. that would be great!


Great pix, awesome coral!
angela.

[kozmo02]

great pics you have some awesome zoos!!!

:thumbsup:

[Rob Schwartz]

Flame, are you using a tripod?

My pics never come even close to that level of quality!

Nice job,

Rob

[Schism]

Most people that use a decent digital camera can get good tank shots from it. Most of the time you just need to understand the cameras capabilities, and settings.
As a general rule if you want good pictures, closeups like most of flames set your camera to the macro mode, normally a little flower. Then put the camera to the glass, you don't want to have the focus, focus on the glass, then aim, autofocus and shot. Most people will just want the auto settings all normal, standard EV, auto ISO, and auto white balance. Messing with these settings may produce better shots depending on settings of the camera and the subject of the photo. I had an even cheaper camera that the coolpix 775 and still got some great shots. Tripods also were asked about. They can be VERY valuable, but at the same time when taking closeups with an auto focus can be tough. You need to get the camera very close the the glass, which sometimes requires some trickery with a tripod, but if you get it right the best shots you will see will be with a tripod.
I had a sony dsc p50, you can get em very cheap now....
http://dana.ucc.nau.edu/~njc2/DSC00914.JPG
Now I'm just waiting on Sonys top of the line f717, can't wait to see what I can get with it!

[Rob Schwartz]

That's some great info, thanks!

Rob

[Schism]

Not a problem. Probably the best advice you can get is to get a camera with good battery life, a short macro range, large pixel size, and shoot a TON of pix! The more shots you take the more you'll learn and the more good shots you will end up with. One more thing, put your battery charger plugged in within 5 feet of the tank. This way you will have the camera available whenever you need it!

[flamehawkfish]

Oh, nuts! I cleared room on my free Digitalpose site, and I thoughtlessly deleted the same photos I posted for you to see; as a result, you probably can't see any of my photos on this board! Nevertheless, I've got a stockpile of nice digital photos and will repost soon.

To answer everybody's question, I think that resetting the camera to the flower icon and gently leaning the camera against the glass while taking close-ups works well. Who am I to say though? I've owned this camera for less than a day!

To make up for the deleted photos, here are a few more:

http://www.digitalpose.com/mbr/1/21129/p/343823_1145939131615828560_vl.jpg
That same mischievous blue hermit at work again.

http://www.digitalpose.com/mbr/1/21129/p/343825_7227277350829003364_vl.jpg
Here is the mouth of my cerianthus. All the fish and most of the coral learned to stay safely away from this tube anemone.

http://www.digitalpose.com/mbr/1/21129/p/343824_2413624479401322484_vl.jpg
This is a bit more focused shot of my full tank. Notice the purple Red Sea pseudochromis; (s)he's settled in nicely. Not all my zoos are fully extended; some are fragged, withdrawn, or waiting to blossom.


http://www.digitalpose.com/mbr/1/21129/p/343821_6263894628972790092_vl.jpg
Somebody asked that I send a non-reef related photo to show the flexibility of this Nikon 775, so here you go.

[saltyseaman]

Is it just me or do those flowers look like they have tongues and mouths????:)

[Al G Blenny]

I only see dead links also.

[Al G Blenny]

For some reason, after I submitted that last post all the pics showed up.

[Al G Blenny]

great pics.

[Newreeflady]

Thanks for posting, and the flowers came out great, too!!

Saweeet! Gots to get me one of dos der nikons! ;) :p

Angela.

[Micky]

sweet....:eek1: