image posting, technique, shopping, wb tips etc.

[gregr]

This is the place to look for info on image posting, camera shopping, white balance and basic photography techniques.

Quick tips on posting images in this forum:
Reefkeeping Magazine article with image posting (and editing!) tutorials:
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-03/gr/index.php
More tips for image posting:
http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...threadid=59236
Tutorial for posting images with Photobucket as your host:
Photobucket tutorial
Another tutorial on posting images:
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=4922665#post4922665
Image hosting website suggestions

To resize a picture to use as an avatar you need to do two things-- change the dimensions and compress the image file. This Reefkeeping Magazine article teaches you how to do both things with Photoshop or the free program Irfanview. The problem that most people run into is the compression part because of the file size limitation; you need to get that file size down to no bigger than 8.192k. As far as dimensions go- the longest side can be 150 pixels maximum.


How to buy a good Digital Camera:
http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...hreadid=323345
Camera shoppers read this:
http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...hreadid=123426
Reefkeeping Magazine article for camera shoppers!


How to take better pictures:
Reefkeeping Magazine article about how your camera works... step one!
Understanding depth of field
Exposure, compensation and the histogram
Reefkeeping Magazine article about white balance.
Must-reads about white balance!
Photoshop tutorials

[gregr]

this a short article covering basic camera settings for aquarium photography.
if you have anything to add please do!
------------------------------

Full Tank Photos:

Full tank shots are best done from a tripod. Not only will the images be sharper, but it will also be much easier to frame a shot that is straight and level.
Aperture priority is good for this type of shot, and an aperture of f4-f5.6 is a good starting point. Keep an eye on the camera's shutter speed - if it goes below 1/30 or so, a bigger aperture (smaller f-stop number) may be necessary, or the ISO may need to be raised. Ideally, the shutter speed will be 1/60 or higher in order to keep moving fish or swaying corals in sharp focus.

Aquarium lighting is rarely soft and even. It can be very difficult to achieve an even exposure throughout the tank, so exposure compensation is often necessary to prevent overexposure at the top of the tank where the lighting is brightest. If the images are too bright, then set negative exposure compensation - start with the smallest increment (usually 1/3 stop) and keep experimenting until the exposure is right. Try different apertures as well as compensation.

Fish Photography:

Fish photos require a different technique. Since the subjects are moving, a reasonably fast shutter speed should be used. A shutter speed of 1/90 may work, but even faster is better. I typically use aperture priority for any photography that does not use a flash. As a starting point, use the biggest aperture (usually around f2.8) that the camera allows to ensure the fastest possible shutter speed.
I like to use a flash for photographing fishes. When using a flash, be sure to keep the camera aimed slightly downward to keep the flash from bouncing off the front of the aquarium and sending it back into the lens. For flash photography I recommend using a manual exposure mode. Try experimenting with different settings, but a good starting point is f4 and 1/60. Flash exposure compensation may sometimes be necessary. Take a test picture and determine if it's too bright or too dark. If it's too bright, then set negative flash exposure compensation (reduce the flash output); if it's too dark, positive compensation may need to be applied. Again, start with the minimum increment and go from there. Adjusting the ISO may help, but remember that the higher the ISO, the grainier the picture will be.

Close-ups:

Close-up shots are usually the ultimate goal of the aquarium photographer. When shooting close-ups, keep in mind that as the camera is moved closer to the subject, the depth of field decreases. Depth of field can be described as the area of the image that appears in focus. To achieve good depth of field on close-ups, use a small aperture, but remember to double the shutter speed each time the aperture is cut in half. For example, if an accurate exposure is f4 at 1/60, to get more depth of field would require f5.6 (one stop difference) and a shutter speed of 1/30. This keeps a consistent amount of light hitting the sensor/film. To add even more depth of field a setting of f8 could be used, but the shutter speed will then be reduced to 1/15. It's easy to see the compromise here - if anything is moving (polyps swaying in the current, for instance), it will be blurry at slower shutter speeds because any moving object will change position while the shutter is open. A tripod is extremely helpful for this kind of photography because of the slow shutter speeds involved and the likelihood that the camera may move, causing a reduction in image sharpness.
Flash can also be effectively used for close-ups. The added light will help to achieve greater depth of field and to freeze any movement. The same techniques applied to fish photography (with a flash) also apply to close-ups, except the emphasis for close-up shots is on depth of field as opposed to fast shutter speeds.

Technique is everything when it comes to macrophotography. Small apertures are ideal for close-ups, but finding the best compromise in terms of depth of field and shutter speed is a matter of judgment borne of experience.

White Balance:

Accurately reproducing colors with a photograph can be a challenge, especially when the aquarium is equipped with 20K Kelvin bulbs. As camera technology improves, color accuracy from automatic white balance settings are improving, but it may still be necessary to set the white balance manually. Consult the camera's manual on this process if your camera has this option.

Manual white balance adjustment involves placing something white under the aquarium lighting and pointing the camera at the white area while pressing a button or sequence of buttons on the camera. Once the camera sees what the tank lighting looks like on the white surface, it can adjust itself so that all colors are reproduced accurately. Even with a manually set white balance, however, it may still be necessary to adjust some settings in an image editing program to achieve adequate accuracy. When using a flash, auto white balance is usually very accurate. White balancing is another area where experimenting with different settings may be required to achieve the best results.

[Skipper]

A complete list of Greg's articles in Reefkeeping Magazine can be found here:

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/author/gr.php

Page to be updated shortly....

[Skipper]

Here's one to add to the list:
TUTORIAL ON AQUARIUM PHOTOGRAPHY by Tom Sandercock

[wav3form]

Here's a good article on post production from cichlid-forum.com

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/article...photo_post.php

[NanoCube-boy]

I'm sorry, i'm having a hard time understanding the Fs and 1/25 or 1/30 such as f2.5, f6, or 1/... 1... My camera id digital and it's different. I can adjust the ISO in 400, 200, 100 and Focus in AF, Multi AF, 0.5m, 1.0m, 3.0m and 7.0m.

[gregr]

Give this Reefkeeping Magazine article a read-- it explains what all those different settings are and how they work together.
Holler if you need clarification

[jnarowe]

gregr: Wow! I had never seen your web site before. Your marine pics are freakin' amazing!!! You have some fantastic specimens to say the least. You seem to have a fairly high bio-load for all the beautiful corals in that system. Do you have a link to your equipment and husbandry practices? Maybe a TOTM thread??

So the CBB is in the same tank as the feather duster? I have been considering getting a CBB but am afraid of some of the stories I am reading.

[gregr]

Thanks
I do have a fairly heavy bio-load but most of the pictures are from other people's tanks- my tank is not that crazy And yeah, eventually two feather dusters disappeared although the Coco Worm is fine. Re. husbandry stuff- I try to keep up with 20% water changes twice a month and I feed the fish once a day. Below the 100g tank is a 20g refugium and 20g sump- in the sump is a very good skimmer. I recently added a phosphate reactor too. Plus there's a calcium reactor... plus an auto top-off... plus plus plus! There's always more

[jnarowe]

Thanks for the info. I have a large number of tube worms in my system and I think they provide some water polishing so I am concerned about killing them all off with a CBB. Your tank IS that crazy. You have multiple hard-to-keep and non-reef safe specimens in a gorgeous reef tank.

40%/month is fairly aggressive and must be a major contributing factor to the cleanliness of your system. For me that would be tough at 480g but I might step it up from 20% as the reef and animals mature.

[NanoCube-boy]

alright, i give it a read.

[Sea-nut]

[IMG]C:\Documents and Settings\Owner\My Documents\My Pictures\Kodak Pictures\2006-04-22\[/IMG]

[Skipper]

Hey Sea-nut. The picture you are trying to show has to be on the internet somewhere. Your link above is to your own hard drive of which we don't have access.

[Sea-nut]

Sorry

[Skipper]

Not a problem.

[Sea-nut]

C:\Documents and Settings\Owner\My Documents\My Pictures\Kodak Pictures\2006-04-22\

[jnarowe]

hey Sea-nut, in the first post of this thread, you can see links to explain how to post pics. It is a PITA to learn and do, but you'll get the hang of it!

[Sea-nut]

I hope it works this time.

[Sea-nut]

Thanks Skipper and Jnarowe.

[jnarowe]

And you made it a really nice one! Good job!

[Skipper]

Sweet picture. It was worth the effort.

[NanoCube-boy]

Sea nut, that is a sweet picture. What was you camera setting on that? What kind of camera?

[gregr]

Sweet! You should enter that in the Photo Contest

[Sea-nut]

Thanks everyone for the kind words.
Camera is Konica Minolta DiMAGE X1
ISO Speed 100
Shutter 1/25
Aperture 13.5
Focal lenght 60.00 mm
I hope this helps, I just copied that from my computer .
Thanks again

[Pistonkev]

Sorry just a test