Reef Photography Workshop

[Beckmola24]

Under each picture you have labeled the settings you used. IE: 1/250s, F4.5, ISO1600... I'm sure there's a balance here that is just part of knowing photography, but is there a rule of thumb that can be followed?? How do I know when to change those settings and under what circumstances??

 

[Llarian]

I usually just set my white balance to my sand bend, maybe I should use something whiter like a piece of PVC.

Yep, if you have a camera that lets you set white balance based on a white subject, that's the way to do it. If you don't have a good white sandbed or non-corraline encrusted PVC, you can use a small piece of PVC pipe or white plastic in the tank just to set the camera WB.

-Dylan

 

[Llarian]

In the picture above when I look at my tank the stag horn in the back is a dark blue color, seems to be one of the harder colors for me to get, and not the almost green color it looks in the photo. The coral just in front of it is a light sky blue color, not the purplish tint it has here. And the purple one in the front is about the same color that it looks to my eyes, only in person it has a little more of that actintic glow.

Ok, let me see if I can specifically address how to handle this in the WB part of the workshop. I think we can find a way to work around this. I'll be specifically using 10k + Actinic on my tank, and some SPS pictures from Mike's that I have lying around as examples.

-Dylan

 

[Llarian]

Under each picture you have labeled the settings you used. IE: 1/250s, F4.5, ISO1600... I'm sure there's a balance here that is just part of knowing photography, but is there a rule of thumb that can be followed?? How do I know when to change those settings and under what circumstances??

For the most part, your camera will pick out these settings. Typically, I'll shoot in aperture priority mode, so I'll set the F-stop based on how deep I want the field to be and let the camera choose the shutter speed. If its too slow, I'll then increase the ISO from there.

This assumes your camera is capable of doing all that. It should at least allow you to set the F-stop, so my best advice is to pay attention to what settings it decides to use for shutter and try to work with it. If its digital, then you can take as many practice shots as you want to try to get a feel for what the different settings do.

-Dylan

 

[Elmo18]

I have a silly question.....there is an option on my 3 MP cam called "Exp", which I'm going to assume is Exposure. It goes from a range of -2....to 0 ... to 2. Is this the same as F stop, shutter speed.

I can set the white balance, and the film speed (ISO).

Thanks,
Ilham

 

[Llarian]

Exp is exposure compensation. It tells the camera to under or overexpose from what it thinks it should use. I mentioned that briefly in my response to Jeff about overexposure. For example, if you wanted to allow in half as much light, you'd set the Exp value to -1Ev.

Now, there's a caveat there. You're telling the camera to change the exposure, but it gets to decide how it does it. In aperture priority mode, this usually means the shutter will change. So, if your camera is metering darker than you want and you set for, say, F/4.0 and 1/125th of a second at -1Ev, it will probably give you F/4.0 and 1/60th of a second. BIG difference in how the photo will turn out. Especially for smaller cameras though, play around with underexposing a little. I used to always leave my little 2MP Sony on -1/3Ev because it seemed to overexpose everything just a little bit.

-Dylan

 

[Llarian]

Hey all. Just wanted to say that I'm still alive and still intend to do the White Balance part of this as soon as I can. My main workstation is having HD problems, which of course is where I do all my camera work. I'll get this posted as soon as I can.

-D

 

[Sherman]

A while back, I was playing with my flash (Canon 420EX) in the reef situation. Basically, I'm not really a big fan of it, but it has its place, I'm sure. I was using it to fill in the unlit areas of this Montipora Digitata. Unfortunately, all this does is bring out the non-colored-up areas.

The tank lighting was a 240g with 5x250w 14K Hamiltons and 8x110w VHO Super Actinics.


Here's the exact same shot, three times. One without flash, one with full flash, and one with a small fill flash only.

All pics were taken with a Canon 20D and 100mm macro lens. f/11 @ 1/3", +0EV

Regular

Full Flash

Fill Flash

 

[Llarian]

You might consider getting a PC cord (if your camera has a PC sync terminal), or a Hot Shoe->PC converter and moving the flash up so it strikes the coral at an angle to the lens. Particularly with the fill, the light level is good, but would probably achieve the look you want with the same flash power coming from the top right of the frame.

Typically, straigh-on flash doesn't look particularly good although it can help if you just can't get enough light. It really shines (no pun intended) when it can be moved away from the lens to simulate sunlight angles, similar to portrait studio lighting. (And really, we're just doing portrait shots of our kids, right? )

HTH,
-Dylan

 

[Sherman]

Actually, the flash was hand held in this shot. Low and right. I was specifically trying to fill in the dark areas. My conclusion was that the lighting here was a mix of 14k and VHO Super Actinic, while my flash is ... 6700 K maybe? Less than 10k for sure. The colors don't mix so well. Additionally, it also only helps highlight the least colorful area of the coral.

 

[salty fish]

Great post. Any update?

 

[Llarian]

Actually, the flash was hand held in this shot. Low and right. I was specifically trying to fill in the dark areas. My conclusion was that the lighting here was a mix of 14k and VHO Super Actinic, while my flash is ... 6700 K maybe? Less than 10k for sure. The colors don't mix so well. Additionally, it also only helps highlight the least colorful area of the coral.

I've been away for a while, I apologize. I don't have an off-shoe cord right now I don't believe, but if I can find one I'll see if I can duplicate what you're talking about. It sounds like you're approaching it correctly.

-Dylan

 

[Llarian]

Great post. Any update?

Not yet. My photo editing workstation blew up spectacularly and the parts to fix it are arriving sometime next week. I'll try to get the promised white balance post done as soon as I get a little caught up with things.

-Dylan