Shooting good actinic photos?

[jezzeaepi]

Hello all,

I am tying to shoot some true to life looking actinic lit photos of my tank and am having a real hard time getting anything that isnt over exposed, ultra blue and blurry as hell. I have a Nikon d50 with a 60mm macro but Im a noob with it... Ive spent way more time figuring out my tank then figuring out this camera =P... So I have come here seeking the advice of the Camera experts! Trying to finally get a picture thread going of my tank.
Sooo, does anyone have any specific settings or specific methods they use for getting color popping actinic shots that would work with my camera? The regular day light photos turn out just fine, its just the blue light specifically that I have trouble with.

Peace,
Jesse

 

[returnofsid]

Have you tried setting a custom white balance? That'll probably go a long way towards getting the look you're looking for. DSLRs are a bit complicated and do have quite a learning curve, but you'll get it.

A tripod will help with the blurriness. Manual exposure will help you control the amount of light, which will help with the washed out look. I'd even experiment with under exposing some.

 

[krisfal]

A red filter can do a lot to reduce the blue. And like Sid stated, use a tri-pod especially when trying to get good macro shots.

 

[barrierreefcf]

Maybe common knowledge but I learned this weekend to shut off all water flow, use a tripod, lense parallel to the glass, and even a remote shutter release helps reduce jiggling the camera. Not all pertinent to your actinic question but all helpfull in general.

 

[MarineTeng]

i think you meant lens perpendicular to the glass,
as for colors try using custom white balance.
to use this
set it to PRE, then push the button on the back that says wb till the top screen flashes PRE
then find a white spot in the tank and take a picture of it, do this till it flashes Good.
This will make the blue not overtake the entire picture

 

[Scooterman]

My version LOL

Tripod, set to manual, adjust aperature & shutter speed until you find the sweet spot, you could do like f8 @ 160 & go up & down on you spped until you get what your looking for. Set the ISO down to 200. W/B auto.

You could play around W/B but you still will need to fine the sweet spot on aparature & speed.
2cents worth
You

 

[barrierreefcf]

i think you meant lens perpendicular to the glass,
as for colors try using custom white balance.
to use this
set it to PRE, then push the button on the back that says wb till the top screen flashes PRE
then find a white spot in the tank and take a picture of it, do this till it flashes Good.
This will make the blue not overtake the entire picture

Yes the barrell of the lens perp. to the tanks glass....or the glass of the lens parallel

 

[Blazer88]

Hello all,

I am tying to shoot some true to life looking actinic lit photos of my tank and am having a real hard time getting anything that isnt over exposed, ultra blue and blurry as hell. I have a Nikon d50 with a 60mm macro but Im a noob with it... Ive spent way more time figuring out my tank then figuring out this camera =P... So I have come here seeking the advice of the Camera experts! Trying to finally get a picture thread going of my tank.
Sooo, does anyone have any specific settings or specific methods they use for getting color popping actinic shots that would work with my camera? The regular day light photos turn out just fine, its just the blue light specifically that I have trouble with.

Peace,
Jesse

Getting a good actinic photo starts with getting a nice and crisp shot, first and foremost. Turn off the pumps, use a good tripod, use a shutter release w/mirror lockup, lens perpendicular with the glass, and a proper shutter speed / aperture to match your subject. That will help with your blurry problem. Overexposing is simple to fix, just check the histogram after the shot and adjust exposure compensation so you aren't clipping the highlights or the blue channel. Getting the "actinic" part of the photo is nothing more than post processing.

 

[jezzeaepi]

Thank you all for the pointers! Time for me to get to work it looks like =)