Chalice/Zoa/Favia madness

[dshnarw]

with the break from taking photos of other tanks, thought i'd do a few from amber/my tropical tanks

 

think i'll name this one "mardi gras people eaters" for the heck of it:

 

hot lava:

 

dragon's breath:

 

rainbow sherbet:

 

no name (morning phase):

 

same as above (night phase):

 

closer view of the paly:

 

 

 

also, tried my hand at micropanoramas on one of the chalices as a test for trying it out on other subjects. kicks and giggles practice mostly (what do YOU do when you're bored?) 25 images stitched together:

 

that version doesn't give any idea as to the ridiculous nature of the photo, so a link to the 1/5 full size image (this file is HUGE, long loading times):

 

http://www.danielhawkins.com/Other/chalice_pano.jpg

[Supreme Reefs]

Wow incredible pics Daniel!

[El Camaron]

DUDE....DUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUDE...INSANE.

 

quick question, what settings would you use to shoot a LED tank?

[dshnarw]

thanks guys

 

quick question, what settings would you use to shoot a LED tank?

 

quick question without a quick answer, unfortunately.

 

i've only shot one LED tank so far, but my initial impressions are:

 

custom white balance (usually, i just use auto and adjust later, but the blue in LEDs seems to overwhelm the camera sensor)

 

exposure value (EV) seems best at 0 (usually, i set it at -1/2 to keep highlights from being blown, but in this case you need the extra bit of light in the harsh shadows that LEDs create)

 

other than that, the usual advice applies - lower the ISO as much as you can afford to, stick to shutter speeds fast enough to hand hold (or, better yet, use a tripod), aperture should be f/8 or higher to get decent depth of field.

 

expect that you'll need some post processing, especially if the tank has a bit of spotlighting effect. highlights/shadows work in photoshop or gimp, or recovery/fill light work in lightroom will help to reduce the harsh shadows that come with LEDs.

 

like i said though, only shot one LED tank so far. you may find that what I did for that tank won't work on others, so play around with it

[El Camaron]

thanks Daniel, i will keep hoe in mynd and play around with the settings some more. its definitely a lot harder than MH or T5 lighting.

[Chad]

Those pictures are awesome!!

 

I am always envious of those with skills behind the lens!! as I am not one of them...

[jonyon2002]

Ur pics look out of this would