pizzaguy January 25, 2013 Share January 25, 2013 I know absolutely nothing about photography. I set it to auto and take picks that's it. Obviousely that simply will not work for taking pics of coral and fish. So I'm looking for some help with the settings on this camera to get good pics of livestock. I looked online and followed a couple tutorials with no luck. It either looks like 5k bulbs with no color or everything in the tank is solid blue with no flash. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimlin January 25, 2013 Share January 25, 2013 my 3100 allows me to play around with the colors of the picture after the picutre is taken. if it is just the colors you are not happy with, perhaps you can look into this as a option. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prunfarm January 25, 2013 Share January 25, 2013 There should be a setting under white balance w/in the menu screen where you can adjust the Kelvin that you are photographing. I would play around with that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ErikS January 25, 2013 Share January 25, 2013 You have a some options. I'm guessing that you shoot jpegs given the "auto" setting? This applies the camera setting when the shot is taken = not as much correction is possible. A) Shoot RAW - this will allow you to modify the white balance with software, you have the freedom to change it to match the look you're after (requires software such as photoshop elements, lightroom, Capture NX2........) B) Try all the white balance settings, see which one comes the closest. Given the over abundance of blue in most aquarium lighting you can start with "cloudy" - that's pretty warm. C) Create a custom white balance, guidelines in the link below. http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20081227133350AA72vgq Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn January 25, 2013 Share January 25, 2013 You don't mention the lenses that you're using but I would suggest getting a macro lens and a tripod for the coral pictures. I bought a Sigma 105mm 1:2.8 from a guy at work for my D40X and have been happy with it. As for my pictures, I've been doing like you - setting it on Auto and snapping the pics ... it works for me but I am neither a photographer nor an artist .. I have no talent for that :-( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prunfarm January 25, 2013 Share January 25, 2013 RAW=NEF on Nikons, FYI. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pizzaguy January 25, 2013 Author Share January 25, 2013 RAW=NEF on Nikons, FYI. English please. I know nothing about cameras. I'm gonna mess with it more this weekend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prunfarm January 25, 2013 Share January 25, 2013 Just try playing w/ the white balance first. If you don't have the software to modify images, NEF/RAW won't help you right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smorf January 25, 2013 Share January 25, 2013 (edited) You don't need expensive software. Shoot in RAW format and use Gimp (free editing software) to edit the white balance. http://graphicssoft....ite-Balance.htm Webpage for Gimp http://www.gimp.org/ Edited January 25, 2013 by Smorf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pizzaguy January 25, 2013 Author Share January 25, 2013 Awesome. Thanks for the advice. Gonna mess with it over the weekend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tpallas January 25, 2013 Share January 25, 2013 I have a D40. An entry grade SLR. If you can afford better, go for it, but it's not a bad camera. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pizzaguy January 25, 2013 Author Share January 25, 2013 I have a D40. An entry grade SLR. If you can afford better, go for it, but it's not a bad camera. Any suggestions on settings if you have one? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ErikS January 25, 2013 Share January 25, 2013 (edited) Any suggestions on settings if you have one? I agree with both comments - but really learn the D40 first. It's very good & can do anything up to some really advanced stuff. Sorry about the RAW term. Raw is basically the data as it comes from the camera, In Nikon's case they are called .nef files. Jpeg images are processed by the camera using the settings you've given it (i.e. white balance). The raw data allows more manipulation in post processing but does require some knowledge/software/effort. IIRC - (big if there) you can hit the "i" button 2x and in the upper right is the quality setting.......select that & change it to RAW. I'd just try all the White Balance settings first & then create a custom one, that requires a gray card - a few bucks @ the photo shop. Edited January 25, 2013 by ErikS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pizzaguy January 25, 2013 Author Share January 25, 2013 Cool. I'm sure I have more questions after this weekend when I get to mess with it again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tpallas January 27, 2013 Share January 27, 2013 I shoot in RAW....it's not too hard to edit with software. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pizzaguy January 27, 2013 Author Share January 27, 2013 Haven't messed with it yet but should there be a button that says raw?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pizzaguy January 27, 2013 Author Share January 27, 2013 Sorry just read the last couple posts about the raw settings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tpallas January 27, 2013 Share January 27, 2013 Yes, its in the menu...I'll dig up my camera and look it up. Not tough tho. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now