An Amateur Progress in Reef Tank Photography

[lynn.reef.nerd]

Recently, I ran out of space in my tank. My hoarding took a bit of a pause so I had to go find a different avenue to enjoy this awesome hobby.  I purchased a nice camera and just want to document some progress and get help a long the way.

 

Any suggestion on how to get better, please advise! Any equipment that you found to be great for the hobby, please let me know. 

 

After doing "extensive" research, I ended up picking the Sony A7III with a 90 mm f/2.8-22 Macro. 

Supplement with a Tiffen 5585B Filter.

 

Some shots I took of zoas:

 

 

AZTEC SUNDIAL

 

UTTER CHAOS

 

JF BLOODSHOT

 

WWC AOI

 

JF ASSKRAKS

 

BOWSERS

[ReefAddict]

? ? ? photos look great Lynn. 

[lynn.reef.nerd]

1 minute ago, ReefAddict said:

? ? ? photos look great Lynn. 

Thanks Brian!

[jhOU]

more pics of the hoarding please!! They look amazing!!!!


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[lynn.reef.nerd]

10 hours ago, jhOU said:

more pics of the hoarding please!! They look amazing!!!!


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Thanks John

[lynn.reef.nerd]

So I tried to take some photos of torches and can't seem to get a clear shot. The movement from flow causes a lot of blurriness. Any suggestions?

 

 

This is my first torch (came from @BtmDweller a couple of years ago). The OG of the dragon soul . You don't see this coloration on the newly imported DS. 

 

 

This is the HG (also from Doug). 

[xabo]

Beautiful shots.......................can I ask what's the purpose of the Tiffen 5585B Filter?

Edited February 20, 2021 by xabo

[lynn.reef.nerd]

5 minutes ago, xabo said:

Beautiful shots.......................can I ask what's the purpose of the Tiffen 5585B Filter?

 

Thanks. It's the orange filter just like the polyplab lens that we use for the phone. It help takes out the blues. I got the idea from a youtube video 

 

[xabo]

Thanks for the link............

[lynn.reef.nerd]

Couple more zoas! I do love my z's & p's!

 

WWC ILLUMINATI 

 

PINK KRAKS

 

MIND TRICK

 

SPACE CHAOS

[flooddc]

Awesome photos. 
great job Lynn

[lynn.reef.nerd]

Just now, flooddc said:

Awesome photos. 
great job Lynn

Thanks Chuck!

[brianisoutside]

Have you tried higher F’s? It will allow more depth if the photos. Ie where some of the back zoas in a group are out of focus, might help with some of the torches too.


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[lynn.reef.nerd]

Have you tried higher F’s? It will allow more depth if the photos. Ie where some of the back zoas in a group are out of focus, might help with some of the torches too.


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Thanks! Is there a good way to increase the Fs and not get the movement blurriness?

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[brianisoutside]

Thanks! Is there a good way to increase the Fs and not get the movement blurriness?

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Movement in the camera causing blurriness? Tripod or bracing might help if you can. Or setting causing the blur? Might be camera noise or exceeding the cameras limits.

Good thing with cameras is unlike reefing you can try things and see the results immediately. Try doing a shot of the same item with each F stop with no other changes. Then go in and change the ISO one number and do the same test. You can always post process more light in and out a little.


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[howaboutme]

11 hours ago, lynn.reef.nerd said:

Thanks! Is there a good way to increase the Fs and not get the movement blurriness?

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You need to keep your aperture setting at 2.8 so you can increase your shutter speed while making sure your lens is wide open. All this assumes you have a tripod or have the ability to keep the camera still because even at 2.8, your shutter speed is going to need to be somewhat slow to get you a perfectly focused image because it will need light. I think most turn off flow for this reason. It's easier to capture. Also use full manual mode to gain complete control of your camera. Keeping aperture at 2.8 will get you your depth of field. I don't use a Sony (Nikon here) so I'm only providing general comments.

Edited February 24, 2021 by howaboutme

[lynn.reef.nerd]

10 hours ago, brianisoutside said:

Movement in the camera causing blurriness? Tripod or bracing might help if you can. Or setting causing the blur? Might be camera noise or exceeding the cameras limits.

Good thing with cameras is unlike reefing you can try things and see the results immediately. Try doing a shot of the same item with each F stop with no other changes. Then go in and change the ISO one number and do the same test. You can always post process more light in and out a little.


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I currently keep it at 2.8. If I increase it (with tripod), I get a lot more blurriness from water movement. 

[lynn.reef.nerd]

4 minutes ago, howaboutme said:

 

You need to keep your aperture setting at 2.8 so you can increase your shutter speed while making sure your lens is wide open. All this assumes you have a tripod or have the ability to keep the camera still because even at 2.8, your shutter speed is going to need to be somewhat slow to get you a perfectly focused image because it will need light. I think most turn off flow for this reason. It's easier to capture. Also use full manual mode to gain complete control of your camera. Keeping aperture at 2.8 will get you your depth of field. I don't use a Sony (Nikon here) so I'm only providing general comments.

 

Thanks. I keep it at 2.8 with tripod. I might need to try more without flow on. I just love the movement but it does make it super hard to take pics. 

 

I still can't find a good way to get the tripod to work for top down shots. Currently using the BAO camera tube for those. 

[howaboutme]

3 minutes ago, lynn.reef.nerd said:

 

Thanks. I keep it at 2.8 with tripod. I might need to try more without flow on. I just love the movement but it does make it super hard to take pics. 

 

I still can't find a good way to get the tripod to work for top down shots. Currently using the BAO camera tube for those. 

 

Are you shooting in RAW? You have a very good full frame camera and lens so I assume you're taking full advantage by shooting in RAW and then going into Lightroom or Photoshop or whatever to adjust. You can always increase exposure (and other things) in post process if the image comes out dark initially because you can't get the SS to match your movement.

 

But...a photo is a still. Why do you want to have flow if your end game is to have a still photo? Even with flow off, the tentacles of the corals will still be "flowing" to the eye.

[lynn.reef.nerd]

4 minutes ago, howaboutme said:

 

Are you shooting in RAW? You have a very good full frame camera and lens so I assume you're taking full advantage by shooting in RAW and then going into Lightroom or Photoshop or whatever to adjust. You can always increase exposure (and other things) in post process if the image comes out dark initially because you can't get the SS to match your movement.

 

But...a photo is a still. Why do you want to have flow if your end game is to have a still photo? Even with flow off, the tentacles of the corals will still be "flowing" to the eye.

 

Good point. Yes RAW. 

 

Any tips on taking photos of fish? 

[howaboutme]

1 hour ago, lynn.reef.nerd said:

 

Good point. Yes RAW. 

 

Any tips on taking photos of fish? 

 

Turn blues off (or down) and/or turn whites up. You want your camera to have a better chance at getting the white balance right the first time and you want the higher white light for the faster shutter speed since you can't tell the fish to stop moving....

[lynn.reef.nerd]

4 minutes ago, howaboutme said:

 

Turn blues off (or down) and/or turn whites up. You want your camera to have a better chance at getting the white balance right the first time and you want the higher white light for the faster shutter speed since you can't tell the fish to stop moving....

 

I guess I can always try and take them out of the tank for pics?  jk jk

 

Thanks. 

[YHSublime]

Yeah, turn off flow and movement for photos. Even for corals I try to get as much white light as possible and brightness, and like Jack was saying, adjusting in post. Great lens for macros though, I've been wanting to grab a  Tamron SP 90mm F/2.8 Di VC USD Macro lens for a while now. 

[lynn.reef.nerd]

On 2/24/2021 at 12:54 PM, YHSublime said:

Yeah, turn off flow and movement for photos. Even for corals I try to get as much white light as possible and brightness, and like Jack was saying, adjusting in post. Great lens for macros though, I've been wanting to grab a  Tamron SP 90mm F/2.8 Di VC USD Macro lens for a while now. 

 

So I increase the f to 4 and increase the whites. 

 

Lemonhead

 

Medusa

[YHSublime]

What do you think about the changes you made?