# Photography tips!



## richard.hayward.melb (7 mo ago)

I'd like to improve my photography, and I've just received a TTArtisan 40mm f2.8 macro lens.

I'm still working out how to use this macro lens as it doesn't have auto-focus, and it seems hard to get a clear shot with it through the glass and water. Easy to use on an object on the table for example. Does anyone have any experience with this lens?

I'm also a bit confounded by the glare on the front glass. Are there any tips to overcome that?

I have a Sony a6000 and so far my prime 50mm lens is getting better macro shots than the macro lens since the focus is so much easier.


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## NanoNoodle (9 mo ago)

I’ve been playing around with a Nikon 105mm macro lens and here’s what I found:

I get better shots with manual focus, AF is not as accurate with razor thin depth of field. I use live view, zoom in, and manual focus. 
Use a hood to minimize glare and get as close to the glass as possible.
To minimize distortion try to shoot as close to perpendicular to the glass as you can. You’ll get lots of distortion if you go beyond 45 degrees.
Get as much light as you can without using a flash.
If your subject isn’t entirely in focus, use smaller apertures, f8 and above. Macro shots have narrow depth of field. This is also why you need lots of light. Smaller apertures let less light in.
Use a high shutter speed for moving subjects, 1/100s and faster.
Use a tripod when possible, steady shots make for much clearer photos.
I hope that helps. Have fun!


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## richard.hayward.melb (7 mo ago)

Thanks! Here's what I got from trying to get close to the glass, and be perpendicular to the surface. I also adjusted the aperture as well.


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## minorhero (Mar 28, 2019)

Sony has a manual focus assist that will outline objects with lines when they are in focus. You need to activate it though somewhere in the bowels of their menu system.

Regarding glare, taking pictures at night with the lights off in the room (but on in the tank) will end glare all together.

You will want to put the camera in manual mode to take pictures. You will want to set shutter speed for at least 200 and preferably 300. You will want to put aperture as big a number as possible when using a macro that won't make the image too dark.

Hopefully this is helpful. Good luck!


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## Asteroid (Jul 26, 2018)

Manual focus will definitely be a bit tricky for moving subjects. I would manually focus on something in the tank and retain that distance on the lens and then when the shrimp is in that area or distance you'll know what to set the camera on. 
Taking several shots in succession as the shrimp is in that area will allow you to choose the sharpest one. 

With shrimp you can also wait to they stop moving, then focus and click. This way you can slow the shutter and you won't require tremendous light, but you might need a tripod if the shutter speed is very slow.


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## mourip (Mar 15, 2020)

Some thoughts. All three pictures are out of focus. Try setting the camera to use center focus to make sure that you have the main object of attention in focus and do not have back focus or front focus issues. With a manual focus lens using a tripod, a macro focusing slide rail and a remote shutter release can help a lot to get sharp, in-focus shots.

Turn off your pump and CO2 when shooting, then wait a minute so that you do not have bubbles or particulate matter moving in your frame.

Although I love photos with a narrow depth of field and an out of focus background it can be harder to get moving objects in focus.

Almost all of my lenses are legacy manual focus that use adapters to work with my Sony A7II. My favorite is an old Leica macro. Great color rendition.

Good luck. Photography is a great pursuit in itself. Lots of opportunity for equipment obsession!


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## NanoNoodle (9 mo ago)

richard.hayward.melb said:


> Thanks! Here's what I got from trying to get close to the glass, and be perpendicular to the surface. I also adjusted the aperture as well.
> View attachment 1046017
> View attachment 1046018
> View attachment 1046019


Nice shots. Here's a few points of feedback.

1st photo:

Good focus, good composition
Clean glass before photos
I think it's a little blurry because of hand shake, use a tripod if available.
2nd photo:

Some glass reflection, turn off room lights
Focused on background instead of subject
Composition - snail distracts from subject (recompose/crop).
3rd photo:

Focused on foreground instead of subject.
Composition - crop out snail to the left
It's all subjective, so take it or leave it. I hope that helps.


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## Asteroid (Jul 26, 2018)

Manual focus is really best suited for stationery subjects. So you definitely want to try and capture the shrimp when it stops. This way the lighting, shutter speed, etc becomes almost irrelevant since you can use a slow shutter with a tripod or lean against something. 

You also want to make sure you don't go past the min focus distance of the lens. Then it will never be in focus.


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## richard.hayward.melb (7 mo ago)

Thanks for the suggestions! The following are just taken with minimal lights and better focus practice.


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## Asteroid (Jul 26, 2018)

richard.hayward.melb said:


> Thanks for the suggestions! The following are just taken with minimal lights and better focus practice.


Those look better, couple of things to check to get them sharper.

Is the end of the lens more than the minimum focus distance away?
If your hand holding you probably need a shutter speed of 1/80 or faster to avoid camera shake on a 40mm lens. If slower use tripod or lean on something.


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## minorhero (Mar 28, 2019)

richard.hayward.melb said:


> Thanks for the suggestions! The following are just taken with minimal lights and better focus practice.
> View attachment 1046020
> 
> View attachment 1046022
> ...


For any animal the focus point should always be the eye. Humans are wired to look at the face of any animal. So if the legs are in focus but the eye is not, it will be generally considered to be an out of focus picture. 

What is the aperture and shutter speed for these shots?


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## jeffkrol (Jun 5, 2013)

Aquarium Photography | How to Take Great Aquarium Photos | Nikon | Nikon


Learn how to photograph fish and creatures that live under water. Read Nikon tips for aquarium photography.



www.nikonusa.com





Snicker...


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## NanoNoodle (9 mo ago)

jeffkrol said:


> Aquarium Photography | How to Take Great Aquarium Photos | Nikon | Nikon
> 
> 
> Learn how to photograph fish and creatures that live under water. Read Nikon tips for aquarium photography.
> ...


I thought about remote triggering flash units above my tank, but wouldn't that scare the fish?


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## Asteroid (Jul 26, 2018)

Let's not get carried away boys. OP doesn't need all that to take pics of shrimp, LOL.


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## Asteroid (Jul 26, 2018)

NanoNoodle said:


> I thought about remote triggering flash units above my tank, but wouldn't that scare the fish?


No it usually doesn't, I've hung my OCF from my light bar and I've also shot right through the glass with my flash on camera.


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## jake21 (Aug 11, 2019)

Some suggestions - use a tripod (none of the pictures look critically sharp but this might be focus or motion); use a polarization filter (this will remove reflection and increase contrast); prefocus on the spot you want and take several pictures as the fish/shrimp moves through that spot; stop down a bit to increase the depth of field - depending on your distance to subject you probably want around f5.6; use a flash if necessary (this will stop motion) - use a polarizer on the flash to further reduce reflection... generally speaking you want the front of subject in focus.
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For a small subject like a shrimp you would probably be better off with a 125/100 macro.


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