# First Time Photography (It Shows!)



## Goomie

Well, as the title says, this is the first time I've taken photos with a professional grade camera... at least for a while... Don't be too harsh :nerd:


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## R|M|D Photography

Not too bad for your first shot! Just need to work on your focus and lighting a bit. Try switching it over to manual focus, I find I can control it a lot easier to get a moving fish in it versus the auto focus hunting back and forth as the fish moves in and out of plants. Go check out the one's I just posted of JT's tank. Trust me, there were several that had to be thrown out due to bad focus! lol


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## Goomie

D'oh of course, I completely spaced on manual focus *facepalm*. 

Well my laptop charger LITERALLY just shot craps so I'll have to practice while I wait for a new charger lol. 

I'll play with the camera I have access to


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## Nordic

The larger the aperture (lower the F stop number of the lense) the shorter exposure it needs (i.e. less blur and shaking) Conversely, as the aperture gets larger the field of depth narrows, i.e. things in front of and behind the focus zone will be out of focus. With old film based cameras, it was easy, anything physically smaller than the aperture hole in the lense, was blurred out of focus. a bit like the catfish photo, notice how the moss just behind it is blurred.


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## Goomie

Ah that makes a lot of sense! Of course I was shooting on auto being completely inexperienced. But I can practice and learn! Soon I'll have beautiful photos of my tank that shows it off the way it should be


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## gregorylampron

Fish look happy and very colorful. Nice natural looking tank

Please keep hands off glass.


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## Goomie

Why thank you  I like to think they're happy.


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## mot

Jason Baliban's website was a big help to me when I was starting out. Have a look Planted Aquarium Tank Articles - Planted Aquarium Photography with a Point and Shoot Camera - Project Aquarium


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## Goomie

WOW VERY informative! I want to snap up my boyfriends camera and start playing with all the settings now lol! I think he's sick of my obsession with my tank but I am quite proud of what I've produced and the amount of time and effort I've put into it. And I'd love to get accurate, high quality pictures to show off my tank  great guide, thank you for sharing.


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## Goomie

OK apparently I need A LOT more practice because most of my pictures came out super dark lol. This camera has 1000 buttons and I don't know how to change some of the settings even in manual mode, not to mention the LCD screen makes everything look blurry and I have no laptop for picture review. 

I took one semester of photography in high school many years ago so my knowledge of cameras is pretty well gone by now lol...


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## houseofcards

It's easier to take Full Tank Shots because you can simply put the camera on a tripod or other surface and slow the shutter speed until the picture is properly exposed. Even shut off the filter so everything is still. Some blurry fish from a distance won't really make much of a difference.

For individual fish pics you have no choice but to throw more light on the tank since the fish is moving and it requires a minimum shutter speed even with the aperture wide open. A fast lens (low F-number like 2.8 or lower) helps but you still need the light. If you want to get clear pictures of your fish without buying extra stuff just grab any light you can shop lights, whatever and try to put them over the tank somehow.


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## Goomie

Hmmmm we do have several shop lights around here, I even had the overhead light on too. It really would help if my background was black too, instead of what it is now. Unfortunately my tank is a bow front and taking full front pictures never turns out how i want (reference my tank journal in my signature). I'll just have to keep playing with it and learning


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## houseofcards

Some people have very powerful aquarium lights so with that you have more flexibility, otherwise you must add light or use a off camera flash for fish shots. 

You should also take the shots at night with all the other lights off in the room and as much light above the tank.


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## Goomie

Ah, that makes sense. I've been debating a stronger light but without a CO2 setup and already having algae growing... I wasn't sure I wanted to take the plunge (pun totally intended). 

My first round of pictures was no lights but the tank light and some with and some without flash. A few did come out great but most didn't and I ended up trashing them lol. Well, maybe next time I'll shine in the LED shop light and see if that helps make differences. The camera is a Nikon something or another. Tons of buttons and settings. Definitely not just "point and shoot" unless it's in auto mode. And unfortunately the owner of said camera doesn't even know how to use it because he takes pictures of stationary show cars! Haha. Once my laptop is back up and running I'll have more pictures to share... Unless he lets me use his Mac


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## kinzo

Might want to put a black background to the back of your tank to make your fishes/plants "pop" more as well. Love the red cherry barbs tho, my personal fave!


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## Goomie

Yes I think I might get a piece of black fleece and attach it to my tank, I really don't want to paint it haha. 

And thank you! My barbs are so happy. I thought I originally had 3 males and added 3 females. Come to find out when my females darkened up that, in fact, i had 2 males and 1 female the whole time! Now the ladies outnumber the gentlemen haha.


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## DW Sites

Looks good to me.


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## Nordic

You want to invest in a small tripod to help combat motion induced blur, and hopefully the camera has some kind of remote shutter activation, or for plants you can use the timer function.


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## Goomie

I think that my boyfriend already has a tripod for this camera.


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## Nordic

Bug him, you will see the results...


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## DW Sites

Goomie said:


> OK apparently I need A LOT more practice because most of my pictures came out super dark lol.




What I sometimes do is use the flash.
If you keep the lens close to glass and angle it right, you wont get any glare in picture.


I am using an Old Canon Rebel XSi but use a Canon EFS 18-55mm lens that has self stabilizer and I can switch to manual focus on the lens.


So I keep camera itself in auto, so it will adjust all the settings for exposure, but I control the actual pictures focus.


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## Nordic

When you do that, you control the focal point. Without controlling the aperture, you are leaving it up to the camera to decide how much should be in focus in front of and behind that spot and how blurred the out of focus areas should be.


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## houseofcards

Generally speaking a tripod won't really help for taking pictures of moving fish. The tripod is good for photography where you need to slow down the shutter to avoid the shake that comes with holding your camera. Image stablization is pretty much the same thing. It's great for taking pictures in low light situations, but for moving fish you usually need at least 1/100 shutter to get a clear picture. It's like taking pictures of sports or your dog running in the backyard. In the backyard there's great light, but indoors the light is poor. The only way to really do that is with more light or a flash. Sometimes very quick lenses (small F number 1.8, 2.0 2.8) can work too. Off camera flash or more light above the tank is the best solution.


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## Goomie

Some of the pictures were taken with flash. But it's so bright on the camera that it gave a nasty glare off the scales of my fish. It probably would have helped my cause to have a black/dark background on my tank which I currently do not. 

I can try the tripod, anyway, to get a full photo of my tank.  

Otherwise I have to wait for my fish to slow down for just a moment so I can capture a good picture. Easier said than done though considering those little turds like to zip around. Especially the cherry barbs.


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## Nordic

Yep, I'm more used to 35mm cameras I have some f1.4 lenses... really handy, its just such a mission to have film developed these days.


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## Goomie

I'm not sure many places develop anymore. Maybe look into having your own darkroom?


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## houseofcards

If you have shrimp and/or otos or some other bottom dwellers those are the easiest to take pictures of since the stop at times. They you can decrease shutter speed to get a good exposure.


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## Goomie

I have cories, that's all for bottom dwellers. I did get a fairly decent photo of my peppered corydora though. I have 2 albinos and 2 peppered. Well, actually they might be a difference species... I can't remember now.


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## Nordic

Goomie said:


> I'm not sure many places develop anymore. Maybe look into having your own darkroom?


I would like that, I have a very vivid memory of my grandfather developing photos in his darkroom... Must have been somewhere around 4 years old.


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## DW Sites

Goomie said:


> Some of the pictures were taken with flash. But it's so bright on the camera that it gave a nasty glare off the scales of my fish. It probably would have helped my cause to have a black/dark background on my tank which I currently do not.



Yeah, I have the outside of mine painted black.

Bump:


houseofcards said:


> If you have shrimp and/or otos or some other bottom dwellers those are the easiest to take pictures of since the stop at times. They you can decrease shutter speed to get a good exposure.



Or if your fish are like mine, when they see you they think they are going to get fed, so they all gather at the front of the tank.


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## sfshrimp

Here are a few things that will help you:

ISO setting - set this higher to create more sensitivity, but a higher setting will put more noise into your photo. Use values like 160,320,640 for best results.

APERTURE - low number apertures will let more light in, and result in larger depth of field, meaning the background will be blurry most likely. If you set the aperture high (f16, etc.) the hole letting light into the camera is tiny, and the entire scene will be in focus.

SHUTTER SPEED - Experiment with this, it looks like your shutter speed is too slow resulting in blurry photos.

MANUAL FOCUS - use this.

FLASH - don't use this.

TRIPOD - use a tripod and shutter release, or find the settings where you can successfully shoot handheld.

PRACTICE: You can test the following, set your camera at ISO 640, aperture priority. Take a batch at lowest aperture (f4, etc.) and take a batch at highest apertures (f16, etc.), see which suits your tastes better.






Goomie said:


> Well, as the title says, this is the first time I've taken photos with a professional grade camera... at least for a while... Don't be too harsh :nerd:


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## Goomie

sfshrimp said:


> Here are a few things that will help you:
> 
> ISO setting - set this higher to create more sensitivity, but a higher setting will put more noise into your photo. Use values like 160,320,640 for best results.
> 
> APERTURE - low number apertures will let more light in, and result in larger depth of field, meaning the background will be blurry most likely. If you set the aperture high (f16, etc.) the hole letting light into the camera is tiny, and the entire scene will be in focus.
> 
> SHUTTER SPEED - Experiment with this, it looks like your shutter speed is too slow resulting in blurry photos.
> 
> MANUAL FOCUS - use this.
> 
> FLASH - don't use this.
> 
> TRIPOD - use a tripod and shutter release, or find the settings where you can successfully shoot handheld.
> 
> PRACTICE: You can test the following, set your camera at ISO 640, aperture priority. Take a batch at lowest aperture (f4, etc.) and take a batch at highest apertures (f16, etc.), see which suits your tastes better.


I will do this the next time I take picture. I just got my laptop charger in a few days ago, SO stoked haha. These are some older ones I took... Had to weed out a lot of the ultra dark ones and was left with ones with too much white exposure (imo, they are not as crisp as I want, probably a lot to do with the grainy texture you were speaking of)

So, when I get another chance I'll take more pictures  thanks for all the help guys! One day I'll get better at this.


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## fishexplorer22

these look really cool, im just interested as to how you ger rid of any reflections on the glass? do you turn the lights off in the room and just have the tank lights on or what?


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## sfshrimp

*polarizing filter*



fishexplorer22 said:


> these look really cool, im just interested as to how you ger rid of any reflections on the glass? do you turn the lights off in the room and just have the tank lights on or what?


Polarizing filter (see the window and glass area) of this link:
Understanding & Using Polarizing Filters

Might also depend on the focal length of the lens you are using. I have a 50mm macro and you can take photos of things with the camera about four - six inches from subject. This could impact the reflection since you are so close.

Ambient lighting could also make a difference, you probably don't want light shining from behind the camera, towards the tank (i.e. a window, light, etc). You could in theory also reduce reflections with soft lighting from above or directly behind the tank.

I will do a test and post here with the 50mm macro and see what happens later tonight when my lights are on.


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## houseofcards

The lighting is O.k. but the subject is still out of focus. What is the faster shutter speed you were able to use on any of those with your current equipment. What is the shutter speed, iso and f stop (aperture)?


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## sfshrimp

My first photo. 

Canon 5d mkii
Lens: Canon EF 50mm Macro / f2.5
ISO: 3200
FORMAT: RAW LARGE
f/4.5
1/250 shutter
ISO 2500
COLOR: NONE
CROP: VERY ZOOMED IN
TRIPOD: none, did it handheld

Results: meh. 
Subject: Taiwan fire shrimp.

https://photos.google.com/share/AF1...?key=MFV0VUk0Vk1wbHlYVU94bXMwVFhYZjlyTk5NQkpn

Bump: Also...had zero luck with a 1.2f 50mm prime, would probably use soft light on top and get a true to life lens extender... Mind you all this equipment is not cheap!



sfshrimp said:


> My first photo.
> 
> Canon 5d mkii
> Lens: Canon EF 50mm Macro / f2.5
> ISO: 3200
> FORMAT: RAW LARGE
> f/4.5
> 1/250 shutter
> ISO 2500
> COLOR: NONE
> CROP: VERY ZOOMED IN
> TRIPOD: none, did it handheld
> 
> Results: meh.
> Subject: Taiwan fire shrimp.
> 
> https://photos.google.com/share/AF1...?key=MFV0VUk0Vk1wbHlYVU94bXMwVFhYZjlyTk5NQkpn


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## Goomie

houseofcards said:


> The lighting is O.k. but the subject is still out of focus. What is the faster shutter speed you were able to use on any of those with your current equipment. What is the shutter speed, iso and f stop (aperture)?


I'm not able to answer these questions however i can tell you that the camera lense probably isn't quite sensitive enough for the close up shots I want to take. The camera is also quite old. And trying to get anything in focus is quite difficult!

Bump:


fishexplorer22 said:


> these look really cool, im just interested as to how you ger rid of any reflections on the glass? do you turn the lights off in the room and just have the tank lights on or what?


I had the flash off. I found it created a glare in most of my pictures. Otherwise I had the overhead light on, the tank light on, but no windows were showing light toward the tank. I was also very close to the glass.


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## Nordic

Doesn't the 5D have a remote flash function? It works quite well if you set up a flash above the tank that triggers remotely when you snap a photo. Without a flash you need to hope your F-stop (aperture) is big enough to capture the light in the small period the shutter is open.


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## Goomie

Nordic said:


> Doesn't the 5D have a remote flash function? It works quite well if you set up a flash above the tank that triggers remotely when you snap a photo. Without a flash you need to hope your F-stop (aperture) is big enough to capture the light in the small period the shutter is open.


I'm not sure what the 5D is.... But the flash doesn't really help without a black background unfortunately. I'm working on it lol...


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## sfshrimp

5D is a camera.

5D has no remote flash disnehy.

I've never tried taking fish photos before, but will figure it out.

The glass is annoying, the red wine is not!


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## tapwater

If you had Glo Light fish it would make your life simple


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## Goomie

I have one single glo light fish. But not a glo tank.


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## houseofcards

I would study up a little on just the basics of photography. You can't use auto or take pictures of moving fish with probably less than 1/100 shutter speed. If you keep it on auto exposure the camera doesn't know your trying to take a moving image so it compensates shutter speed, iso, etc to get a good exposure (not too dark not too light). 

Take your 3rd picture the setting are: Auto exposure, 1/25 sec, f/5.6, ISO 3200. In order to get good lighting it had to slow the camera down to 1/25 and increase film speed to 3200 ISO. 

You need to be in manual, not necessarily manual focus just manual and increase shutter speed to at least 1/60, but 1/100+ is much better. In order to do that with your current equipment you need more light. Either on the tank or off camera flash over the tank. Faster lens help to, but I'm going by your current equipment.


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## sfshrimp

*flash*

I think so... I have the 5d mkii and the 580ex speedlite
How To Control A Speedlite From The Back Of Your Camera | PixSylated | Syl Arena's Photography Blog on Light & Imagemaking

This is actually a really good idea, the only problem is the tank light on top might make some weird shadows, do you take yours off? I also do have the extension cable for the speedlite flash, and a pretty awesome rotolight neo led which might do some cool stuff. 



Nordic said:


> Doesn't the 5D have a remote flash function? It works quite well if you set up a flash above the tank that triggers remotely when you snap a photo. Without a flash you need to hope your F-stop (aperture) is big enough to capture the light in the small period the shutter is open.


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## houseofcards

Canon 60D, 60mm Macro w/580ex Speedlite


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