# Photography Q&A - Ask Me!



## ZuppaDePesce (Sep 5, 2018)

Hey folks! 



I thought I would "let it be known" that I have 15 years experience of professional level photography under my belt. I've taught photography and would enjoy fielding questions about photography here!


Just sayin . . .:grin2:


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## Koenig44 (Aug 19, 2016)

Any tips on using an iPhone camera? I know they're point and shoot, but just curious if you have any tips on getting crisp pictures....


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## ZuppaDePesce (Sep 5, 2018)

which iPhone??


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## ZuppaDePesce (Sep 5, 2018)

Well....regardless of what you are using to take pictures. The first task is to do something about reflections! If you have to luxury of shooting at night in a room with no lights except the tank. If you cannot shoot at night you can use something to shroud the lens's view like a lens hood (DSLR users) or make a cone to shoot through if you are using a phone. Make the cone out of card stock and stick it to your phone with tacky poster mount like this stuff here. Trim the front of your cone so it sits square against the glass. If your phone software supports manual focus, you'll be able to avoid focusing on the glass!

That's a lot for now. If you actually try this, post up your pics and set up for us to see how you did it!

I've attached a pic of a random Colombian Tetra from my old DSLR. No flash, room lights off, hand held: 1/30th @ f/4.5, ISO 800, 70mm RAW


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## MrT. (May 21, 2018)

Okay how about tips for a iPhone X


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## ZuppaDePesce (Sep 5, 2018)

A basic tenet of photography is that you must never assume the camera automatically will make things look as real as natural eyesight does. We have to work to make things look as real as we see them, or believe them to be. 

Some general rules for hand-held, available light aquarium picture taking:
Understand that cameras need more light in order to freeze moving subjects so they look sharper and crisp. (Shutter speeds greater than 1/125th of a second, if possible.)
Clean your glass inside and out!
Make sure the phone is parallel to the tank to avoid unwanted lens distortions. 
Never use the phone's camera flash! It's too close to the lens. You'll get flashback and fish that look like they were just caught in the prison guard's spotlight as they were trying to go over the wall! 
Use the room light IF you're not getting unwanted reflections off the glass. If you are, see my post above.
Find a way to hold the camera rock-steady. 
Use the largest photo size offered and back-up a little. You can crop the photo later rather than get up really close to the glass.

Familiarize yourself with the camera control app and it's features. 
Learn to use Manual Focus. You might want to.
I think using the HDR function can be a great feature if your subject isn't moving. 
Portrait mode will likely change the color-cast and create blurry areas where you might not want them. (warm color temperature and shallow DOF)
Close-up or Macro mode might also create blurry areas where you don't want them (shallow DOF) 

If you want to properly record what your lighting looks like, then learn to set your White Balance (WB) to "daylight." If you use Auto WB, your lighting setup might cause the software to render the color balance incorrectly. This can make colors of everything in the tank look a little off . . . 

Try other camera control apps. Some offer great features the built-in app doesn't.

....Soon, I'll set up some "off camera" flashes so I can front-light the Tetras. You can see in the above picture a few things related to low levels of camera lighting. For example, you can see a very bright background, but the side of the fish facing the camera is not well-lit.


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## Koenig44 (Aug 19, 2016)

ZuppaDePesce said:


> If your phone software supports manual focus, you'll be able to avoid focusing on the glass!
> 
> That's a lot for now. If you actually try this, post up your pics and set up for us to see how you did it!
> 
> I've attached a pic of a random Colombian Tetra from my old DSLR. No flash, room lights off, hand held: 1/30th @ f/4.5, ISO 800, 70mm RAW


I have a 6S. My tank is in the basement. So, yes, I can have all lights off (fairly dark) besides the tank.

Are you saying to put the camera up against the glass, and shoot?


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## swarley (Apr 12, 2018)

> Use the largest photo size offered and back-up a little. You can crop the photo later rather than get up really close to the glass.


I think away from the glass a bit. Though he/she does say something about having a cone square with the glass, but that may just be parallel to the glass, not touching it.


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## Discusluv (Dec 24, 2017)

Great tips!


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## Asteroid (Jul 26, 2018)

ZuppaDePesce said:


> I've attached a pic of a random Colombian Tetra from my old DSLR. No flash, room lights off, hand held: 1/30th @ f/4.5, ISO 800, 70mm RAW












Trying to follow, so is the reason you posted the pic of the tetra is to show in subsequent pictures how much it would be improved with OCF? Obviously you handheld the pic at 1/30 at 70mm which is very difficult to develop a sharp image. The OCF will allow a faster shutter and of course much more light.


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## redchaser (Apr 27, 2015)

The best fish pictures I've ever been able to take have been using an off camera flash that is remotely triggered by my SLR, positioning the flash on top of the tank firing down, room lights off. Sadly due to age, rough handling and lots of use the camera and the flash no longer talk to each other. One of these days I need to get a enw SLR setup.










































Bump:


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## ZuppaDePesce (Sep 5, 2018)

Awesome stuff . . .
In my next picture I've set up an off camera flash about 45 degrees to the right, same height as the middle of the tank.

The flash, a Nikon SB-800, is set to manual mode @ 1/8 power, 24mm zoom and roughly 5 feet away from the tank. It was triggered using a radio slave, rather than optically, or wirelessly. 

The photo's exposure is 1/100 @ f/5.0, ISO 200. File outputs to RAW and therefore WB is on Auto. I used my 18-70mm Nikkor @ 70mm. -This was because I wanted to sit back and zoom-in past the reflections I was getting off of the front of the tank! 

You can see that the Tetra is a lot more well-lit, making for a much better image! 

I really like the composition with the light coming from the top of the tank, that's a natural look! ... and such a soft light quality too! I want to use the aquarium light as my primary light source, so I set my exposure to the plant lights. I do this by taking a few test shots until I like the how the areas lit by the plant lights look. Then, I'll add the off camera flash to the exposure. I'll usually start by dialing it down to 1/4 power, standing it to the right (in this case) and back a bit. I found 1/8th power 5 feet away and to my right to be satisfactory to fill in the shadows and create highlights. Lastly, I tweaked the camera settings to preserve highlights. I used Lightroom to sharpen, fix contrast and set the WB (I liked Lightroom's "Daylight" actually)

Bump: Awesome stuff . . .
In my next picture I've set up an off camera flash about 45 degrees to the right, same height as the middle of the tank.

The flash, a Nikon SB-800, is set to manual mode @ 1/8 power, 24mm zoom and roughly 5 feet away from the tank. It was triggered using a radio slave, rather than optically, or wirelessly. 

The photo's exposure is 1/100 @ f/5.0, ISO 200. I used my 18-70mm Nikkor @ 70mm. -This was because I wanted to sit back and zoom-in past the reflections I was getting off of the front of the tank! 



asteriod said:


> Trying to follow, so is the reason you posted the pic of the tetra is to show in subsequent pictures how much it would be improved with OCF? Obviously you handheld the pic at 1/30 at 70mm which is very difficult to develop a sharp image. The OCF will allow a faster shutter and of course much more light.


Exactly! You can see that the Tetra looks more true to form here. At the time of this picture, the Tetras were just hanging out, and posing for me, so 1/100th of a sec was working out sharply. Which I liked because in my approach to flash photography the shutter speed is how control for how much non-adjustable-natural light contributes to the exposure.

Bump:


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## evil8 (Aug 7, 2018)

I've been doing some shots with varying degrees of success. I still have issues getting enough light to use a smaller aperture and higher shutter speed for the faster fish. I have a new Canon 80D and my sharpest lens is the Canon 50mm 1.8. I also have a Canon 10mm - 22mm and two older kit lenses I never really use. I seem to have better success with the iPhone 6s _some days_, though the nicest images are taken with the dslr. 

The image here of the dwarf flame gourami was taken with my old Canon T3 last year








This image is of my dragon scale betta taken a couple of weeks ago with my iPhone 6s


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## ZuppaDePesce (Sep 5, 2018)

Wow. I love the shallow depth of field in the Gourami shot. Eyes are crisp, yet his body is pillow-soft! If you have the resolution, you should print that, frame it and hang it! Maybe your LFS will give you a spot on their wall??

As for that beautiful betta . . . it's a testament to how amazing these phone cameras are!


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## travellife (Sep 11, 2013)

That's refreshing, someone referring to depth of field rather than Bokeh. Nice Gourami shot.

I have a bridge camera, Sony DSC-HX200V, that I've been using for my aquarium photography. Does OK but I wish there was a macro lens for it.

I also have a Sony Xperia XP phone and would like to try using one of Amazon's clip-on macro lenses. Anyone have recommendations for a lens they're happy with? So many to choose from.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/F9ZsVTezisgva1bB8
https://photos.app.goo.gl/Qm7PTrCK9rNgUS7B7


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## Asteroid (Jul 26, 2018)

Koenig44 said:


> Any tips on using an iPhone camera? I know they're point and shoot, but just curious if you have any tips on getting crisp pictures....


The best tip would be to throw as much light as possible over the tank. As you can see the discussion turned to Off Camera Flash which pretty much eliminates the limiting factor in good picture taking - Light.

A phone camera has a smaller sensor and doesn't take pictures as well in light challenged situations. That's why outdoor pics are always the most crisp. Also the phone camera takes pictures pretty much on auto mode so it can't maximize it's settings for a dim environment. If you throw more light on the tank the phone camera will increase the shutter speed which will result in a sharper image.


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## Greggz (May 19, 2008)

Good topic. 

In my experience, my old Galaxy Note 5 takes as good or better pics than my DSLR. 

For me, technique depends on if taking a full tank shot or an individual fish.

For full tank shots, make sure the glass is clean. Lights up in tank full brightness. More light is better for clarity. Best if room is dark, no ambient light or reflections. I use Pro Mode brightness -1, ISO 100, WB 4000K. For me, looks closest to true colors I see in person. You can mess with your settings to see which works best for you. May need to slightly lower/raise brightness post processing. 










For individual fish shots, I just use Auto Mode. Again, clean glass and full lighting, as more light is better for clarity. Trick here is to take loads of pictures. I take maybe 30 or 40 pics to get a few really good clear ones. Patience and luck are your friend. Only post processing is cropping and maybe adjust brightness.


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## Immortal1 (Feb 18, 2015)

Great topic - have been following along and trying to learn.


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## Asteroid (Jul 26, 2018)

Greggz said:


> Good topic.
> 
> In my experience, my old Galaxy Note 5 takes as good as better pics than my DSLR.


Those are excellent shots, especially for a phone camera. The light over the tank must have been very good. 

I don't know which SLR you have, but when it comes to flexibility (using OCF) and the ability to use macro to bring out detail in aquarium pics the sensor in a SLR will usually bring out much more detail.


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## Greggz (May 19, 2008)

asteriod said:


> Those are excellent shots, especially for a phone camera. The light over the tank must have been very good.


Thanks and yes, quite a bit of light. The right mix of T5HO bulbs to create a pleasing color rendition also helps.



asteriod said:


> I don't know which SLR you have, but when it comes to flexibility (using OCF) and the ability to use macro to bring out detail in aquarium pics the sensor in a SLR will usually bring out much more detail.


Maybe if you are a serious camera buff, but I'm not. 

I took loads of pics with various settings with my Note 5 and then my Sony NEX-7. Keep in mind, I wanted the Sony to be better. I expected it to be better. But in the end, the quality of pictures was at least as good or better with the Note. 

Now, in the hands of someone more skilled than I, and with the right lens, I am sure they could get pics that are MUCH better. I just wasn't willing to work that hard at it. In the end, the ease of use and the relative quality of the camera phone is good enough for me. 

That being said, maybe I'll learn something new here and give the Sony another shot.


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## Asteroid (Jul 26, 2018)

Greggz said:


> I took loads of pics with various settings with my Note 5 and then my Sony NEX-7. Keep in mind, I wanted the Sony to be better. I expected it to be better. But in the end, the quality of pictures was at least as good or better with the Note. .


Those shots are very good, I give you a lot of credit especially the individual fish shots. You would probably notice the difference more if you added different glass (lenses) to the Sony. 

Do they make a macro for that camera? A fast macro would bring out more detail and allow you a closer shooting distance so the need for cropping would be less. You can get away with alot of cropping if the camera has a high Mega Pixel count, but every time you crop you lose more and more sharpness as opposed to a macro lens taking a pic at that closer fixed distance.


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## Vince00 (Sep 10, 2018)

This thread is going to make me dust off my gear and take some photos


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## Zapins (Jan 7, 2006)

What strobe recommendations & setup do you have? Tripods with boom arms or regular?

I'm thinking two Godox Gemini GS300II 300Ws on booms would be decent for lighting but what do you think? Any reason they wouldn't work?


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## Asteroid (Jul 26, 2018)

Zapins said:


> What strobe recommendations & setup do you have? Tripods with boom arms or regular?
> 
> I'm thinking two Godox Gemini GS300II 300Ws on booms would be decent for lighting but what do you think? Any reason they wouldn't work?


I think most here use an Speedlite off-camera (OCF) to capture detailed pictures of individual fish. You could certainly use the strobe setup if your concerned about lighting up the whole tank for full tank shot.


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## oscarlloydjohn (Dec 3, 2017)

I think macro extension tubes (or bellows) are a decent alternative to buying a macro lens. A high quality macro lens for my DSLR body would set me back about £600, a hefty sum for aquarium photography! Because of this, I got some macro extension tubes online which allow me to use my 50mm lens for a wide range of macro. I can go from maybe 15cm maximum focus distance to nearly 1cm away from the subject if I use all the tubes.

Of course these will reduce the amount of light available so one will have to compensate for that, using off camera flash possibly. I find diffused light over the whole tank to work best. I have considered buying an LED panel as my LFS won't let me use flash when I take photos there!

Here are some results using macro tubes and no extra light (other than tank lighting), at my LFS. I am using a Nikon d600 with 50mm f1.4 lens.









1/160th, f3.5, ISO 1250









1/125th, f4, ISO 1250









1/125th, f3.5, ISO 1250


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## Asteroid (Jul 26, 2018)

oscarlloydjohn said:


> ..A high quality macro lens for my DSLR body would set me back about £600, a hefty sum for aquarium photography!


Why is the macro so expensive? For my Canon I can get the 35 or 60 macro for $299-$399 new, many buy used. A macro isn't just for aquarium photography most are very sharp and take great portrait and/or general photography pics as well as incredible pics of insects and other close-up detail.

Your pics are very nice don't get me wrong, but a macro will always be sharper and have more light available.


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## oscarlloydjohn (Dec 3, 2017)

asteriod said:


> Why is the macro so expensive? For my Canon I can get the 35 or 60 macro for $299-$399 new, many buy used. A macro isn't just for aquarium photography most are very sharp and take great portrait and/or general photography pics as well as incredible pics of insects and other close-up detail.
> 
> 
> 
> Your pics are very nice don't get me wrong, but a macro will always be sharper and have more light available.




I believe since my camera body is full frame, lenses are generally much more expensive. The 35mm canon macro is designed for crop sensors so is significantly cheaper.

I think possibly a decent all round lens (like a 50mm or 85mm) with bellows/tubes could be higher quality than a low end macro lens (at least on full frame, probably not crop sensor). Focus breathing can also be a pain on certain lenses.

I really just bought the extension tubes as an experiment but they turned out to work quite well.

Oscar


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## Asteroid (Jul 26, 2018)

oscarlloydjohn said:


> I believe since my camera body is full frame, lenses are generally much more expensive. The 35mm canon macro is designed for crop sensors so is significantly cheaper.
> 
> I think possibly a decent all round lens (like a 50mm or 85mm) with bellows/tubes could be higher quality than a low end macro lens (at least on full frame, probably not crop sensor). Focus breathing can also be a pain on certain lenses.
> 
> ...


Most have crop sensor cameras not FF so the macros really aren't that expensive. A FF for fish pics really isn't going to do much over a crop when using a macro with good light. 

Just saying because you brought up the expense which it really isn't and you said something about spending money for a lens that is just for aquarium photography which it isn't.

With crop sensor and macro lens










General use photography/portrait with macro lens


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## Zapins (Jan 7, 2006)

I have a 580 EXII speedlite. It works alright, but there are shadows at certain angles, and can't be used for full tank shots, or for time lapse photography since there isn't an AC connection for speedlites.


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## ZuppaDePesce (Sep 5, 2018)

asteriod said:


> Most have crop sensor cameras not FF so the macros really aren't that expensive.


 You mean _cropped _sensor cameras?


The only thing that makes a lens a "macro" lens is it's ability to increase the distance between the relevant lenses inside the lens body sufficiently in order to bring into sharp focus a subject such that it's image on the focal plane (sensor) is larger than life size. This is why a bellows works. By detaching the lens from the body of the camera, the lens becomes elongated in order to focus on subjects very close to the lens. Macro lens-sets move the focal point in order to do this too. A bellows maintains your lens' quality while Macro lens sets _can_ hurt the quality. . . .

. . .love the shots posted above! What a beautiful dog!


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## Asteroid (Jul 26, 2018)

ZuppaDePesce said:


> You mean _cropped _sensor cameras?


Crop, cropped, 1.6, aps-c lets get crazy :grin2:

I think these are all in the same bucket. Thanks for the pic comments!


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## Zapins (Jan 7, 2006)

Zapins said:


> What strobe recommendations & setup do you have? Tripods with boom arms or regular?
> 
> I'm thinking two Godox Gemini GS300II 300Ws on booms would be decent for lighting but what do you think? Any reason they wouldn't work?


Any thoughts on this Zuppa?


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## mtnbikeracer76 (Jan 29, 2017)

Here is a picture I just took. Using a Nikon D3200 with an 18-55 lens, f/5.6, Exposure 1/40 sec., ISO 800, Focal 55mm. Any suggestions on making it better? I'm thinking of a wide angle macro lens.


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## Asteroid (Jul 26, 2018)

mtnbikeracer76 said:


> Here is a picture I just took. Using a Nikon D3200 with an 18-55 lens, f/5.6, Exposure 1/40 sec., ISO 800, Focal 55mm. Any suggestions on making it better? I'm thinking of a wide angle macro lens.


You need to be to shoot at a faster shutter speed. So easiest way to do that is with more light. If you don't have an off camera flash, try throwing as much light on top of the tank as possible and see how fast you can get the shutter and still have a well exposed pic. You generally need 1/100 sec to get a clear pic of a moving fish. 

A macro will get you more detail, but you'll still need the faster shutter speed. A faster lens (one with a small F number helps as well to let more light in via the aperture. Most macros are fast with F/2.0-2.8.


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## Frank158 (Oct 1, 2013)

This thread got me to pull my camera out. Here is an impromptu picture of my GBR just using aquarium lights so had to shoot at 1600asa.


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## Frank158 (Oct 1, 2013)

Here is the king of my 200L planted aquarium


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