Aperture, Shutter, and ISO beginner settings for FTS

[flagg37]

@maroun.c

I did these with the Canon EOS 500D + 18x55mm Kitlens. Like I wrote with the low shutter method.

That method can work, as is evidenced by your photos, but it’s not a method that I would recommend to a beginner. It would be better for him to focus on understanding the fundamentals of photography instead of being able to pull off a “trick” in post to achieve a certain result.

When I would take pictures I would start with my lighting. Increase your lights to the max and adjust the color until it is pleasing. I saved the settings in my lights so I could refer back any time I was taking pictures.

 

[maroun.c]

I admit these are much better than I thought would be possible with that technique.
I'm normally careful about criticizing people's pictures, but here is my honest opinion about those:
- we are looking at web resized shots so maybe this is partly causing the issues I'm seeing
- while these are perfectly fine for posting on the forum or on social media as unfortunately the norm for photographically high-quality pictures continue to drop there, these are not what I would call quality shots (photographically that is)
-looking at the texture I don't see the sharpness i would desire from an SLR even with non pro glass.
-surprisingly I don't see the amount of noise I would have expected but I can't tell how underexposed these were as I
don't have the preprocessing shots.
-was any De-noising DW or processing done as again if those were really black as you mentioned I'm surprised with the minimal noise you're getting. I get more noise from slightly underexposed shots on cameras known for high iso low noise performance.
-normally any shot that is more than one stop underexposed would be tricky to brighten and not get noise especially in the shadows hence I'd rather have the exposure right in the camera.
-not bashing the technique but would rather see an apple-to-apple comparison on a shot done as you propose, and same shot taken at higher ISO to get the exposure right. normally higher ISO properly exposed shots would get better quality than severely underexposed shots adjusted in PP. Still my interest would be to see slightly underexposed shots by one stop at max maybe adjusted in post processing to enhance exposure

a bit and get the best of both words.

not saying that these are perfect but this is what I would aim for in terms of motion freeze , colors, texture in aquarium shots. for fish a controlled flash has been added to brighten the shadows and freeze motion and keeping flash to a minimum kept it from washing the highlights.

 

[maroun.c]

If OP is using a crop body (which they almost surely are), a 35mm f/1.8 is the “normal” equivalent to 50mm. That’s where I’d spend my money.

Yes agree for cropped sensor. I'm back to full frame so that might be pushing my focal length preference. I'm actually wondering if i should have gone with an 85 vs a 50.

If you stick with a product line (Nikon, canon, etc) glass should continue to work just fine when you upgrade your body.

excellent discussion point maybe not necessarily on this thread. I'm currently facing a tough choice with non mirrorless lenses I purchased lately after I added on mirrorless body. add to most manufacturers discontinuing their non mirrorless bodies now.... so not sure if investing in glass at this stage for photographers who haven't switched to mirrorless is a good move at this stage. Adaptors do exist (at least for coming few years and the first coupel models of mirorless bodies but who knows how limited those lenses will be on newer generation bodies that will pop op in couple years from now.

 

[World Citizen]

I don't have any raw originals left. I just reentred this hobby and need to find a camera.

But with my phone I can shoot RAW pics, so maybe I will try Lightroom and do a example for you. I'll share the files.

 

[Betex]

Great info here thanks for that. Question though I have a sony mirrorless camera I am assuming it will be ****e and wouldnt be able to take pictures like these?

 

[maroun.c]

Great info here thanks for that. Question though I have a sony mirrorless camera I am assuming it will be ****e and wouldnt be able to take pictures like these?

Any half decent camera with a good lense and most importantly good technique should give you good pictures. Sony so far was ahead of nikon(that I use) in focusing and in the lenses lineup and nikon just caught up/went ahead .... yet any dslr/mirorless camera would give you good quality shots with good technique.

 

[Daniel@R2R]

I don't have any tips to add. I just gotta say I love seeing the photos you guys are posting in here as examples! Carry on!!

 

[Miami Reef]

@maroun.c

It took a while for me to get the courage for "round 2".

Photography is kind of...overwhelming.

This time I put my ISO on auto to take some pressure off my shoulders. I needed that crutch. I hope you enjoy giving me your input as much as I enjoy receiving it!

Walt Disney. I think this one was my favorite of the bunch.
1/500, 5.6, 100

Solar Flare
1/125, 7.1, 100

Random brown acropora who is changing colors of the better.
1/250, 11, 100

The rest are some shots around the tank to keep track of progression.

1/125, 16, 100

Naso tang looks grainy here. 1/125, 16, 100

1/125, 16, 100

 

[Miami Reef]

@maroun.c

 

[maroun.c]

@maroun.c

It took a while for me to get the courage for "round 2".

Photography is kind of...overwhelming.

This time I put my ISO on auto to take some pressure off my shoulders. I needed that crutch. I hope you enjoy giving me your input as much as I enjoy receiving it!

Walt Disney. I think this one was my favorite of the bunch.
1/500, 5.6, 100

Solar Flare
1/125, 7.1, 100

Random brown acropora who is changing colors of the better.
1/250, 11, 100

The rest are some shots around the tank to keep track of progression.

1/125, 16, 100

Naso tang looks grainy here. 1/125, 16, 100

1/125, 16, 100

I'd be happy with this set but do consider following considerations.
Any form of "auto" be it camera auto mode, aperture mode, shutter mode or auto iso in this case, allows the camera to decide on exposure. Camera can be fooled by other elements in the picture based in which metering mode you use (full frame vs spot metering ). I'd go manual and adjust iso manually to my liking.
Pic 1
My favourite as well. But would have focused on front branch of the coralnas it has a nicer coralite tip. It's sharp enough with good motion freeze of polyps at 1/500 would have gone with iso 400 and a narrower aperture (larger number) fir more DOF. Bit too blue so maybe correcting wb in post processing a bit.

Pic 2
Not sharp feels like camera motion or distortion from oblique angle through glass.

Pic 3 also not crisp is ur camera stable when shooting. Or is this distortion.


Pic 4-5-6
I would go with wider aperture ( smaller number) and a bit higher iso to be able to get faster shutter speed to freeze fish motion. Its not bad but fish aren't crisp. You seem to have a well lit tank to get to those speeds at low iso and narrow apertures so allow a faster shutter.
Also focus on middle of the tank front to back.
Maybe cleanup the dirts in the water in post processing so pics look cleaner.

Yes photography isn't easy but challenge and the improvement in your shots every time you try should motivate you to try more. Don't be afraid to try different parameters to understand better and see what works better for your tank. I just had a first go at astro photography and felt like a newbie and my parameters for each shot were all over the range. Didn't get a single keeper shot but my nect session shots will be a bit better after the learnings I made looking at the pics and seing what parameter gave me what result...

 

[World Citizen]

@maroun.c @flagg37

(more pics from the same session are here)

I got my camera back. I need to write out what I am doing but here is an example.
(I am not claiming this is the best method)

I am a bit rusty so this technique will get better when I do it more often. I have not done it in 10 years, so I need to try a bit to see what works best.

I took this photo with

Canon 250d
Set in P mode
Forced ISO on 200
Forced exposure on -3

I made a printscreen of the RAW image as it comes out of the camera.

After Photoshop
+ a lot of Exposure
+ a bit of Temp
+ a tiny bit contrast
- a bit of white and Highlite

Maybe it is the lazy mans way to get sharp fish pics, but it seems to work. I probably isn't Nat Geo level, but hey... I am a reefer not a photographer