August 2011 POTM winner

gparr · Aug 30, 2011

Congratulations to Acro76, August 2011 POTM winner, for a landslide victory with a fine photo.

M&M · Aug 30, 2011

Congratulation,great picture.

luisgo · Aug 30, 2011

Very very sharp!! Can you share some of your technics for such a great photo. I am sure is not just the camera and lens.

swannyson7 · Aug 30, 2011

Amazing picture.. Congrats!!

Acro76 · Aug 30, 2011

Thanks everyone who voted and participated! It's an honor to win with so many great photos this month!

Oh and special thanks to gparr! Got some great tips from ya when you shot some of Cherry Corals tanks!

Here are my photo specs:

Camera and lens: Canon 7d with Canon 100mm Macro

Shooting conditions: Tripod, wired remote shutter release, top down, all pumps off, with mirror lock up enabled (DSLR Mirror Lock-Up â€“ Worth the Effort or Not?)

Technique: This photo is a 10 image stack processed with Helicon Focus. Each shot was at f4.0. In manual focus mode, each shot you slightly change the focus of the lens, bringing different areas of the coral into focus. Then all the images are edited into jpeg format. Then Helicon Focus was used to blend all the images together. The results can vary quite a bit, and corals can move as you are shooting. This photo was my second try at this same Ricordea, the first time I shot it I had just turned the lights on and it puffed up while I was shooting it. If anyone wants to experiment with image stacking, Helicon Focus has a free trial for 30 days.

stylaster · Aug 30, 2011

Congrads, that is one sweet ric and great photo

revhtree · Sep 1, 2011

Awesome photo! I voted for it! HA!

swannyson7 · Sep 1, 2011

Acro76 said:
Thanks everyone who voted and participated! It's an honor to win with so many great photos this month!

Oh and special thanks to gparr! Got some great tips from ya when you shot some of Cherry Corals tanks!

Here are my photo specs:

Camera and lens: Canon 7d with Canon 100mm Macro

Shooting conditions: Tripod, wired remote shutter release, top down, all pumps off, with mirror lock up enabled (DSLR Mirror Lock-Up – Worth the Effort or Not?)

Technique: This photo is a 10 image stack processed with Helicon Focus. Each shot was at f4.0. In manual focus mode, each shot you slightly change the focus of the lens, bringing different areas of the coral into focus. Then all the images are edited into jpeg format. Then Helicon Focus was used to blend all the images together. The results can vary quite a bit, and corals can move as you are shooting. This photo was my second try at this same Ricordea, the first time I shot it I had just turned the lights on and it puffed up while I was shooting it. If anyone wants to experiment with image stacking, Helicon Focus has a free trial for 30 days.

Thanks for the info about Helicon. I downloaded the program this morning and played around with it a bit, but all of my focus stacks wind up having a ghosted shot around the centered object. Maybe I need to try messing with mirror lock-up to see if it makes a difference...