how to take pictures of your corals (camera settings tutorial)

[HiEndZoaJunky]

Whats a good tripod to start out with ? I only want to spend about MAX $300 I know that won't get far but can it ???

 

[jsker]

Whats a good tripod to start out with ? I only want to spend about MAX $300 I know that won't get far but can it ???

This one is even better than the one I purchase a year ago. http://www.costco.com/Dolica-Prolin...with-Ball-and-Pan-Head.product.100213896.html

 

[Kschmez]

Just got a dslr camera, this is a good read

 

[tikkivicky]

Holy...just read this. Snapseed is pretty awesome. Thanks for the tip.

Thanks for the suggestion downloading both apps currently.

 

[billr65]

wow i wont to lean to do this

 

[cwk84]

Whether you have a point and shoot camera, or a digital SLR w/ or without a macro lens.......here are some tips to figure out how to shoot pictures of your corals.

Keep in mind, I am mostly familiar with Canon camera's.......if you have a Nikon.....and know these settings should be the same......although they may be labelled or marked differently.

setting up the equipment:

-set the camera up on a tri-pod
-turn off ALL pumps providing any kind of water circulation
-make sure the lens is perpendicular to the glass....if its at an angle...this will distort the picture and make it look blurry
-set the lens zoom and focus to manual, and adjust by hand by looking through the eye piece.

camera settings:

-shoot at the highest/finest/largest setting possible (RAW if possible)
-Auto White Balance should be fine to shoot in (if you get advanced enough you can mess around with this setting)
-set ISO to 0 for now, but if shots are coming out too dark or blurry, you can adjust up to 200. any higher than 400 and pictures will start to look grainy.

-set the shooting mode into APERATURE PRIORITY (Av mode on Canon camera's located on a dial on the top of the camera, by setting the f/stop manually, the camera will automatically adjust the shutter spead based on the available light)
-set the f/stop of the camera to b/w f/9 and f/13. (the higher the f/stop, the smaller the aperature....and the greater the depth of field....however....as the depth of field gets larger, the sharpness will degrade........thus f/9-13 seems to be a good sweet spot for coral shooting)
-use the self timer function....so when you press the button the camera will count down before taking the picture
-MAKE SURE TO TURN THE FLASH OFF

Post-picture Processing:

-if you took the picture at a higher setting, you will need to shrink the picture to 800x600 pixels in order for proper web page viewing. this will also make the file size smaller.
-adjust brightness, contrast, expsure, white balance, tone, color saturation etc. (takes some trial and error before you know what you are doing)
-make sure to convert any RAW images to JPEGS, after making your adjustments.

Advanced Settings:

-exposure settings......normally this should be set to 0 Ev/Av. but you can play around with this if certain parts of your picture look too over exposed or under exposed.
- (for canon dSLR's) - set "long exposure noise reduction" to ON, set "mirror lock up" to ON


this is a wonderful website that explains everything in detail.
http://www.ximinasphotography.com/lessons/index.html


if you have anything to add, feel free to post. i will sticky this thread.

You should shoot in manual not aperture priority. Most cameras do not have a native ISO of lower than 100. Also, you do not need to go lower anyway as you can control the exposure with the shutter speed. You also should set the white balance in camera. Most full frame and some crop sensor cameras give you the option to adjust the white balance manually. No orange filter needed. That said, most modern cameras will not show any noise at higher ISO's. You can shoot as high as ISO 24.000 with some models without introducing noise.

A greater DOF will not degrade sharpness. The opposite is true. The greater the DOF the sharper the lens will be. All lenses have a so called sweet spot at which they are the sharpest. This is usually at around f/5.6 -8.
If the DOF is shallower, (smaller numbers) the picture will be softer ( e.g. the dreamy Canon 85mm f/1.2L look).

What's more important than the size (most web pages can handle larger pictures or will even downsize them) is the color profile. If you don't set your color profile to sRGB your colors will be off once you upload it. You can do your edits in a different color space I don't see why, though, since you're not preparing anything for print anyway) but you have to convert it to sRGB before you save and upload it.

You don't need exposure compensation (EV). You realize that you only need that because, in aperture priority, the camera won't let you control the shutter speed, right? When you shoot in manual mode you won't need to use any 'advanced' settings. You also don't need noise reduction as noise reduction does not apply when shooting in RAW. It only applies when shooting in JPEG.
And you don't need the mirror lockup function either because if you choose a high enough shutter speed, which you would when shooting in manual mode to compensate for the bright light above your reef tank, you would eliminate any camera shake, especially when using a tripod. I can shoot as low as 1/60 without getting a blurry picture.

 

[Buddah001]

I am following want to learn how to do this as well

 

[Meredith Brouillette]

I have Canon D 4000 but sometimes I don't seem to have luck with it. Thanks for pointing out what might be the issue

 

[Nick063]

Whether you have a point and shoot camera, or a digital SLR w/ or without a macro lens.......here are some tips to figure out how to shoot pictures of your corals.

Keep in mind, I am mostly familiar with Canon camera's.......if you have a Nikon.....and know these settings should be the same......although they may be labelled or marked differently.

setting up the equipment:

-set the camera up on a tri-pod
-turn off ALL pumps providing any kind of water circulation
-make sure the lens is perpendicular to the glass....if its at an angle...this will distort the picture and make it look blurry
-set the lens zoom and focus to manual, and adjust by hand by looking through the eye piece.

camera settings:

-shoot at the highest/finest/largest setting possible (RAW if possible)
-Auto White Balance should be fine to shoot in (if you get advanced enough you can mess around with this setting)
-set ISO to 0 for now, but if shots are coming out too dark or blurry, you can adjust up to 200. any higher than 400 and pictures will start to look grainy.

-set the shooting mode into APERATURE PRIORITY (Av mode on Canon camera's located on a dial on the top of the camera, by setting the f/stop manually, the camera will automatically adjust the shutter spead based on the available light)
-set the f/stop of the camera to b/w f/9 and f/13. (the higher the f/stop, the smaller the aperature....and the greater the depth of field....however....as the depth of field gets larger, the sharpness will degrade........thus f/9-13 seems to be a good sweet spot for coral shooting)
-use the self timer function....so when you press the button the camera will count down before taking the picture
-MAKE SURE TO TURN THE FLASH OFF

Post-picture Processing:

-if you took the picture at a higher setting, you will need to shrink the picture to 800x600 pixels in order for proper web page viewing. this will also make the file size smaller.
-adjust brightness, contrast, expsure, white balance, tone, color saturation etc. (takes some trial and error before you know what you are doing)
-make sure to convert any RAW images to JPEGS, after making your adjustments.

Advanced Settings:

-exposure settings......normally this should be set to 0 Ev/Av. but you can play around with this if certain parts of your picture look too over exposed or under exposed.
- (for canon dSLR's) - set "long exposure noise reduction" to ON, set "mirror lock up" to ON


this is a wonderful website that explains everything in detail.
http://www.ximinasphotography.com/lessons/index.html


if you have anything to add, feel free to post. i will sticky this thread.

Great post thank you for this!

 

[Tripod Ninja]

great information