View Full Version : 55 gallon pic
Tempest
02-27-2003, 9:40 PM
I finally got a digital camera and started playing around with it tonight. Here is a not too good picture of my 55 gallon jungle. Guess I'm just surprised I got it to come out this good. The picture leaves a lot to be desired but mayhap I'll get better at this.
http://members.cox.net/vashur/tank1.jpg
125gJoe
02-28-2003, 3:55 AM
Looks good! Get some close-ups too...
..But let's take care of that rag... :D
125gJoe
02-28-2003, 3:57 AM
Have you messed with the flash yet??
Tempest
02-28-2003, 5:44 AM
re:rag You mean *everyone* doesn't keep a towel by their aquarium?
My aquarium wasn't exactly prepared at all so that shows too. I haven't experimented with all the goodies on the camera yet. (including flash) That picture was really too dark to see things well. You can see the plants look healthy but ya cain't pick out the algae on the sagitarria... Hmm, maybe that's a good point?
djlen
02-28-2003, 12:01 PM
Hey Tempest, it looks great!!! Don't let these Yahoos get to you.
LOL. I made the mistake of putting a table cloth under my 55 and the dang thing is spotted and messy. I always felt though, that there had to be something wacky about these folks that send us pictures of spotless looking tanks with no rags laying around. It's almost Un-American!!!
That tube you have in the middle looks just like the siphon tube I use for my reactor. Does it have a sponge stuck in the bottom of it? Mine works really great.
Keep up the good work and send us some closeups. Don't worry about the algae......we've all got some of it.
Len
Starry
03-01-2003, 2:10 PM
Looks great, I especially like the towel!
PS: My "fish towel" is yellow and UNDER the tank, draped on the bucket :)
Tempest
03-01-2003, 3:07 PM
<heehees> I figure to wait on tank cleanup to take another set of pics. I've been working on editing and printing some non tank pictures for practice. I'm not sure if water change day will be today or tomorrow yet... I've got everything now to redo my ten gallon planted tank and so that's on my chore list too this weekend. :)
Turin Turambar
03-01-2003, 7:29 PM
Just curious, what camera do you have? I don't have a digital, but it doesn't matter.
If you are interested and know how the basic photography works, I can tell you my way to create very good aqua-pictures without paying a lot of money for the equipment.
Take a look at this one. It was my 2nd attempt and very good. The third attempt was absolutely the best, with razor sharp pictures and big planes, but it's on the slides, so I cannot present them here.
Fortunately I will do some more aqua-shooting soon, since I have other fish, not just Neons. This was taken 6-7 months ago.
http://www.geocities.com/ivan_jekic/aqua-n.html
Tempest
03-01-2003, 8:37 PM
That's really beautiful!!! My camera is a digital but only 2 megapixels. But yup.. I could use any pointers. :)
stik6shift98
03-01-2003, 11:43 PM
what lights are u suing...what type of plants are those...how much where they.....
looks great...ya u could get rid of all the towels and stuff just for the pics:D
Flohrie
03-02-2003, 5:01 AM
Nice looking tank, you have a Gold Angel just like me!! Well I have more then 1 but I can only see 1 in that pic. :p
My fish towel is bright orange :D
Turin Turambar
03-02-2003, 5:20 AM
Originally posted by Tempest
That's really beautiful!!! My camera is a digital but only 2 megapixels. But yup.. I could use any pointers. :)
...So what camera do you have? Does it have a B(ulb) function? What lens and are they interchangeable?
Do you have a removable flash and a tripod?
Tempest
03-02-2003, 9:13 AM
Turin- It's a Visioneer LS200. You can't remove the flash but ya can turn it off. I don't have a tripod but it does have a place to use one.
Floh- I have two gold angels in there and another one in another tank.
stck6- I am using two shoplight suspended from the ceiling. I have a glass cover for the tank but only use it at night to keep the heat in the tank. Let me think on plants... Rubin sword, amazon sword (with a bloom stalk that has several pups), dwarf hairgrass, dwarf sagitarria, several java ferns, java moss, Crypt wendenti(bronze), jungle val, cambomba, wisteria, ludwigia repens, foxtail... Eww, that's quite a list. Looks as crowded as some community tanks I've seen. Guess I need more tanks to give them homes. :) Most of these plants I aquired from ebay last summer. By the way, the plants I received this week for another tank from Florida Driftwood came through in better shape than shipping in the summer.
kveeti
03-02-2003, 9:37 AM
Looks great! Have fun with your new camera.
And I'm surprised there's only one towel; I have a whole stack.
Turin Turambar
03-02-2003, 9:44 AM
Originally posted by Tempest
Turin- It's a Visioneer LS200. You can't remove the flash but ya can turn it off. I don't have a tripod but it does have a place to use one.
Unfortunately, you must have one separate flash (cheap one would do the trick too), a steady tripod and a Bulb function in your camera.
Without that I cannot help.
Still, experiment with your camera by trial-end-error.
Fishiebusiness
03-02-2003, 12:26 PM
A separate flash is useful in taking pictures of fish, but not absolutely necessary in over all tank pics. I recommend turning off the flash, setting the f stop to 2.5, and shutter speed to 1/20-1/40. That can get you some decent pics.
nvision
03-02-2003, 6:08 PM
hey i want to play too. :D
these pics were taken with my canon s40, with 3mpls, no flash, and in close-focus mode.
http://www.jaudesign.com/aquaria/20g.htm
personally, i think hi-tech gadgets can help take nice photos, but sometimes all you need is some good patience and two VERY still hands.
nvision, nice tank and nice pictures. How come no rag?
And don't you have trouble with fish jumping out of that tank.....oh wait, that's another thread isn't it?
Len
125gJoe
03-02-2003, 6:23 PM
Originally posted by nvision
hey i want to play too. :D ........
And deserve to post a new Topic as some may not have seen that excellent tank....... ! :)
125gJoe
03-02-2003, 6:27 PM
Originally posted by Tempest
re:rag You mean *everyone* doesn't keep a towel by their aquarium?...Yes! I do too... But.. And, Oh yeah, there was once a reflection of someone 'nude'.. LOL ..Never saw that one, but YaHooo LOL.. Careful of reflections on the glass.. :D
nvision
03-03-2003, 1:27 AM
haha, no rags. i'm a paper towel freak myself. and by the way, no fish has jumped out, yet (where's wood when you need it to knock on?).
thanks for the comments on the pics, i've previously shared them on the general freshwater forum, don't want to overdo it. and joe, that reflection on the tank comment is hilarious. i'm sure it wasn't you. :p
Turin Turambar
03-03-2003, 8:27 AM
Originally posted by Fishiebusiness
A separate flash is useful in taking pictures of fish, but not absolutely necessary in over all tank pics. I recommend turning off the flash, setting the f stop to 2.5, and shutter speed to 1/20-1/40. That can get you some decent pics.
Actually, no. I mean, you CAN take a photograph that way, but the results won't be so pleasing.
With f 2.8 and speed of 1/15 or 1/30 all you can get is blurry or ghost fish, very narrow depth of field and if not using correction filters, too orange or too blue light.
Also these values depend on ISO film speed, they are not definite.
Flash is essential, but you have to know how to operate it and where to put it. Of course, I'm talking about removable flash units, not cameras built-ins. Flash duration is usually 1/8000 or 1/10000, so that can instantly freeze even the fastest fish and DOF is usually f11 or f16 even with ISO 100.
125gJoe
03-03-2003, 1:16 PM
Originally posted by nvision
.... and joe, that reflection on the tank comment is hilarious. i'm sure it wasn't you. :p Nope not me...
I think it was an honest mistake. I don't think he ever posted again, or at least changed his name here.. LOL
Fishiebusiness
03-03-2003, 1:40 PM
As i mentioned in my first post, I agree that flash is quite necessary in taking pics of fish. However, that is often not the primary goal in tank pics, and few people are willing to pay for a separate flash for the sole purpose of fish pix. A neon might move, quickly, but an amazon sword plant is less likely to do so. Instead, people are often after a decent over all tank pic which show the gestalt of their tank. I admit im not a photo hobbyist, or know all that much about taking pix, but the specs i quoted have gotten me good results for over all tank pics, as well as some close ups. The lack of a flash forces the low f stop and long exposure time.
(see http://pages.sbcglobal.net/chyu83/bigshrimp.jpg).
Also, these are for digital pictures, I specifically use an olympus C3020Z
Originally posted by Turin Turambar
Actually, no. I mean, you CAN take a photograph that way, but the results won't be so pleasing.
With f 2.8 and speed of 1/15 or 1/30 all you can get is blurry or ghost fish, very narrow depth of field and if not using correction filters, too orange or too blue light.
Also these values depend on ISO film speed, they are not definite.
Flash is essential, but you have to know how to operate it and where to put it. Of course, I'm talking about removable flash units, not cameras built-ins. Flash duration is usually 1/8000 or 1/10000, so that can instantly freeze even the fastest fish and DOF is usually f11 or f16 even with ISO 100.
NJ Devils Fan
03-03-2003, 2:49 PM
Nice pics.
Turin Turambar
03-03-2003, 4:32 PM
Originally posted by Fishiebusiness
A neon might move, quickly, but an amazon sword plant is less likely to do so. Instead, people are often after a decent over all tank pic which show the gestalt of their tank.
Then, if plants and slow moving objects is all you want,
if the metered value is e.g. f2.8 1/30, it's better to set f5.6 1/8, f8 1/4 or slower, in order to have greater depth of field.
I admit im not a photo hobbyist, or know all that much about taking pix, but the specs i quoted have gotten me good results for over all tank pics, as well as some close ups.
The specs depend on the available light and ISO film/digi speed. Even the slight light variation can change the settings.
In your case, you either had an auto-metering done by the camera or luck to do so. :)
Also, these are for digital pictures, I specifically use an olympus C3020Z
In order to fully understand digital, you must first learn standard photography. There's no difference between the standard and digital metering (digital works like slides).
Good luck in your photo sessions. :)
Fishiebusiness
03-03-2003, 6:39 PM
My ISO is set to 100. If i use a higher fstop and 1/4 or 1/8 sec, moving fish became significantly blurred, while at 1/30 or so, they blur was minimal.