Sushi's ELOS

[Sushi]

woah those shots are amazing! I'm still fighting with the damn Royal Blues and my nikon Are you shooting RAW or Jpeg? Do you have to make lots of adjustments or are these pretty close to the original picture?

Sammy, I'm shooting in jpg... adjustments vary from photo to photo but generally I auto-correct levels, colors, contrast. When blues are overpowering I adjust the blue hue down a few levels to get what is true to the eye. Lastly, I always do a little unsharp masking to get a little crispness out of the subject. I have trouble with that though, it's hard to find a nice balance between too much sharpening (which results in too much noise) or too little sharpening (which means that the pic essentially looks the same and remains blurry at certain areas). Ultimately, I think the real trick is the 100mm macro lens... there is no way I could've gotten these shots with a regular point and shoot camera b/c of the lack of depth of field - or at least not with my skills at the moment

 

 

i have to ask what kind of camera are u using? cuz it catches the nice colors from the moonlights.

 

love your tank

Thank you!

 

Let me quote a previous post to answer that question:

Dug my Rebel XT out of the closet yesterday. I've been using my point and shoot SD750 for most of my pictures and a little bit of my new G11, but I haven't gotten used to that camera yet. On my Rebel XT I'm using a EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM lens. Still a novice and always learning especially with the DSLR, but managed to catch a few nice shots - really wish I had image stabilization though. The shots below are all taken without a tripod.

[Sushi]

Here are some more pics from the Rebel XT.

 

Another shot of "assorted" zoanthids

 

Nice macro of the whiskers on my Duncan:

 

My awesome yuma, had this guy for a LONG time now... it gets absolutely huge when fully expanded (+3") and is super vibrant. I'd call him a reddish-orange color with a neon green mouth and bluish purple base. It's definitely not a pink yuma, but the reddish-orange is still stunning in person - you guys gotta see this guy under pure actinics, it GLOWS!

[Lawnman]

Did your Maxspect light come with the glass bracket you had on the fixture before you did the conduit brackets?Because on fish street it shows a hanging kit and a glass bracket and they look nothing like the first one you had.I know the Elos mini over flow skims the top but does it have intakes on the side of the over flow as well? Nice pictures as always.

[Sushi]

Did your Maxspect light come with the glass bracket you had on the fixture before you did the conduit brackets?Because on fish street it shows a hanging kit and a glass bracket and they look nothing like the first one you had.I know the Elos mini over flow skims the top but does it have intakes on the side of the over flow as well? Nice pictures as always.

 

Yes, my maxspect fixture came with the brackets as well as the hanging kit. I'm not sure why Fish Street has you choosing because mine had both kits included.

 

Please see THIS post for pics of what was included with my fixture.

[Lawnman]

Yes, my maxspect fixture came with the brackets as well as the hanging kit. I'm not sure why Fish Street has you choosing because mine had both kits included.

 

Please see THIS post for pics of what was included with my fixture.

They have a hanging kit and a glass mount they call it.You choose which one you want for extra money. But there glass mounting kit is totally different than yours. The light actually mounts to these metal slide bars on the outside rim of the tank. If I had to guess the light comes like yours and the other 2 mounts are extra.

[Sushi]

They have a hanging kit and a glass mount they call it.You choose which one you want for extra money. But there glass mounting kit is totally different than yours. The light actually mounts to these metal slide bars on the outside rim of the tank. If I had to guess the light comes like yours and the other 2 mounts are extra.

Ahh, I see what you're saying now. If that's the case then it seems like I have the hanging kit and not the light rail that goes on the tank.

 

Thanks for the clarification

[Geppetto]

Sushi! Your photo skills! Looking good man!

[Sushi]

Sushi! Your photo skills! Looking good man!

Thanks G

 

Still got one last set of pics I haven't uploaded yet, they'll come later tonight.

[Sushi]

Last two pics for the week.

 

Macro shot of the edge of my red monti cap

 

Cool pic of my teal and red aussie acan... this has got some super fatty polyps!

[Geppetto]

Dang those acans are nice!

Not to say your corals dont look that nice but are you doing any kind of touch up to your pictures?

Maybe some burning and dodging to enhance textures.

[Sushi]

I do in fact do some post processing, my steps are detailed below:

• Crop image
  
• Resize image
  
• Image > Adjustments > Auto Contrast
  
• Image > Adjustments > Auto Level
  
• Image > Adjustments > Auto Color
  
• Image > Adjustments > Exposure (adjustments between 0.0-0.5)
  
• Filter > Sharpen > Unsharp Mask (Amount at 70% with Radius 2.0)
  

Adjustments are made on Adobe Photoshop CS3. Every photo is different though, sometimes I skip the "Auto" steps because it screws with my white balance. I also have my camera (either Canon G11 or Canon Rebel XT) adjusted for white balance so that the pics capture the blues/teals/reds more vividly as they are in real life because without adjustments to the WB, all the colors just look off. Regarding the sharpening, I haven't quite found my sweet spot yet, but I think the settings above give the right effect without getting too much noise distortion.

 

I'm by no means a photography expert or a post-processing wizard, but the pics I take usually go through the processes above so I hope that helps answer any questions.

 

I do really want to get into the habit of doing everything with RAW format and processing that instead of jpg/jpeg's, but still a noobie trying to take the next step!

 

 

Ahh and yes, one last thing... I looked at these photos with my phone's browser and DANG they look insanely vibrant - almost scary colored. Whereas on my two PCs/Laptops I have at home, the colors are nowhere as exaggerated as I see on my phone's browser. So what I'm thinking is the viewer observes some inconsistencies too depending on how the page is viewed. Hope that makes sense...

[Geppetto]

Sounds good! Sometimes I do like noise, it all depends on my moood :]

 

I shoot everything in raw, well except for when I go shoot for party events (club/bar/party). It helps so much and sometimes saves the picture when I shot it wrong. but I highly highly recommend it! and when you do Lightroom is a fabulous program!

 

Yeah not everyone calibrates their monitor, so each will get a slightly maybe even drastic difference in the picture. When I do work on my laptop it generally comes out not so good haha!

[Tigahboy]

Wow. You just took this thread to another level with them recent photos! Very nice, my friend. Very nice.

[10001110101]

 

Brilliant and fascinating.

 

You are a credit not only to the reefkeeping hobby, but the human race.

 

I am so not joking, your tank is a work of art under actinics. I absolutely love it. Kudos to you sir, excellent photographs all around, I can't believe you took those with a point and shoot.

 

*applause*

 

If you would ever even consider my humble opinion, add one really fantastic chalice or favite pentagonas for me.

[amnesiak]

I am so not joking, your tank is a work of art under actinics. I absolutely love it. Kudos to you sir, excellent photographs all around, I can't believe you took those with a point and shoot.

 

*applause*

 

I agree, totally. I'd never get anything done if I had your tank because I'd probably just roll joints and stare at it all day.

[Sushi]

Sounds good! Sometimes I do like noise, it all depends on my moood :]

 

I shoot everything in raw, well except for when I go shoot for party events (club/bar/party). It helps so much and sometimes saves the picture when I shot it wrong. but I highly highly recommend it! and when you do Lightroom is a fabulous program!

 

Yeah not everyone calibrates their monitor, so each will get a slightly maybe even drastic difference in the picture. When I do work on my laptop it generally comes out not so good haha!

Thanks for the tip on Lightroom... I think the biggest thing holding me back from shooting in RAW is my measly 2GB Compact Flash card. Don't laugh ... it's true and sad! I think it's something I'll need to get into the habit of doing though (besides investing in a bigger CF card).

 

Wow. You just took this thread to another level with them recent photos! Very nice, my friend. Very nice.

Thanks D Your tank is coming along beautifully too, looks like we're going to hit our 04/05 stride again half a decade later. Funny how these things cycle back on us, once a reefer always a reefer!

 

Brilliant and fascinating.

 

You are a credit not only to the reefkeeping hobby, but the human race.

 

I am so not joking, your tank is a work of art under actinics. I absolutely love it. Kudos to you sir, excellent photographs all around, I can't believe you took those with a point and shoot.

 

*applause*

 

If you would ever even consider my humble opinion, add one really fantastic chalice or favite pentagonas for me.

Thanks Mr. Binary, you really have to see it in person. I think people will think I'm misleading them with pics under actinics, but when the whites go off, and the blues take over, man... does the tank GLOW! What makes it most beautiful are the red and green fluorescence, it's stunning in real life. Regarding the chalice, I'm not a big fan of them... for some reason all I can see and think of when I come across a chalice (no matter how pretty or colorful) is that it reminds me of a blob of radioactive alien's puke. The war coral is a good idea, I don't quite have space for anything anymore, but that's something I can consider.

 

I agree, totally. I'd never get anything done if I had your tank because I'd probably just roll joints and stare at it all day.

LOL, thanks... I'm glad you enjoy it!

 

UPDATES for January 21, 2010:

Got a few more pieces added to the tank. Mostly SPS and also a new fish from ORA - Yellow Assessor Basslet (Assessor flavissimus). I have suddenly fallen in love with these fish, and find them extremely intriguing. For the SPS additions, I added a pink birdsnest, ORA Red Planet (Acropora sp.), and DFS The Real Deal Blue Echinata (Acropora echinata). There was some breakage with the birdnest so I hope that heals up within the end of the month. Once the new additions get established, and I have a chance to maybe rework some of the coral placement, I'll be sure to post some more pics. Thanks for looking!

[Spent198]

I agree, totally. I'd never get anything done if I had your tank because I'd probably just roll joints and stare at it all day.

 

Agreed.

[Paleoreef103]

Very, very nice! I want some PAR readings off that fixture though.

[Lawnman]

Ok I am ready for my weekly FTS now.

[Aquabacs]

Photo of my "dendro" cave:

 

My favorite picture. Tank is looking great!

 

Mike

[Sushi]

Agreed.

Thanks

 

Very, very nice! I want some PAR readings off that fixture though.

Thanks, PAR readings would be nice, but no access to one Whatever the par is, the corals are happy so I'm happy

 

Ok I am ready for my weekly FTS now.

No FTS for the rest of January, nothing new really... when February comes around in a few weeks I'll have another update

 

My favorite picture. Tank is looking great!

 

Mike

Thanks Mike, it's one of my favorite corals... glad you like it too!

[Lawnman]

We will be waiting.Thanks for the response on the PM.Looking forward to the new rack.

[Sushi]

UPDATE on the tank...

 

Nothing much has changed, been battling a little bit of bryopsis but nothing that Kent's Tech M can't solve. I fragged my Rusty Gorgonian into a few pieces cuz it was getting kind of lanky in some areas. I lost my skunk cleaner shrimp. Don't really know why but I found it dead one day. Been doing 2 gallon water changes bi-weekly, finally found a decent routine that's easy for me to maintain. The Tunze 9002 is also working very very well, pulls out 100-200 mL of REALLY nasty skimmate every 2 weeks. I empty and clean that out whenever I do water changes. The filter sock is getting kind of tattered after much use, so I ordered some more ELOS replacement filter socks to start swapping them out during cleanings.

 

So that's about it!

 

I'll try to get a FTS for the month of February before the month's end. My zoo's seem to be taking off nicely. Vit C dosing rocks

[tqpolo]

Do you think the Maxspect is capable of handling hard sps and various clams?

[Sushi]

SPS for sure, not sure if they'll maintain the color you want... but it'll definitely keep them alive. For reference my Red Planet browned out under the LEDs, they're about 20 inches away so it's a bit far from the light source. Might consider raising it up a foot or so to the upper portions of the tank. Clams should be fine under the MAXSPECT LEDs too.

 

I was planning on getting Feburary FTS pics taken, but never got around to doing it. Been battling some bryopsis, aiptasia and valonia so the tank looks messy, dirty, and nasty. I'm treating with Kent Tech M and I'm going to step up the water changes to 1 gallon every 3-4 days (2g weekly) and hopefully with some manual removal,I'll be able to to clear the tank of some of the problems. Haven't gotten around to the aiptasia yet, been thinking about getting some Peppermint Shrimp, but my aiptasia are getting rather large. I hate the cycle of killing them only to find them respawn elsewhere in the tank. I was so confident about my kalk paste method but it gets tedious when they resurface inches away from where I killed the last batch. I'm planning on getting things cleaned up so that I can take an updated FTS for March at least. Things look pretty good and my Zoas are taking off quite nicely!

 

The light is doing well, corals are happy too (cept my browned out ORA Red Planet Acro).