HammerheadV13 Posted December 31, 2013 Share Posted December 31, 2013 Finally got the DSLR out for a new FTS: What settings and lens are you using on your shot? Aperature, exposure, K level, etc. Link to comment
defender.TX Posted January 1, 2014 Author Share Posted January 1, 2014 That particular image was f/5.6, 1/60 shutter, ISO800. I always use my 28-135mm lens and shoot in RAW. 1/60 is a little slow without a tripod (and photographing "wild" life), but it generally comes out okay if I'm still. I didn't mess with the K level at all in RAW processing, it was 7093 for this image. Link to comment
Cameron6796 Posted January 2, 2014 Share Posted January 2, 2014 It's looking nice, more and more xolour Link to comment
rdck99 Posted January 2, 2014 Share Posted January 2, 2014 That particular image was f/5.6, 1/60 shutter, ISO800. I always use my 28-135mm lens and shoot in RAW. 1/60 is a little slow without a tripod (and photographing "wild" life), but it generally comes out okay if I'm still. I didn't mess with the K level at all in RAW processing, it was 7093 for this image. Picture looks great! This may seem obvious, but turning your pumps off is another must when taking photos. Keeps your LPS from going bonkers, allowing you to slow the shutter without blurring anything. I'm a photography newbie, but what's K level all about (I googled it, but didn't find much)? Also, what do you use for post-processing - is there a particular app and what are your favorite "tools" (i.e. sharpness, saturation, etc.)? Thanks for anything you can share! Link to comment
defender.TX Posted January 2, 2014 Author Share Posted January 2, 2014 Picture looks great! This may seem obvious, but turning your pumps off is another must when taking photos. Keeps your LPS from going bonkers, allowing you to slow the shutter without blurring anything. I'm a photography newbie, but what's K level all about (I googled it, but didn't find much)? Also, what do you use for post-processing - is there a particular app and what are your favorite "tools" (i.e. sharpness, saturation, etc.)? Thanks for anything you can share! I actually haven't ever turned my pumps off when photographing the tank except to get top-down shots. When I turn my pumps off the Euphyllia especially looks really weird (bad). K level is the color temperature, or white balance, when processing a RAW Image file. Most people that use DSLRs shoot in RAW format so that you can tweak the white balance and exposure after the fact. If you shoot in JPEG the camera immediately takes the RAW Data from the sensor and compresses it into a JPEG with some default settings for white balance. The problem is that JPEG is actually a fairly bad format if you care about image quality. It allows for small images because it has compression, which is great for the internet and storage, but the quality is terrible and you lose a lot of data. Basically, my process is as follows: shoot in RAW, import into iPhoto, touch up the white balance if I need to (I usually don't), crop the photo as needed, and then publish a JPEG copy of the touched up RAW image on Flickr. From there I can link them into the forum. Link to comment
rdck99 Posted January 2, 2014 Share Posted January 2, 2014 I actually haven't ever turned my pumps off when photographing the tank except to get top-down shots. When I turn my pumps off the Euphyllia especially looks really weird (bad). K level is the color temperature, or white balance, when processing a RAW Image file. Most people that use DSLRs shoot in RAW format so that you can tweak the white balance and exposure after the fact. If you shoot in JPEG the camera immediately takes the RAW Data from the sensor and compresses it into a JPEG with some default settings for white balance. The problem is that JPEG is actually a fairly bad format if you care about image quality. It allows for small images because it has compression, which is great for the internet and storage, but the quality is terrible and you lose a lot of data. Basically, my process is as follows: shoot in RAW, import into iPhoto, touch up the white balance if I need to (I usually don't), crop the photo as needed, and then publish a JPEG copy of the touched up RAW image on Flickr. From there I can link them into the forum. Wow - your tank's water line looks so flat, I just assumed your pumps were off. My torch coral is so big, it's very tough to photograph without the pumps off. Guess it just depends on the size/movement of your stock. Thanks for the explanation. The orange on your clowns is that much more amazing, considering you only adjusted the white balance. Very cool! Link to comment
defender.TX Posted January 2, 2014 Author Share Posted January 2, 2014 Wow - your tank's water line looks so flat, I just assumed your pumps were off. My torch coral is so big, it's very tough to photograph without the pumps off. Guess it just depends on the size/movement of your stock. Thanks for the explanation. The orange on your clowns is that much more amazing, considering you only adjusted the white balance. Very cool! Thanks! I really appreciate it. I've been struggling with photographing this tank from the beginning and I feel like I'm just now getting to a point where I'm happy with the outcome. I think that the water line looks flat because I caught both SpinStreams on the "down" turn. The water line is only really disturbed at this point when one of them is up on the up side. Personally, I don't believe in altering/enhancing my aquarium photos too much because it makes an apples to apples comparison really difficult. What I mean is that if someone takes photos of their reef and then blows the saturation of the colors way out you aren't seeing a true representation of their tank. I want my corals to look colorful, but I want them to look colorful because the tank looks colorful, not because I can post process my images. Likewise, if I look at someone else's build thread and they heavily post process the images, it's difficult to determine if what they are doing is really working to bring out the color in the reef or if they just do it in Photoshop. With that said, all of the images I post in this thread are as true to life as possible. I adjust the white balance sometimes to get the tank to look the same in the image as it does to the human eye and nothing more. The clowns really have been coloring a lot lately. I've always fed NewLifeSpectrum food, but I've recently started to supplement that with frozen mysis shrimp and BRS Reef Chili. Supposedly the Reef Chili has a lot of pigments in it that livestock can take up and use for coloration. So far it seems like it's definitely working for that purpose. Link to comment
HammerheadV13 Posted January 2, 2014 Share Posted January 2, 2014 Great write up on the photography process you use. I shoot semi-professionally (mostly portraits) and getting a crisp image that is representative of the actual tank is something I'm still dialing in. I thought for sure your pumps were off in that photo. I get so many damned micro bubbles from my skimmer that it tends to blur some of my photos, especially with a longer shutter speed. Link to comment
rdck99 Posted January 2, 2014 Share Posted January 2, 2014 I'd love to get to a point where my unprocessed photos are representative of the actual colors in my tank straight. Unfortunately, I'm forced to post-process not to make my tank/colors look better than real life, but to get them to look as good as real life. At the moment, without some editing, almost none of my photos do my tank's colors any justice. Link to comment
defender.TX Posted January 2, 2014 Author Share Posted January 2, 2014 I'd love to get to a point where my unprocessed photos are representative of the actual colors in my tank straight. Unfortunately, I'm forced to post-process not to make my tank/colors look better than real life, but to get them to look as good as real life. At the moment, without some editing, almost none of my photos do my tank's colors any justice. I totally understand. I wasn't saying that everyone post processes to bring out more color, just saying that I try to shoot as true to life as possible. Honestly, the coloration on my Euphyllia and Caulastrea have been fairly disappointing to me and you can see that in the photos. The GSP and Mushroom really stand out in my tank from across the room and I think the photo also accurately represents that. If I can coax some more color out of my LPS in the future I should be able to go back and see how far they've come. On another note, does anyone know how to make Zoas grow?! I have two Zoa colonies that I cannot seem to get to add polyps. For comparison, the Candy Cane has split two heads in the same amount of time that my Zoa colonies have added zero new polyps. My Nitrates always test 0, but I feed daily and add BRS Reef Chili 3 times a week in addition so there should be plenty of nutrients in the water. Link to comment
rdck99 Posted January 2, 2014 Share Posted January 2, 2014 I totally understand. I wasn't saying that everyone post processes to bring out more color, just saying that I try to shoot as true to life as possible. Honestly, the coloration on my Euphyllia and Caulastrea have been fairly disappointing to me and you can see that in the photos. The GSP and Mushroom really stand out in my tank from across the room and I think the photo also accurately represents that. If I can coax some more color out of my LPS in the future I should be able to go back and see how far they've come. On another note, does anyone know how to make Zoas grow?! I have two Zoa colonies that I cannot seem to get to add polyps. For comparison, the Candy Cane has split two heads in the same amount of time that my Zoa colonies have added zero new polyps. My Nitrates always test 0, but I feed daily and add BRS Reef Chili 3 times a week in addition so there should be plenty of nutrients in the water. My Bam-Bams started at 7 heads and are now at over 30. They were first added around July/August, but most of the growth has been over the past two months. I don't feed them directly, but they're in the center of my tank, getting a lot of light. I haven't seen any growth from my other zoas, which aren't in the center of the tank. Based on my experiences, strong light seems to be the key. Link to comment
Cycleguy0623 Posted January 2, 2014 Share Posted January 2, 2014 I'd love to get to a point where my unprocessed photos are representative of the actual colors in my tank straight. Unfortunately, I'm forced to post-process not to make my tank/colors look better than real life, but to get them to look as good as real life. At the moment, without some editing, almost none of my photos do my tank's colors any justice. The reef part of this forum is brand new to me but I can provide some assistance on the photographic side. I would suggest using a gray card or other white balance tool to help with your color rendition. I use the expodisk with great accuracy under difficult lighting conditions. Pm me if you want more info. I don't want to be a nuisance in this wonderful thread... Big thanks to Defender for the awesome build thread. My wife dislikes you emensley as it's your tank that convinced me to get back into saltwater... Lol. Link to comment
Cameron6796 Posted January 3, 2014 Share Posted January 3, 2014 Lol she doesn't even know him. Link to comment
Stussi613 Posted January 3, 2014 Share Posted January 3, 2014 I agree with Cycle Guy, I use a gray card as the first shot in the series, then color balance using the eye dropper in Lightroom and sync the color balance settings to all the other pictures. It also helps if you bump the white balance on the camera to 12k when you're shooting, depending on the lights you are using. One other thing, that GSP, even though you've segregated the rock a bit, will take over all that rock if you don't plant the rock it's on in the sand bed away from every other rock in the tank. I'm going to have a chunk of it, already picked out and on hold at the LFS my buddy owns, in my 130G tank, but only if I can keep it 100% isolated from all other rocks. I really love this build, can't wait to see it when it's more mature and full of stuff! Link to comment
defender.TX Posted January 3, 2014 Author Share Posted January 3, 2014 One other thing, that GSP, even though you've segregated the rock a bit, will take over all that rock if you don't plant the rock it's on in the sand bed away from every other rock in the tank. I'm going to have a chunk of it, already picked out and on hold at the LFS my buddy owns, in my 130G tank, but only if I can keep it 100% isolated from all other rocks. I really love this build, can't wait to see it when it's more mature and full of stuff! Thanks! As for the GSP, I'm planning on moving the rock it's on away from the other two a bit more as it grows out, so no worries there. I'm basically just waiting for my skimmer at this point and then will be adding a Firefish and Reef Chromis almost immediately after that. As for the corals, I think my next is going to be a Lobophyllia and then some Acans. I'm thinking this will definitely be an LPS dominated tank. Big thanks to Defender for the awesome build thread. My wife dislikes you emensley as it's your tank that convinced me to get back into saltwater... Lol. Nobody is ever a nuisance in the thread. Photography tips are always welcome! As for your wife, maybe you should let her know that my wife is now in love with this tank and does almost all the feedings for me . I just do water changes on the weekend, switch out my RO reservoir for the ATO, and enjoy the tank! Link to comment
Cycleguy0623 Posted January 3, 2014 Share Posted January 3, 2014 Nobody is ever a nuisance in the thread. Photography tips are always welcome! As for your wife, maybe you should let her know that my wife is now in love with this tank and does almost all the feedings for me . I just do water changes on the weekend, switch out my RO reservoir for the ATO, and enjoy the tank! Thanks! I was talking to her about it last night. She told me I could get a tank as long as she could get a Humuhmunukunukuapua'a. Her family is from Hawaii so she feels attached. I took this as approval to get a bigger tank as I believe they need a 75g+ setup. I hope I interpreted her correctly Link to comment
meirvin Posted January 6, 2014 Share Posted January 6, 2014 what is the noise level on these like? Link to comment
defender.TX Posted January 7, 2014 Author Share Posted January 7, 2014 what is the noise level on these like? Fairly loud, especially with the SpinStreams. Definitely not "quiet" or silent by any means. I would not try to sleep with it in your bedroom. In fact, for the first few months I had it setup in my bedroom (before I moved to a larger place) and it disrupted my sleep. Link to comment
akaeding Posted January 12, 2014 Share Posted January 12, 2014 Defender how if you conch doing? I really want to get one with my cuc once I'm cycled Link to comment
defender.TX Posted January 13, 2014 Author Share Posted January 13, 2014 Defender how if you conch doing? I really want to get one with my cuc once I'm cycled I actually replied in your thread already to this one . He's doing great. My sand is always squeaky clean. In fact, my clean up crew right now is fairly tiny (just a Mexican Turbo, Cerith, Nassarius, two hermits, and a fighting conch) yet my tank is spotless. Because my tank is always so clean I actually make sure to leave my pumps off for 5 minutes or so when I feed Reef Chili so that my clean up crew can get a snack. Link to comment
defender.TX Posted January 18, 2014 Author Share Posted January 18, 2014 Just picked up a Firefish Goby and a green mushroom today. Green star polyps have already grown a few square inches of new mat, I'm shocked at how fast those things are growing. They will overtake the entire piece of rock they are on by summer at this rate. I'm going to move the green zoas I currently have on that rock so they don't get smothered. Unfortunately, I'm having a terrible outbreak of red cyanobacteria. The strings will grow an inch in length overnight and I have to pull it out again. I tested for Nitrates and the test red 0 ppm - probably because the cyanobacteria is acting as a form of nutrient removal right now! I don't have a Phosphate test, but I figured that could be part of the problem. This started getting bad when I started dosing BRS Reef Chili three times a week - I've since cut that back to once or twice a week. To try and tame my phosphates I'm going to start running two bags of ChemiPure Elite (the one with GFO) instead of just one. I really just need to bite the bullet and order a skimmer; I'm almost certain that would resolve the problem. Link to comment
Cameron6796 Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 The firefish are beutiful but they cyano not so much, maybe try a 3 day lights out period since it seems to occur at night Link to comment
defender.TX Posted February 10, 2014 Author Share Posted February 10, 2014 Time for a quick update: Firefish is adjusted and eating well, getting along with the clowns great, and was an awesome addition to the tank. Also, I put two fresh bags of Chemi-Pure Elite in the tank, removed my Purigen, and the Cyano is practically gone. It literally started peeling off and disappearing the next day. I was hoping that the Chemi-Pure Elite would starve it's need for phosphates and it seems like that's exactly what happened. So, that means I'll have an updated FTS soon! My GSP has practically doubled in size and I have a new green mushroom that is doing great as well. Finally, I have a rescape in mind that may be coming up soon to create a little bit more negative space and allow me to move my GSP island farther away from the rest of the rockwork. To be continued... Link to comment
gsgentry Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 We need pictures!! Glad to hear it is going good!!! Link to comment
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