First shots with DSLR

[smiz]

So a small background, I have zero photography skill or training lol. My wife has a Nikon D3100, so i figured I would give it a try to start taking some pictures of the tank. All she had lens wise was a 18-55 and a 55-200, which did not work for anything I was trying to accomplish. I ended up getting a macro extension lens to attach to her lenses, but I could not get it to focus in on my subject matter. I ended up getting a Nikkor 60mm macro lens for $150 but when I received it the auto focus was broken. I agreed to keep the lens and get $75 back which I think is a very good deal, but now it is very hard to manually focus on things that are moving so fast. Here my first attempt, I found 4 pictures out of 400 that were somewhat in focus lol. All comment are appreciated!

 

http://s960.photobucket.com/user/asmiz/media/DSC_0234_zpsff8853ff.jpg.html'>

http://s960.photobucket.com/user/asmiz/media/DSC_0227_zps1c5037d1.jpg.html'>

http://s960.photobucket.com/user/asmiz/media/DSC_0174_2_zps680378a2.jpg.html'>

http://s960.photobucket.com/user/asmiz/media/DSC_0132_zps21d01e22.jpg.html'>

[starrlamia]

not bad for your first go! It takes practice especially with focusing, I still suck at it and I play with my bf's camera all the time. Just be patient and you'll get there

[Veng]

Hope it's not too late for constructive commentary.

 

Rule #1 for shooting tanks, if you're not perpendicular to the glass, you're screwed. Seriously, due to refraction, black magic, Zeus, etc, if your camera isn't 90 degrees to the glass, you're going to be sad.

 

Rule #2 if you've only got a little bit of your subject in focus, increase the aperture. Sadly, this'll mean you'll need to turn the pumps off, and use a tripod! But when you do, you'll be very happy. Note, you'll lose fundamemtnal sharpness, past ~f/11, but bringing the whole coral into focus is generally worth the center being a little soft.

 

Rule #3, Post process/digitally develop/use lightroom and shoot raw, is the difference between "meh" and amazing. Seriously. Since learning what I was doing, and going back and "redeveloping" pictures I shot when I first got a DSLR, I found pictures worth printing, framing, and hanging on the wall simply because I was that much better at getting the most out of the raw file in post processing. In general, when looking at someone's photography website, you're looking at the best 20-100 photographs of their entire life time. They are guaranteed to have spent at least some time on the best 20-100 photographs of their entire life times in post processing to make them the best they can be.

[smiz]

Awesome Veng, thanks so much for the tips! I will have to give it another go and see if there's any improvement.