Mark, George and project scree.

[Mark Evans]

After a delightful day at George's pad, I've now come back to sort out the many images taken.

It's been a rather great afternoon, talking lenses, cameras, lights and aquariums. I could see that Janine was digging our 'technical' talk to

Before I go any further, I must say...This is such a dream tank, and for me, possibly one of the best Iwagumis out of the country so far.

With no real plan, we just went through different stages of image taking....tank lights only...video and images and strobes...images only.

I soon fired George the 135mm f2 to play with...

We then got to business...after a torrential shower, which saw George bolting outside to get the washing in.

Now for obvious reasons, I'll not be showing any full tank shots, but I can share a couple of images which give a good representation of the tank.

The following video clip is just that, a clip. Given time, I'll do more of a production, but for the time being, you can drool over this...



Here's my take on George's 'project scree'

A pretty special tank I reckon. 8)

mark

 

[viktorlantos]

Great work guys. The first shot looks like a page from the ADA calendar.

I love this tank because of the rock work. The less is more and it's a great example for that. No need to crowd in all the plants which is out on the market.

Two thing which could be better for a perfect shot - and it's not the photography.
The grass on the front between the rocks. They looks to young to me. Maybe the trimming happened to close to the photo date. That and the algae on the rocks would be my two areas which could improve. Otherwise top class guys.

I wish i could be there that day An intensive aquascaping, photo class with the 2 top guys from UKAPS

 

[Tom]

Very very nice

I was also going to say the same as Viktor, the grass doesn't look mature to me. But the photography and rockwork are top stuff

Tom

 

[NeilW]

Absolutely stunning

Awesome work from both you guys.

 

[George Farmer]

Thanks for sharing, Mark! Even though you can see my underpants in the first shot... Dan and Graeme will tell you that I'm well-known for that!

The shots and video look great, and this is one case where I think photography does actually make the 'scape look better than it actually is!

And thanks for the constructive critisisms, Viktor and Tom! The 'scape is still young, so maybe I'll get Mark over again for a re-shoot at some point...

 

[Mark Evans]

Even though you can see my underpants in the first shot...

soz man, I honestly didn't spot that

and this is one case where I think photography does actually make the 'scape look better than it actually is!

your kiddin mate, right? in reality this is special. A much need motivation for me at least.

so maybe I'll get Mark over again for a re-shoot at some point...

just shout. Now we've done the ground work, we can home in on what we now know works. Even though we spent a fair few hours..mainly setting up. we can now concentrate on what works. maybe spending a bit more time on the rear of tank illumination.

Tom , Viktor and Neil, thanks for the input

 

[viktorlantos]

Mark, the video is great. Just had a chance to look at it.

The shots and video look great, and this is one case where I think photography does actually make the 'scape look better than it actually is!

I think mostly the problem is that the tanks looks superb in real life, but it's extremely hard to capture that "feeling" on a photo. For me that's what happened now. We get closer to the reality, but i bet in real life this would be even better. So this is not a pimped photo

I know this is not a photography forum, but would be awesome especial for top class works like this to see some drawing on the lamp placement, surface movement positions, background. The setup you used to capture the best moments.

Just like you can see in many Rotovision / Pro lighting book if you're familiar with that.

I know this is some work and maybe something what you would keep for yourself since this was a huge ammount of time to play with settings etc. I thought this would be intresting to learn a bit on prof photography connected to a special shot.

Most of us did not have prof lighting but allways interesting to see what you can do with good setup and gears along with the perfect settings on your cam.

Anyway if this is not something what you would share on the forum, just let me know when your book is out. I need to buy that!

 

[Mark Evans]

Viktor, it's not a problem to share technique and stuff

In the past, i've set up lighting like this.

2 x 200w strobes directly over the tank...

On a 60cm tank, this is plenty to achieve the look you see in George's tank shots. You need to let the light 'spill' onto the back. Trying to create 'hotspots' of light, fading to the blue. We didn't spend that much time on that part.

Now you can probably tell, that I'm low number F stop type of guy. purely for the bokeh. but you can push the lens to its limits, say f32 on my 135mm...i have a couple of shots which are pretty good @ f32

maybe I'll knock a thread out with regards to lighting aquariums?....

 

[Tom]

That would be good

 

[Mark Evans]

That would be good

ok, i'll need time though.

Here's another shot but with white background. The impression is changed totally.

 

[viktorlantos]

Thanks Mark on the infos. I think this is worth a new topic anytime when you will have time. So much information and perfect examples from you as i see.

A good capture can really sell your good tank. If it is for a competition or just framing, sharing on forums.
I am ready to learn.

Mark you mentioned that a 2 x 200w strobes good for a 60 cm tank. You also have an 120cm tank. Would you use more light there? if so what would be ideal? 2x500? Or more lamp needed for that?

Did you used the 135mm lens for George tank too?

 

[Anonymous]

Nice one mates, top class photography and filming, thanks for sharing, I should go myself for a photo session today to test my gear

 

[Mark Evans]

Mark you mentioned that a 2 x 200w strobes good for a 60 cm tank.

Yes, it's perfect. It's a simple as 'plug and play' just place the strobes directly over the tank, and the light spill is good for lighting the back of the tank. You must though, pull the tank away from the wall. very important. maybe 300mm/12 inch

You also have an 120cm tank. Would you use more light there?

yes, more strobes rather than more light. 2 strobes don't spread very well, and the rear tank illumination requires more strobes. at least 5 from my calculations. for tank and rear of tank lighting. With a black background, you'll get away with 3 lights maybe. Hence why you haven't seen many proper 120cm tank shots from me

Did you used the 135mm lens for George tank too?

yes mate. The second tank shot in the thread is taken with it. The notably more sharper than any of the other images. @ full res, there insane.

i tried Georges 100mm macro, which was also a sharp lens.

cheers clonitza

 

[Tom]

Forgetting image quality/sharpness for a minute, do you prefer a nice wide-angle or medium-long like the 135 or the 100 macro? Most pro-looking, ADA-style photos are taken at a wide-angle it seems. I'm borrowing a 24-105L at the moment, so will probably have a play comparing the 24mm to the 200mm on my 70-200L just to see the different looks side by side.

One problem I have noticed with the wide angles is that the tank edges look to be bowed outwards. I don't mind when the sides look to be at different angles but still straight lines as that's an easy photoshop fix, but how do you correct the bent/curved-looking glass?

Tom

 

[Mark Evans]

do you prefer a nice wide-angle or medium-long like the 135 or the 100 macro?

I'm a telephoto man. anything from 70mm up to my current fave the 135mm. I've shot @ 300mm and got some great images.

but how do you correct the bent/curved-looking glass?

I don't bother. It adds to the drama IMO.

this is with a 15mm on a full frame sensor.

when compared to the 'flatter' looking 135mm

The smaller the tank, the less likely I'll use wide angle.

 

[John Starkey]

Great post Mark & superb photography ,i will have to come up to yours one day if thats ok and bring my gear for a few lesson,s i only have my 30ltr nano going at the moment and its growing in at the mo,
cheers john.

 

[Mark Evans]

Any time John. I'll be setting up my 120cm shortly. Give it a month or so, then I'll open my doors

 

[zig]

Great tank George and some nice looking results by the UKAPS resident photographer Is this a shoot for PFK or a competition or something like that?

@ Victor. I find the 500w strobes are quite powerful, I have 2 of them and struggle to shoot below f16/22 even at 50 ISO so quite limiting for creative photography where you might want lower f numbers. I think the 200w strobes are more versatile for what we need. Mind you I have shot a 90cm tank with just 2x500w strobes fired directly above, I got slight fall off at the edges but you would get away with it, I'd say a 120 cm is do able with 3x500w strobes but the background would want to be close. Overall though If I were buying strobe lights for the first time I would stick with the 200w and maybe just buy more of them as Mark suggests. I normally just use the bowl type reflectors as well that Mark is using, the harder light usually suits aquascapes much better especially when you are trying to accentuate rocks, the results are crisper images IME.

 

[Liam]

Great photos and the tank, a pure delight for the eyes.
Cheers
Peter

 

[Mark Evans]

I find the 500w strobes are quite powerful, I have 2 of them and struggle to shoot below f16/22 even at 50 ISO

Peter, can you control the output? or is that with the light's at full whack?

I find with the bowens lighting, you can control the light on a scale of 1-6...6 being the full 200w.

you can shoot both lights at half power(no.3) , f11 1/200s iso 50. for the creative side, just turn the output down to the lowest setting and you can go down to the f4's and such.

With flash, it's about experimenting... a lot of it. Now i've got to grips with the basics, I now know what could be possible with more lighting, time and space.... The futures bright