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Tips and Tricks For Photografing

Paulo Soares

Member
Joined
6 Nov 2014
Messages
604
Good morning,

Does anyone know websites, blogs or others where there´s information on Tips and Tricks in ASSEMBLING equipment for taking effect on pictures of our tanks?

As you know and also see, most beautiful tank pictures are all made by instaling adicional lights and other equipments, like special paper and wooden planks behing the back glass, and also big power focus lights over the tank instead of our units sets of light etc etc.

I´ve been searching on the web for sites or blogs that show these kind of work, like an assembling step by step but didn´t manage to find any.

And even in these thousands of beautiful layouts published in this forum and specially in AQUASCAPINGLAND never notice or wacht a explanation for each photo and how it was made.

A ggod camera doesn´t do all the job.

For instance how it was made (?)

Best regards

Examples: orange and blue effect

aqua1_zpsxvaxntrw.jpg

aqua2_zpspfuvicrs.jpg

aqua3_zpswgq0gnll.jpg
 
Many thanks dear friends.

I´m gonna do some experiments this weekend. Buy a couple of bulbs in Leroy Merlin of yellow and actinic, some paper of cooking industry and put hands on the machine.

Las t weekend I bought a Canon SLR 1200 D with 18/55 obejctive for this kind or work.

For what i´ve been reading now it´s a matter of being creative and lot´s of experiment with the machine configurations.

I´ve read one fellow took hundreds of pictures till he finally gets one in conditions and desire :)

I also bought a "tripé" (?) - (don´t know the name in english but it is the device to support and fix the camera)

So i think i have all the hardware needed and now it´s really a matter of my own.

Once again my apreciation to you and have an excelent weekend guys.
 
Tripod ;)

Don't leave it in automatic mode otherwise you will never learn how to use it

Yes of course. And i´ll use the timer to. Not my finger to take the photos.
As for the WB i´ll have to experiment. It also will depend on the Light unit set of the tank etc.
Also read to wear dark clothing. Turn off all light of the environment / room. etc etc.
I allready took a large comprehensive notes. ;)

Let´s see.. perseverance and experiments.
 
Hi Paulo,
photography have also a learning curve, so be patience and learn one step at time.

My best advice is: read the camera manual. (maybe you'll search from time to time the manual, it's all there)
Usually this manual's are very well written and you can learn a lot.

Search in youtube for 'aquarium photo tutorial', there lot's of them (even from ada.
There you can see all the gear and configurations for each type of shoot,
cheers
:snaphappy:
 
I've red some articles where pictures where presented which are about impossible to make as 1 shot with a camera.. With photoshop ofcourse, where they work in several layers and color tones to brighten up darker somewhat shaded spots and put layers of the same photo on top of eachother.

For example my new scape has a very large dominant wood structure loaded with dents and cavities wich show as dark blury areas or just a black spot on a picture where everything else looks rather nice. If i change camera setting and or light etc to get more out of these dark spots the rest looks over exposed again.

Then we could take several pictures work them with color, contrasts brightness etc.. Layer them and pull up the dark areas into view with more texture..Cut them out and paste them back into another layer.

I'm sorry i forgot the save the site about that technique.. But if i remember correctly, Edvet mentioned it in some older topic while back, he's into photography and probably knows much more about it.
 
Hi all

A ggod camera doesn´t do all the job.
That's the first principle in photography

lot´s of experiment with the machine configurations
That's the second one :)

Now seriously, my pictures have improved a lot doing the following basic things:

1. always use a tripod
2. buy cheap black cardboard and attach it to the lamp and to the front glass. This way you will block all the light that goes inside to your lens (as a result, the reading of light would be correct and the camera won't try to compensate the super bright light coming to the lens with the darker areas in your layout). Not absolutely necessary, but it helps a lot to stick other pieces of cardboard on the sides of the tank. This way you will have built a kind of framework around the layout to be photographed (again, better readings). I use double tape for this
3. use a lot of light (I switch a spare light unit and double the amount of light). This allows having both depth of field and nice shoot speed.
4. make sure the room is completely dark, otherwise the front glass will reflect too much light

Other tips: remove all the equipment, if you use a colored cardboard in the back put it a some cm away from the back it looks much better, if you use a hairdryer for the waves try several times (it is quite difficult to make the perfect wave)

What's the problem? All this require at least 30 minutes... so I just take good pictures when I can. Most of the times I use my phone.

Regarding photoshop, IMO it is an ethical issue. Sounds too serious but it is like this. In most Nature Photography contests you can only submit RAW format pictures, so they make sure what you can see is real and only very basic things have been modified. But in most Aquascaping contest you are allowed to submit modified pictures. It is true that "too much photoshoped pictures" are easy to identify, as we all know the colors of most of the plants in the market (or at least judges are expected to know them), rocks, etc. On the one hand there are things that can only be done digitally (i.e. physically a camera cannot cope with very different diaphragms readings, the camera cannot read all the tones between white and black we are able to see with our eyes. As a result we can use basic functions such as "light the shade areas" or "darken the light areas") or that are not that critical (change in the exposition, tilting, etc.). But where's the limit? This is why I mean that falls in the ethical part. Personally I don't change too much the color intensity, I don't delete/modify unwanted parts of the layout. I don't add things to the picture that di not exist, etc.

Jordi
 
Search in youtube for 'aquarium photo tutorial', there lot's of them (even from ada.
There you can see all the gear and configurations for each type of shoot,

This is golden information. :)
How i didn´t remember to check on the utube.. what an blahblahblahblahblahblahblah i am..
 
I've red some articles where pictures where presented which are about impossible to make as 1 shot with a camera.. With photoshop ofcourse, where they work in several layers and color tones to brighten up darker somewhat shaded spots and put layers of the same photo on top of eachother.

Hello Zozo,
Many thanks on your opinion my friend.
I´m gonna be most honest on this.
This is something i do not intend to do. Work pictures on Photoshop or other.
I see to many posts and pictures that were worked out on Photoshop or other and i don´t like it. I think people do that to cover up the real state of the tank. (?)

Cause you look at it and you instantly figure that you´re not seeing the true colours. For instance some reds are definitely impossible to achive.. even some green. I don´t like it.

I rather see picure tank most natural with some deffects and little algae also (it´s natural to have) then an astonishing clean most likely to a LAB tank.. produced on some website or photo aplicattion.

So i will just make some effect on the rear glass (maybe a sunset) but i´ll try to bring the best from the camera and report photos as the tank it is. Not worked ones.

Look.. i´ve seen to many tank photos published and when i finnaly get to see those tanks in front of me with my own eyes i got real disapointed cause what i´ve saw in pictures turned out to be as some kind of fake or ilusion when compared to what i´m observing in the real life ;)

I´ll try to do my best. That´s for shure.

Best regards.
 
Regarding photoshop, IMO it is an ethical issue. Sounds too serious but it is like this. In most Nature Photography contests you can only submit RAW format pictures, so they make sure what you can see is real and only very basic things have been modified. But in most Aquascaping contest you are allowed to submit modified pictures. It is true that "too much photoshoped pictures" are easy to identify, as we all know the colors of most of the plants in the market (or at least judges are expected to know them), rocks, etc. On the one hand there are things that can only be done digitally (i.e. physically a camera cannot cope with very different diaphragms readings, the camera cannot read all the tones between white and black we are able to see with our eyes. As a result we can use basic functions such as "light the shade areas" or "darken the light areas") or that are not that critical (change in the exposition, tilting, etc.). But where's the limit? This is why I mean that falls in the ethical part. Personally I don't change too much the color intensity, I don't delete/modify unwanted parts of the layout. I don't add things to the picture that di not exist, etc.

Hello Parote,

Allready Took notes on your advises. Those tips are definitely some of the principal guidelines.

As you mention RAW i check my Canon and allready configurated it to take MPEG and RAW Pictures. Now i need a more capable MB card ;)

Concerning Photoshop i think we are TUNED!! ;)
 
It wasn't my opinion given :) just a side note ;) what we possibly are looking at without us knowing. I oftenly have no idea if i'm looking at something digitaly enhanced or a clean picture.. Regarding articles i've red it happens maybe more often than we think. The possibilities are endless nowadays.. But not for me, i tried to play with photoshop but i'm far to less experience with that program.. Indeed if a photo is to much edited i do not like it either.. But the explaination behind the technique was kinda justified with the argument, the camera isn't always possible to show what the human eye sees. Like we can see till i certain distance in to a dark cave and see some texture and for a camera it just would be a black spot on a picture. I guess you want even see it with the naked eye that this is edited in this way. Maybe some people can with just looking at the picture, i don't.

But indeed in contests it's not allowed to enter with shoped pictures.. Fortunately camera's and programs tag files with a digital footprint which is impossible to render totaly out. Always references to find about the camera and software used. :)

But only RAW can be entered in contests?? Hard to believe that anybody with a JPEG only camera would be excluded.. But if so, i definitely bought the wrong camera for that. :) Can only take jpeg with my fujifilm. :nailbiting:
 
But only RAW can be entered in contests?? Hard to believe that anybody with a JPEG only camera would be excluded.. But if so, i definitely bought the wrong camera for that. :) Can only take jpeg with my fujifilm. :nailbiting:

I´m not shure but i think that in IAPLC you really need to send the RAW file. You can send an edited one but also the RAW file. If doesn´t you are excluded. I beleive these are the rules.

I don´t know for shure cause i´m not thinking sending any pictures to it. I think that contest is not fair to contesters.

Big Hug,
 
I´m not shure but i think that in IAPLC you really need to send the RAW file. You can send an edited one but also the RAW file. If doesn´t you are excluded. I beleive these are the rules.

I don´t know for shure cause i´m not thinking sending any pictures to it. I think that contest is not fair to contesters.

Big Hug,

I looked it up for you.. :)
Digital data / Online application

・Only images in JPEG format, less than 5MB insize, is accepted (RAW data cannot be accepted).
http://en.iaplc.com/about/application.html

It's the other way around, so please do not send a RAW file if you plan to enter.. :thumbup:
Big hug back..
 
I Never read the IAPLC requirements. ;)

Just based my opinion buy a friend who told me that. The RAW was needed cause of the "ADN" of the picture.
So they can macth or figure out if the picture send in JPEG was modified.

Never the less. Many thanks for the explanation.
 
a few more words...

photographing is not just pushing the button! there's some creation in the process.
For me, Photograph is thinking! And your imagination is the limit!
The camera is just a tool! It can be digital or not, is not important. If you can create what you're thinking you're in the right path!
If some contest rules doesn't fit me? No problem, for me is just a hobby, the goal is spending good time with friends laughing (and learning too).

RAW for me is important. Edition too! Why?
Because cameras tend to use their 'small brain' witch normally is not very creative!
It's important that the final image is near my desires. Building an image (view and modulation) is great fun.
I love to search for the perfect lens for my view, build the perfect set of light for that specific tank.
Edition is very important and sensitive. Erasing a scratch in the glass or a spot of dirt is no big deal. (if they don't exist in my ideal shot).
Cloning fish or plants is fun, but not for contest, at least for me. (sometimes i do just for fun, never for contest's)
Colour, contrast, dinamic's, saturation, etc is a deman for a good shot.

-Should i leave it for a 'Japenese machine' do guess? Definitely not!
The 'brains' of the machines are 'blind' to creativity, never forget this. They act in a 'preset' way that they are build to behave.
My advice is, turn your photo machine in your slave! They are here to serve us, not the opposite.
Edit with passion, fearless of negative criticism. Follow your ethic believes (with no fear, crossing the lines will help to define them more clearly).

Never forget, some of these contest's are true photo contest and not 100% aquatic ones. (but there are some 100% aquatic contest, look at each country aquatic events).
cheers,
t
 
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