G'Day from Perth West Australia

[mrlimpet]

beautiful tank steve! it's tanks like yours that make me want to take the plunge into SW but i never quite get there.

my fave is no. 4, the full tank shot. i assume you used only tank lighting with no flash for these shots? that explains the high iso and wider apertures used. if you're willing to invest in some external flash units to provide more overhead lighting, you can use faster shutter speeds, smaller apertures, and lower iso settings.

congrats on the new cam! with that lens you have a potent combo.

you (and we) will look at your tank in a whole new light (pardon the pun)! :badgrin:

 

[Steve.Hill]

Hi Rob,

Your quite correct, I only had tank lighting to take those photos. I find direct flash through the glass washes the colours out.

I'll have to start looking around for a decent external flash and umbrella type reflector to setup above the tank.

Thanks for the critique, personally I didn't like any of the pics I posted, but I guess we have to have a starting point. My next efforts will be better:badgrin: I hope.

Cheers
Steve

 

[blairo1]

Not a bad start at all bud, you've certainly come to the right place. Lovely tank too! I think we're all our own worse critics, you'll soon learn your style and preference, it's only a matter of time.:-O

 

[Steve.Hill]

Thanks Blair

Yep your right Blair, it's a battle to get the quality of pics we all chase.
It's all about technique, I think. And your right I am my best critique.
I was busy this weekemd. what do you thing of these?

 

[Mr.Firemouth]

Hello Steve!

You have some nice corals and fish!
For these last shots starting with the fish, try setting the F/stop to F/8 or F/11 and increase the flash power and increase shutter speed to 1/125 and then again to 1/250. You will want to use an external flash for more power.
This should get you sharper images with more DOF and more detail with less blur.

For the coral shots, use a tripod and increase F/stop to F/22 or F/28 and then set the shutter speed for whatever the light meter is calling for. I would go for a -1 exposure. Make sure the white balance is correct also. This will be a long exposure, maybe 2-4 sec. So turn off pumps and use tripod. This will give more DOF and more details will come through. Do NOT use flash for this, just let the exposure cook a while. LOL

Shoots these and let us know how they turned out.

 

[Steve.Hill]

Thanks for the tips

Hi Rich,
Thanks very much for the tips. I will be returning home on Thursday so hopefully I will get enough time over the weekend to try out your recomendations.
I have just purchased a Nikon SB900 flash so I'm hoping I will have enough flash power. Failing that I can setup a 150w Metal halide lamp to give me some extra light.
Photographing the fish has been one hell of a challenge. They scatter when the camera comes out.:lol:

Cheers for now,
Steve