Froggie Posted December 22, 2005 Report Share Posted December 22, 2005 I present to you, faithful viewers, the horror of my 240 gallon tank. Eight feet of questionable decor (rocks!) and a few too many breeding malawians for a tang tank. It's dimensions are 8'x30"x20". Inhabitants include: 11 - Cyptotilapia sp. north "burundi" (largest is a 11 inch F2 male) 1 - Altolamprologus compressiceps 1 - Altolamprologus calvus 4 - Neolamprologus leleupi 10 - Metriaclima estherae (they bred themselves to a fair sized group) 5 - Syndontis petricola 5 – Protomelas marginatus (being bred in the tank) 1 - Sciaenochromis fryeri (exceptional fish, wish someone would buy him) Taking a picture of the entire tank is exceedingly difficult. It's very wide and dimly lit. Settings used were 1/100, f/5 and 23mm. I pushed the exposure an additional two stops in post processing. I might try a different approach in a day or two. I have an idea that "may" work. Sean Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fatpuffer Posted December 22, 2005 Report Share Posted December 22, 2005 WOW! Js Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vallisneria Posted December 22, 2005 Report Share Posted December 22, 2005 Beautiful tank Every time i try to take full tank shots of my tank all the fish look blurry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nevchewy Posted December 22, 2005 Report Share Posted December 22, 2005 Every time i try to take full tank shots of my tank all the fish look blurry. me too! The only good shot i have of my tanks is when they didn't have any fish in them. Sweet setup! one day, i hope to own a tank like yours but only built into the wall. one day... nev Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Molino Posted December 23, 2005 Report Share Posted December 23, 2005 Very impressive tank Sean! For the picture you could probably get by with a slightly slower shutter speed and larger aperture. What ISO setting did you shoot that at? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Froggie Posted December 23, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 23, 2005 You would think I could get by with a slower shutter speed, but the 30-40 pictures I took at 1/80 and 1/60 would disagree with you. You're likely right about the aperature though, I might have been able to lower it another half stop. The lens I shot with is, at it's short end, f/4. The picture was taken at ISO 400, there was too much grain at ISO800 for my tastes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moogled Posted December 23, 2005 Report Share Posted December 23, 2005 Is it just me or is there only half a picture loaded? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
albert_dao Posted December 23, 2005 Report Share Posted December 23, 2005 It's just you noob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canucklehead Posted December 23, 2005 Report Share Posted December 23, 2005 Damn that looks good, love the dimensions, is it glass, acrylic or DIY? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
African_Fever Posted December 23, 2005 Report Share Posted December 23, 2005 I'd bet DIY as those Saskatoon boys love that stuff and are definitely the ones to talk to about it for anyone looking at doing their own. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Froggie Posted December 23, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 23, 2005 I'd bet DIY as those Saskatoon boys love that stuff and are definitely the ones to talk to about it for anyone looking at doing their own. Yes, it's indeed a wooden tank. Kyle, you saw it last time you were through town when you picked up those S. fryeri females. Though it's since been moved and rearranged. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moogled Posted December 25, 2005 Report Share Posted December 25, 2005 It's just you noob No, I'm pretty sure the bottom half of this jpeg is swallowed by the abyss. I can't even see the substrate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Froggie Posted December 25, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 25, 2005 No, I'm pretty sure the bottom half of this jpeg is swallowed by the abyss. I can't even see the substrate. That would be due to the fact it's a wooden tank and has a "frame" around it which obscures it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mighty Prawn Posted December 26, 2005 Report Share Posted December 26, 2005 I've had some good luck with aquarium photos. This is more for anyone in the thread who had trouble with this before. If you don't have a wide angle lens, buy one, rent one or borrow one for your camera. This really really helps as you can get closer to your tank, and will have less clutter in the picture and more tank. Second, use a tripod and a remote/wire trigger. The heavier and more stable the tripod the better. If you plan on getting the fish to look good as well, you're going to need flood lights. Otherwise, set it to manual exposure (I'm pretty sure every SLR, digital and manual should have this function), and test yourself to see what works best. I usually do increments of 5 seconds. Now, make sure the area is pitch black aside from the tank, otherwise light from other sources is going to hit the film and make the exposure less successful. Your fish will come out blurry, probably in a cool way. I also reccomend turning off any filter media etc. that causes current for this process so your plants do not sway as much. If they are still enough, they won't be too blurry and may even settle in a spot enough that it's actually sharp. Otherwise, like I said before, for a nice photo with the fish captured decently, flood lights are going to work best so you can have a nice fast shutter speed. And unrelated, when doing macro photos, get a lens hood, so you can use a flash, and it won't reflect off the glass and get into your exposure, it will only brighten your scene without the ruining effect of a big white glare. (However, be careful where you aim, as if you're shooting straight ahead, you will probably get a flash on the rear wall of a glass tank, causing a different effect of lighting up behind the fish, causing the fish to be very dark, and the backround of your aquarium nice and bright. I would consider inserting a safe, temporary black matte backround into the tank itself to prevent reflection/glare, making sure not to contaminate your tank, or disturb any plants) P.S. That tank is loooooooooooooong, wow! -Hideo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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