# My shrimp pics attempts



## trackhazard (Sep 20, 2006)

I'm a bit of a camera novice. I took a photo class in jr high school and did ok but the class was more about developing pictures than taking them.

I received a Canon Rebel XT package for a Christmas gift. So far I've pretty much used it for taking family photos on trips. Recently, I've tried to take some pics of my shrimp tanks and play with some of the camera features to get a feel for the camera and hopefully to get some decent shots of my tanks.

The first set of pictures was not so hot:



















A friend let me borrow his EF 100mm maco lens and I took some pics in a darkened room with only the 28w light fixture for light (10 gal tank). I was having some problems with depth of field as only parts of the shrimp would come out focused. I also realized that I was having probs with camera shake which I tried minimizing using the tips listed in the threads stickied at the top of this forum.

I spoke with my friend whom I borrowed the lens from and he suggested that I use a flash and bounce it off cardboard in through the top of the tank. He also suggested I shoot at a higher f stop to increase my DOF. He loaned me his speedlight and I went to work. I took about 50 shots and this one probably came out the best:










This is w/ the same lens as before, Canon Speedlight (unsure as to the exact model), set at aperture priority w/ the f stop at 5-ish or so (unsure as the the exact reading. I suppose I should take notes so I can keep track of what works and what doesn't). I am somewhat happy with this picture and I think its a definite improvment on the previous ones.

I noticed that a lot of you are shooting w/ tank only lights but I seem to have problems shooting that way and my pictures result in severe blur. Can anyone recommend any settings or new things for me to try with the equip I currently have? The suggestion I'm goin to try next is full manual mode, f/9, 1/125 shutter speed w/ the flash at ETTL setting. Is there anything else you guys suggest I try while I'm at it?

Thanks,

Charlie


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## trenac (Jul 16, 2004)

Not bad... The third pic turned out really good.


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## trackhazard (Sep 20, 2006)

Thanks.

I experiemented more with the setup: camera in manual mode, 1/125 shutter, f/9, speedlight in ETTL mode, 100mm EF macro.




























You guys are probably tired of checking out pics of shrimp. I'll try taking some pics of my fish and see how things work with moving animals.

Thanks for looking!

-Charlie


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## darkfury18 (Apr 28, 2006)

very nice pics & very nice solidly colored shrimps


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## trenac (Jul 16, 2004)

We love shrimp pics. Looks like you found the right combination for taking pics. The latest ones are very nice.


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## Ibn (Oct 20, 2004)

The shots are getting better and better. Try stopping down even more (i.e. f/16 or f/22).


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## trackhazard (Sep 20, 2006)

Just tried an experiment based on Ibn's recommendation and took shots with the same setup except at f/22.

Here's the shrimp at previous f/9:










And here's nearly the same shot at f/22:










The definition on the shrimp's tail is much better in the 2nd pic. Both images were shot with the head as primary focus point. Just a little DoF comparison for the books.

Bonus shot of one of my wife's new acquired zoanthid colony for her 50 gal saltwater tank:










-Charlie


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