# Adding more light



## Troy McClure (Aug 3, 2005)

I've decided to make a photography lighting upgrade for my 10gal ala Jay's thread. Lately I've been getting too much noise in my photos and even using digital blending I'm not getting satisfactory results. This is what I've decided to go with as it seems easy to work with and inexpensive: 10" flood light, 500W bulb, 250W bulb.

I don't remember much from my television and video production classes from a few years ago (hey, I'm an audio guy,) so I'd like to know if I'll need any gels, filters, diffusors, or other accessories with this setup. My biggest concern is getting the colors to reproduce the way I like them. For example, I don't like the colors rendered when using the flash on my Canon A60. It might be a simple matter of white balancing, but we'll see what happens.

Any comments or questions?

--- EDIT ---
I also found this 500W halogen while searching for halogen fixtures. Thoughts?


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## niko (Jan 28, 2004)

*Diffuser:*
I'd say that it will be worth getting a diffuser screen that will go between the bulbs and the tank. It may not be needed but if you try it you will find that it certainly softens the light a great deal.

*Soft light:*
The light gets softer when increasing the distance between the light source and the diffuser. That may mean placing the diffuser on top of the tank and the light 2, 3 or more feet above the diffuser. When the bulbs are that far from the tank the light loss will be considerable so the more powerful bulb (500 watts) is preferred.

If you can, get at least 2 of these flood light fixtures. One can illuminate the tank from the top and the other can be used as "fill light" from the front. The shadows won't be that deep and there will be a soft light feeling, like in portrait photography:
http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/showthread.php?t=8224

*Heat:*
The kind of bulbs you have found produce a lot of heat. If you have them on too long they may affect the tank in some way.

*Stand:*
Because of the above it makes sense to get some sort of a stand similar to  these that will securely hold the flood light fixture and allow for precise positioning.

If you find inexpensive stands get one to hold the diffuser too. The softness of the light depends also on the distance between the diffuser and the tank.

Reflections from the glass are often a problem and being able to vary the angle of the diffuser and the light in relation to the tank is rather important.

*Flash:*
Your camera should have enough white ballance settings to alter the appearance of the images shot with a flash. I'm not familiar with gels or filters that compensate for a "bad" flash light cast so I won't give any advice about them.

*Halogen light:*
These lights are used successfully to take pictures that appear rather warm. You can't dismiss the use of such a light before experimenting with it. Maybe you can get one at Home Depot, try it, and return it if you don't like the results (a common Eastern European maneuvre :-D).

A "small" final consideration - if you don't use flashes some fish may hide from the bright light.

--Nikolay


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