# red wash



## Sir_BlackhOle (Jan 25, 2004)

I have noticed that when taking close ups of my aquarium at night with no flash and just the aquarium lights on, the picture gets a sort of red wash throughout. What might be causing it? I have an Olympus c-700 ultra zoom digital camera. I have all lights off except the aquarium lights and if I use a flash then everything looks okay. It is only without the flash that I get the red color. Any ideas?

Thanks


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## Wheeler (Feb 8, 2004)

If you're getting a color cast, then something is "fooling" your white balance. Usually what I do is try all the presets first. I'm sure that your Olympus has at least 3 Flourescent settings, an incandesant setting, sunlight, cloudy, etc... Try them all and compare side by side. Some will be awful, but you may find your fix in there. Further-- It helps to know how your camera will act under those settings in real life situations, so the experiment will be fun  

You'll need to fool with white balance at first on any set of different aquaria lights anyway, so this is step one. If that doesn't work, then you'll need to play with your manual white balance if your camera supports that. My Olympus' do, so I don't see why yours wouldn't.

I use a white piece of plastic that I lean up against some plants or the back glass and then save those settings. I haven't had to fiddle with mine for quite some time, so I don't remember the exact procedure.

IME, I find the Camedia Master software to be not so great at fixing color issues, but you can improve them a bunch if you play around a bit. Take your sharpest, most in focus pic, and play with the color. You may be able to fix existing prints that way.


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## Sir_BlackhOle (Jan 25, 2004)

I was fooling around with the blue/red settings earlier. If I turn up the blue then the picture looks good. I believe that this is what you are talking about. I did not notice any automatic settings but I will attempt to locate them.

THANKS!


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## Jay Reeves (Jan 26, 2004)

looking at the specs on your camera it looks like you can make white balance adjustments in the manner you describe, but not store those settings :x Just jot em' down on a index card and leave by the tank and it will be pretty quick to set up.

BTW, I see your camera has a macro adjustment that the reviewer liked. Do you use it?

Here is the page http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/olympusc700uz/page13.asp

Regards,
Jay Reeves


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## Sir_BlackhOle (Jan 25, 2004)

No I had no idea. I am still trying to figure this thing out. I am totally new to any kind of photography other than point and shoot. Thanks for the link though!


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## benny (Feb 4, 2004)

I think you were using reddish aquarium lights. :lol:


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## litesky (Feb 9, 2004)

Well if your new to this photography stuff then messing around and taking random pictures in different light settings is a good way to start. To fix this problem I''m pretty sure all you need to do is mess with the white balance settings. However...for a more quick and easier solution, you can def fix it on the computer. Most of the time I use photoshop that has the auto adjust function. I click on that and the program adjusts the picture as if the white balance is correct thus making the pictures look fine and dandy for net use. NOt too sure if you have photoshop or not, but I'm sure alot of third-party freeware or shareware have the same functions. I apologize for not knowing which ones(since I already have photoshop), but since you are new, another way of becoming a better digital photographer is chosing the right programs you want to use to edit your images. When you have the time, I recommend you to go search downloads.com and see what they have. IMO, I hate the software that usually comes bundled with a digital camera. Funcitons are too limited.


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