# [Wet Thumb Forum]-Any advice on how to improve my "best pic"



## kherman (Apr 7, 2003)

Here it is:









Sorry about forgetting to crop it. Here's the FULL SIZE PIC.

I feal as though I can get good coloration in my pics now that I've played ith the camera. I was standing about 10 feet from the tank (that's as close as I could get). All the tank lights were on.

The first thing I think I need to do is buy a decent tri-pod to get rid of the image blur. Very little there, but it does exist.

That's step one.

I also think getting closer and taking a pic of the left and right side and pasting them together will create a better "illusion of depth". That's step 2.

Anything else I should consider? Are my next steps logical?

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Karl's Parts And Construction Journal 
Karl's 125 aquascape


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## Guest (Jan 26, 2004)

Karl,

Your picture came out good but there is always room for improvement.

1. You should lower the camera and position it so you wouldn't see "a lot" of substrate. By looking at your picture, I could tell that you were holding the camera above canopy or near the top. This will create shallow depth in your tank. Lower the camera, get more plants and you will have the illusion of depth.

2. Use White Balance settings. If you have manual mode, place white object in the tank and set your camera with "proper" white balance.

3. Definitely invest in tripod. The secret to non blurry pictures is the use of this simple equipment. If budget is tight, use chair or something similar to avoid shakiness.

4. All lights OFF in the room.

5. Get as close as you can but just enough to have entire tank in your LCD viewer.

Here is a little sneak peak of what could be done w/ correct Levels (-> white balance), more sharpness and cropping the picture.

Now go back and keep practicing and taking pictures.










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Regards,
Jay Luto
 

[This message was edited by Jay Luto on Mon January 26 2004 at 07:27 AM.]


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## kherman (Apr 7, 2003)

Jay,

Thanks for the response.



> quote:
> 
> 1. You should lower the camera and position it so you wouldn't see "a lot" of substrate. By looking at your picture, I could tell that you were holding the camera above canopy or near the top. This will create shallow depth in your tank. Lower the camera, get more plants and you will have the illusion of depth.


Ya, the lens was about level with the top. I'll try varying heights and see what works best. Good idea!



> quote:
> 
> 2. Use White Balance settings. If you have manual mode, place white object in the tank and set your camera with "proper" white balance.


I'm not sure if there are manual white balance settings or not. I know it does this automatically though. I'l be looking through the manual today.



> quote:
> 
> 3. Definitely invest in tripod. The secret to non blurry pictures is the use of this simple equipment. If budget is tight, use chair or something similar to avoid shakiness.


I think I'll be buying a tripod soon. Maybe today.



> quote:
> 
> 4. All lights OFF in the room.


I do this and it works out well.



> quote:
> 
> 5. Get as close as you can but just enough to have entire tank in your LCD viewer


I do this already. It works out OK, but since it's a 5 foot tank, alot of detail is lost. Any thoughts on getting closer to the tank and trying pasting a left side and right side image together to make one large image?

Thanks for the example image after cropping and fixing the white balance a bit. I can notice the improvment.

I just finished replanting my groundcover plants, so a new pic is due to be posted shortly







The elocharis on the right (grass like plant) has been move to the mid-level on the right. The glosso has been replanted entriely. It now coves the entire front of the aquarium and still goes to the back on the left. Hoepfully that will tie the aquarium together better. I can't wait for the plants to start filling in more. Especially the groundcover. The potomagenton in the center has also been moved.

Thanks for all of the tips! I think I'll go get the tri-pod after work and snap some pics off tonight. I'll post them in this thread, so keep tuned









Karl

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Karl's Parts And Construction Journal 
Karl's 125 aquascape


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## kherman (Apr 7, 2003)

Here's the latest pic and a link to the full size image.









I just looked at my pics taken using my older digital camera and the pics taken with my wifes digital camcorder. Even though my digital camera is 3 years older, it takes much better pictures in terms of focus. I just assumed the newer camcorder would be better as technology gets better very fast. How about that







....

I might be able to toy with manual focus on my wife's camera. Imight try that out before going back to the digital camera.

All the advice is GREATLY appreciated. Everryone suplied me with some VERY helpful tips.

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Karl's Parts And Construction Journal 
Karl's 125 aquascape


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## Alex (Mar 31, 2004)

If your camera has manual settings something else you might want to try is bracketing. Take pictures at many different settings, say shutter speed 1/10, 1/20... 1/200, etc and do the same with aperture settings and see which one looks best. Also don't forget to use a photo editing program, they really can make okay pictures look better.

Alex


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## dissident (Sep 6, 2005)

ISO 50 will get rid of the 'noise' in your pic as well.

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