Troubles with Nikon D70s SLR

[Gooly001]

I took some time and shot some more macros yesterday. I didn't do a DOF comparison cause....well...I wasn't really thinking about it. Anyways, here is the detail on how I shot and what I did with post editing software:

Camera: Nikon D70s
Lens: Nikon 105 f/2.8 Macro
Aperature setting: f/16 on all shot
Shutter setting: 1/8-1/25
Camera Mode setting: Aperature Priority
Exposure Metering: Nikon Matrix Meter
White Balance: Preset/Manual, WB metered on white PVC
coupling
Tripod: Yes, must due to low shutter speeds and
close focus
Distance of lens to subject: 2.5 inches
Image File: jpeg

Post Edit Software: Photoshop CS
Levels: Auto Levels
Sharpness: Unsharp Mask
Image Cropping: NO

The camera was mounted on a tripod.

Camera setting was on Aperature Priority mode set to f/16 for maximum DOF.

I took a piece of 2" PVC and positioned it as close to the front glass as possible. I wanted to use the stand as a stage to set my corals onto.

I set my White Balance mode on my camera to "Preset White Balance", then I filled the frame with a close up of the PVC pipe. This tells my camera to set all colors using the PVC white as a reference point.

I then took individual corals and placed them on top of the PVC coupling and positioned myself as close as I could using my 105mm macro lens. The lens allowed me to position my tripod 2.5 inches away from the front of the tank. The corals were only a few mm away from the glass inside the tank.

I had to use my self timer mode because there wasn't going to be enough lighting to prevent blurrness. Also, because I was focusing so close any minute movement will also blur the image.

The tank is a 45 gallon frag tank and the lighting is 2 175 watt 14,000K bulbs.
No supplemental Actinics were used because I did not have any. I wished that I had some because it may have enhanced some of the corals colors.

Anways, I hope that the above info helps.

Jason, disagreeing with each other is tiring and I do not want to pursue the debate any longer. I find that it really isn't helping anyone and the whole point of the thread is to provide tips and tricks to tank photography. Debating magnification technicality does not help in this regard. So I agree with you that we shall remain to disagree and I do not want to confuse people any more then we may have. The point of photography is to create an image that is eye appealing or an image that makes a person think and reflect. At the end of the day, how you created the image doesn't matter.

Cheers.
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VN1500G

[Renegade]

BTW keep it going i'm reading along and learning lots, i may take you up on your offer jason (just b/c i haven't seen your tank in such a long time lol) I'm going to look into taken my camera to nikon for a cleaning also to look at my auto-illumination light which will not fire (yes its on) I didn't realize they were local.

Kyle

[Jason McK]

So I'm proving myself wrong here but I quickly shot off a bunch of pics of my cap. Starting at 2.8 and going to f 22

[Gooly001]

Jason,

Good on you for doing those trial shots. For a little while there I was getting tired of banging my head against the wall.
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Ruckus

[Gooly001]

Delphinus,

If you have white crushed coral and it is relatively clean, then you can use that as your reference for the White Balance.

If are using Photoshop and needing a reference for "white" you can use the color picker in the Levels Adjustment and select the gravel as your point of reference for white. This will set all the other colors in place as well.
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CR750

[Delphinus]

Hehe, the whole problem with sand and gravel is that it IS hard to keep relatively clean A lot of people will have BB too. I was thinking a small white piece of white acrylic might work, but wasn't sure if it might be too reflective or something like that.