Photo help - Proper colour - Canon SLR

Coasting · #1 05-12-2012, 06:32 AM

Okay so I seem to suck at taking any kind of decent photo of my tank be it all in 1 or a close up of my coral.
I cant seem to get the colour right no matter what f-stop, speed, WB, or ISO I use and its driving me up the wall because I'm just not sure what to try. I see so many stunning photos posted on here, even cell phone photos seem to be better then what I can take!
Nevermind how you guys show the fluorescence in photo.

My shots seem very... greyed out.

I've given up on shots that are clear and not blurry since I have a bow front.
Camera is a canon 7d

Maybe somebody can share what settings they use, gah!

I've used SLR's for years and never have an issue with them.... For the most part the FW tank is easy enough but SW photos are driving me insane!

Thanks!

Snaz · #2 05-12-2012, 01:23 PM

Let the camera do what it was designed to do... Take pictures. Colour balancing is best done in post with Photoshop or ANY other picture software.

The settings you changed to balance the colour on the camera might have resulted in a poorer shot. Try just plain jane shots with correct aperture and speed and correct colour in post. Good shooting!

MarkoD · #3 05-12-2012, 01:25 PM

Shoot RAW and then adjust it later

Coasting · #4 05-12-2012, 02:44 PM

Well theres my problem, I HATE using photo editing programs. In my mind, if I cant take the photo properly to begin with so it doesn't need editing, then I didn't do it right.
I haven't used photoshop since highschool either.
Would need to find what closet I have Paintshop (it was free) buried in.... Then learn how to use it again.

Is there a better WB to select for the tank with the actinics? Maybe that will get me closer as the options I have gone through just don't seem right and the pictures get uglier and uglier.

Maybe I will have to try this photo editing thing....

Nano · #5 05-12-2012, 02:46 PM

actinics is where I am having most of the trouble too. tagging along

Snaz · #6 05-12-2012, 02:59 PM

The photo editing was literally three clicks with a mouse. It is an auto-fix feature that analyzes the colours in the photo and then does some corrective magic.

Most programs include this auto-fix or auto-correct feature.

Post editing is a must for reef shots. We bombard the subject with super violet rays to get the colours to pop and as a result our pictures are blue. Cameras are built to take pictures and not deal with atypical washed out blue coral under actinics.

Snaz · #7 05-12-2012, 03:16 PM

Turning off your pumps and let the water settle will cause less movement which well then allow you to shoot at lower ISO speeds resulting in better detail.

Tripod and shutter remote are a must. If no remote shutter then use the countdown feature so your hands are not touching camera when the shutter fires.

fishytime · #8 05-12-2012, 05:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Snaz

Post editing is a must for reef shots. We bombard the subject with super violet rays to get the colours to pop and as a result our pictures are blue.

I would have to disagree with this statement...... all of my pictures that I post have no post editing at all and one of them just so happens to be POTM ATM..... I kinda feel the same as the OP..... the camera should be able to take an accurate representation of the coral with its settings and not need to be tweeked with a computer program

syncro · #9 05-12-2012, 05:58 PM

I think it depends on how blue your lights are and how far your camera's white balance will go. After you take a picture, your camera tries to guess the color of the lighting and remove that color cast. Incandescent are yellow. Flouresent lights are green. With really blue tank lighting the camera just wasn't designed to consider a light source that blue. As a result it only takes out some of the blue cast. I've found that Lightroom (a photo editing program) can't fully color correct a photo taken under just blue actinics. While it can do better than the camera, it is still limited.

Some ideas to experiment with if you can:

try using whiter lighting over your tank (turn off actinics)
try just a few photos in RAW and correcting white balance in a software program, if it helps then you've narrowed down the problem and maybe we can help further
try manually setting the white balance on your camera (if available). The camera will ask you to take a picture of something white, like a blank sheet of paper, under the target lighting.
try shooting in JPEG with a "vivid" color setting to help boost color saturation and contrast

Snaz · #10 05-12-2012, 07:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fishytime

I would have to disagree with this statement...... all of my pictures that I post have no post editing at all and one of them just so happens to be POTM ATM..... I kinda feel the same as the OP..... the camera should be able to take an accurate representation of the coral with its settings and not need to be tweeked with a computer program

Could and should. Sure if your camera is capable of a property WB that is fine. Mine and the OP does not seen capable and so the need of some software help is required.