Silly Clowns

[PhotoByMark]

It is cice to see a pet picture forum. Many of us own some pets and some of own lots of pets and I see this forum does appear to be quite popular. Anyway, I fall into the latter category that is, lots o pets, so I bet I will be posting many pictures in this forum.

Here a couple of clowns that live a 20 gallon tank. No host anemone but, they do like to hang out in the Sarcophytum (Mushroom Leather). These pics were taken with a 70-180 Micro that I just recently received. A few of these might be a tad noisy (forgot to check the darn iso setting), eventually though I did switch to a lower iso.

http://static.flickr.com/81/280097156_35e6d90658_o.jpg

http://static.flickr.com/88/280096469_2e3758b2c6_o.jpg

http://static.flickr.com/88/280097041_11b76b3429_o.jpg

http://static.flickr.com/114/280096368_6d3c857f3b_o.jpg

[Kevin]

I have an appreciation for the skill required for these kinds of shots. I had a 75g saltwater tank and failed miserably. Of course that was before I had a tripod. ;)

These are nice and clear shots. No color cast apparent to me either. Your leather looks good. I bought one for $75 and brought it home. It was beautiful in the store and I convinced my wife how pretty it would be once it opened up. I hadn't spent that much on any critter for my tank. Well, it never did open up. It like tried to but eventually just started to rot away. :( That was an expensive lesson.

My fishies and other goodies never had a problem. :)

Look forward to seeing more from your tank(s)!!

[Lisa]

Mark:

These are just GREAT! I have been trying for YEARS to get pics of my fish.....how do you do it? What settings do you use? Fish seem to always be moving something, so my pics are always full of motion blur.

Love your Nemos;)

[Harv]

I don't know the first thing about fish other than how to fry them. They sure are colourful, though. Nice shots.

[MGlennn]

Cool shots Mark....now you have to tell us how you did it :D ;) :D ;)

[PhotoByMark]

Thanks all for the comments.

I can spend hours taking pictures of fish and corals etc. I find it quite challenging especially the fish. They just will not sit still so it can take a while to get a decent shot.

Kevin - Do you still have your tank? I have a 75 gallon saltwater tank also. Corals can be quite expensive. I am surprised the leather melted. It happens but, usually they are pretty tough. You will probably get tired of my tank pictures as I am sure I will post more....LOL.

Harvery - Thanks for looking. One big appeal of saltwater tanks and critters is the variety of colors.

Lisa - What kind of tank do you have. FW or SW?

For SW Tanks here is my basic technique

1) I usually use tripod for macro stuff but I sometimes will shoot handheld if using a really fast lens like my 50/1.8.

2) Lighting : Most reef tanks tend to have bright lights so if shooting corals/clams the tank lighting is usually adequate.
Fish : I use my SB800 as a remote and usually mounted above the tank. Sometimes mounted on another tripod and facing the glass. Flash bounce can be problem though. You just have to get the right angles to avoid the bounce.

3) White Balance: If no flash then I use Cloudy -3 to compensate for the strong blue (actinic) in the lighting
If using flash - then I use Flash WB
Also I use "Preset" white balance depending on the tank.

4) Aperture/Shutter : Biggest point here is trying to get shutter speed up to capture reasonably sharp pictures. I use the rough estimate 1/(2*focal length) to get a starting point for shutter speed. So if using my 105 micro I try for a shutter speed of 1/200 or faster.

5) I try to focus on one subject till I have captured some shots I am happy with. It is way too easy to get distracted by other fish and critters.

Well - that is the basics and feel free to ask more specific questions. I hope it made some sense.

[Ann]

Those are great pics of your clown fish. Will look forward to you showing us photos of all your fishies! SW fish have such pretty colours. cool;

[PhotoByMark]

Ann - Glad you liked them.

Here are couple more.

Pajama Cardinal
http://static.flickr.com/82/280145429_3a00ee0dbb_o.jpg

Regal Tang - This one has been through a lot but is doing well even though he has some scars.
http://static.flickr.com/97/280265613_7c84673400_o.jpg

[Lisa]

Lisa - What kind of tank do you have. FW or SW?

For SW Tanks here is my basic technique

1) I usually use tripod for macro stuff but I sometimes will shoot handheld if using a really fast lens like my 50/1.8.

2) Lighting : Most reef tanks tend to have bright lights so if shooting corals/clams the tank lighting is usually adequate.
Fish : I use my SB800 as a remote and usually mounted above the tank. Sometimes mounted on another tripod and facing the glass. Flash bounce can be problem though. You just have to get the right angles to avoid the bounce.

3) White Balance: If no flash then I use Cloudy -3 to compensate for the strong blue (actinic) in the lighting
If using flash - then I use Flash WB
Also I use "Preset" white balance depending on the tank.

4) Aperture/Shutter : Biggest point here is trying to get shutter speed up to capture reasonably sharp pictures. I use the rough estimate 1/(2*focal length) to get a starting point for shutter speed. So if using my 105 micro I try for a shutter speed of 1/200 or faster.

5) I try to focus on one subject till I have captured some shots I am happy with. It is way too easy to get distracted by other fish and critters.

Well - that is the basics and feel free to ask more specific questions. I hope it made some sense.

Mark:

Thank you for taking the time! I have a 20 gallon FW tank. Had some beautiful fish for awhile there. My problem has always been the movement of the fish and then when using the flash, well, it bounces off the glass. Needless to say, this was BAD!

I can try your method. I have all the equipment you mentioned so once I get pretty fishies again, I will try this.

Love the next series as well. I always enjoy these types of images.....

[PhotoByMark]

No problem Lisa.

If you have an SB800 - mount it above the tank. Lighting looks better from top down and no flash bounce. I also have pretty good results using my Happy Fong Ball when shooting through the glass.

Happy Fong Ball = That plastic diffuser thing that mounts on the front of the flash. What the heck is really called? Cannot remember at the moment. LOL.

[Lisa]

Happy Fong Ball

lmao; lmao; lmao; lmao; lmao;

Isn't it just called a diffuser?:eek:

[PhotoByMark]

LOL. It's that Gary Fong diffuser. I cannot help but think of an old Saturday Night Skit (Happy Fun Ball) and it just sticks in my mind.

So I called it "Happy Fong Ball".

[Lisa]

I feel like "Who's on First?".....I thought you were talking about that cheesy plastic thing that snaps on over the speedlight:eek: :eek:

[PhotoByMark]

Kind of the same I suppose. Except my Happy Fong Ball was 40 bucks. So it is better. LOL.

[Ellen]

Mark, I really appreciate your pictures. Your clowns look very nice and healthy. Lovely sharp pictures as well.

[PhotoByMark]

Ellen - Thanks for the nice comments. They are doing great. A little aiptasia problem in this tank but otherwise doing well. I put in a small Copperband in this tank and hopefully he will take care of those pests and then he gets to move into my 75 gallon tank.