Since posting my original Quick Reef Tank Photography Guide, I’ve received quite a few questions about how people can improve their reef tank pictures. In many cases, I’ve found that what’s more important than taking better pictures is properly processing those photos.
This video was made with those people in mind. (Click “Read More” to get to the video…) Continue reading »
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Shot with "standard equipment" settings (Tripod Mounted : 1/30th sec. f8).
Since writing the original Quick Guide to Reef Tank Photography (which is a good place to start if you’ve never visited this site before), I’ve had a couple of additional opportunities to photograph reef tanks. I’ve been able to confirm a couple of my original suspicions and found problems with others, so I thought it might be worth posting them here. Continue reading »
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Reef Tank Photography : The First Try
So, I packed up my macro lens (a Nikon 105mm micro) and a fast 50mm f1.4, and went to start shooting. But I did encounter some problems, and I think that now, several days later, I’m getting a handle on the root causes. If you’re planning on shooting in a reef tank, perhaps you’ll find these tips useful. And if you have some useful insights, please post a reply!
These were the general thoughts that I had in mind going into the shoot. Most of them will seem pretty basic, but if you don’t have experience with these tanks, they may help.
1. Set the White Balance : This is especially important if you have to shoot .jpg! There is rarely anything in a reef tank that is color-neutral, so your camera will have a hard time setting a reliable white balance automatically. More importantly, reef tanks (and aquariums in general) frequently use lights that are unusually high in color temperature (such as 10, 14, and 20,000 K), and if your camera is set at standard daylight settings, your photos will come out very blue. Continue reading »
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Osprey : Flathead Lake, Montana
In early August I spent several days at Flathead Lake, in Montana. About 30 yards from my cabin was an old tree with a beautiful Osprey nest on top… a common site around the lake. Shortly after I arrived, though, I noticed that it was a much noisier nest than most. I took a closer look and found that in addition two the two adults, there also appeared to be 3 juvenile ospreys in the nest. I hadn’t brought a long telephoto lens, unfortunately; the longest I had was a 200mm, but with my Nikon’s APS-C conversion factor, that’s equivalent to a 300, roughly. I thought it was worth a shot. Or two. Continue reading »
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A nice green frog on a lily pad.
It’s Not Easy Being Green, or so they say. I was focusing on some water lilies in CT when I noticed a frog lounging near a lily pad; it wasn’t the first that I’d seen, but it was the only one that allowed me within arms reach. If you look closely, you’ll notice that there’s a big tadpole resting on the pad’s stem. It seemed like such a peaceful scene. Until mere moments after I snapped this photo, the frog turned and ate the tadpole (which I also photographed, but left out of this thread on account of the squeemishness of my readers). Ahh, the circle of life.
The following day, I found myself in Chinatown in New York City. As I approached a fish market, with a wide variety of fresh and dried fish spilling out onto the sidewalk, I noticed a large, grey plastic garbage can getting an unusual amount of attention from a boy who was just tall enough to see over its rim. As I approached the can, I noticed the tag inside: $3.79/lb. Ahh, the beauty of the circle of life (less the cannibalistic infanticide, this time).
Ahh, the cyle of life. Frogs at a fish market, Chinatown, New York City.
Great Egret: Florida Everglades
I’ve loved animals for as long as I can remember, and I have a tremendous amount of respect for good wildlife photography, but for some reason I’ve never really tried it myself. On occasion, though, I stumble upon animals while I’m hiking or searching for good landscape compositions. This is exactly what happened last spring while I was in Miami (and the everglades). I wasn’t there as a photographer, primarily, I was spending some time with my family, but I can’t help picking up my camera when I’m in a new and interesting place.
The first animals that I noticed were the lizards. The anoles (aka American chameleons, frequently and mistakenly called ‘skinks’) were everywhere, which I thought was wonderful since I had kept a few of them as (exotic!) pets as a child in Montana. But as I took a walk into town from my hotel and crossed a bridge over a canal, I was surprised to see several large iguanas… probably 5 feet long or more. But I hadn’t carried my camera on the walk, which is a sure fire way to insure that you run into something interesting. I discovered later that several reptile species such as iguanas (and including pythons and boas) that were imported as pets have escaped or been released into the wild in Florida and thrive there. Later that day, I ran across a basilisk, and was able to raise my camera to my eye before it ran away.
About a week later, I spent a couple of hours in the everglades, where I saw several alligators, but also saw an attractive egret, which is at the top of the page. The shot was taken from the side of a moving swamp speeder: the type with the massive fan on the back that’s seen on the opening of the old cartoon Wally Gator. The alligators, although pretty easy to find, were not so easy to photograph with the f5.6 zoom lens that I had decided to carry. The day was cloudy, and as it got later, it was almost impossible to get a sharp image unless the boat had slowed almost to a stop and the subject was stationary. This was the case with the egret, although it moved its head just enough to cause some blurring on the beak.
The only nice thing about the clouds were that they cast some interesting reflections on the still surface of the water. In fact, my favorite photo from the everglades trip primarily features reflected clouds and some lily pads. If I’d had a chance to take a couple more shots and get a little closer to the water, I think that I could have made it into something beautiful; as it is, it’s just an interesting idea.
Wild Basilisk, Miami Florida
Cloud Reflection: Everglades
