# How to make the best photo as possible of your planted tank



## Nigel95

Contests are coming. But how do you make the best final shot as possible?

Some info about settings, equipment and setup.


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## Aqua360

awesome tank, and great video, will watch properly outside of work!


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## Patrick Crowley

Very useful!  Just what I need.

I’m just missing the results, any examples of the photos produced?  Link to a Flickr account perhaps?

Thanks again, great video 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Nigel95

Aqua360 said:


> awesome tank, and great video, will watch properly outside of work!



Thanks man and glad I could help! 



Patrick Crowley said:


> Very useful!  Just what I need.
> 
> I’m just missing the results, any examples of the photos produced?  Link to a Flickr account perhaps?
> 
> Thanks again, great video
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk



Thnx means a lot! That's right, I didn't add the final product because I am entering contests with it. And the contests do not really allow sharing them before. After contests I will definitely share them. I know this makes the video less powerful but I wanted to help all the people now before contests 

Here is not a full tank shot but made with the same equipment and settings.



detail shot forest scape by nigel aquascaping by Nigel H, on Flickr

Cheers


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## Shinobi

Amazing video Nigel.

I can see I still has a long way to go photography vise


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## Nigel95

Shinobi said:


> Amazing video Nigel.
> 
> I can see I still has a long way to go photography vise



Thnx man!

Just follow this tips and you can do it as well (if you have the equipment). You can ask me questions any time


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## Angus

First step, acquire funds for DSLR...  Just to add something to this thread, some of the best macro photography i have seen online has been from a clip-on macro attachment for Iphones.


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## Nigel95

Angus said:


> First step, acquire funds for DSLR...  Just to add something to this thread, some of the best macro photography i have seen online has been from a clip-on macro attachment for Iphones.



Yeah DSLR are not cheap  I got mine for €275 second hand. Then you need lens, external flash etc. So it does not come cheap but it is really fun to have this equipment. I am not familiar with clip on, I have a real macro lens and it works well but is expensive for sure


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## Angus

https://www.instagram.com/nanoscape/ this guy posts some great macros with a iPhone 6s and macro clip-on.  obviously not on the same level as a DSLR with macro lens, but still very good, 275 euros is very reasonable second hand, from a friend or from ebay?


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## Nigel95

Angus said:


> https://www.instagram.com/nanoscape/ this guy posts some great macros with a iPhone 6s and macro clip-on.  obviously not on the same level as a DSLR with macro lens, but still very good, 275 euros is very reasonable second hand, from a friend or from ebay?



I think all DSLR are fine just don't get one that is to "old", the lens really makes the difference as mentioned in the video. Just make sure that the camera has <10k clicks and you basically can shoot a very long time with the camera! It depends on the type of DSLR and luck but it can easy reach 100k clicks (average).  I got it from a second hand site in my country called marktplaats. It is a kind of eBay indeed.


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## Angus

Thanks Nigel, i think i may have to save up! i only have a point and click sony dsc-w800 atm so definitely something on my wish list.


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## Zeus.

Thanks for the vid M8  we have all seen your excellent pics of your great scapes, always nice to see what effort you put into getting the pics and why my pics look rubbish, but need to work on my scape first


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## doylecolmdoyle

Good tips, call me lazy but I have never bothered with extra lighting or reflectors etc, just to much of a pain! I would like to try some photos with my speedlight suspended above the tank but need to buy a stand or something to hold the Speedlight above the tank


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## Nigel95

Zeus. said:


> Thanks for the vid M8  we have all seen your excellent pics of your great scapes, always nice to see what effort you put into getting the pics and why my pics look rubbish, but need to work on my scape first



Thanks for the compliments Zeus. Means a lot. It definitely takes some practice and equipment to make nice photos. I think your scape is great to man!



doylecolmdoyle said:


> Good tips, call me lazy but I have never bothered with extra lighting or reflectors etc, just to much of a pain! I would like to try some photos with my speedlight suspended above the tank but need to buy a stand or something to hold the Speedlight above the tank



Thanks 

If you have an external flash at home I would definitely try it. It makes a big difference. It is indeed a pain to suspend the speedlight above the tank. With a hanging kit it becomes much easier. On my 45p I also do not have an hanging kit. On this tank I use an L shaped lamp and I connect the speedlight to this. I hope you get what I mean, I can make a picture of it. So basically you have to be creative when you do not own a hanging kit.  Just make sure they don't fall in to the aquarium!


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## rebel

doylecolmdoyle said:


> Good tips, call me lazy but I have never bothered with extra lighting or reflectors etc, just to much of a pain! I would like to try some photos with my speedlight suspended above the tank but need to buy a stand or something to hold the Speedlight above the tank


Just use spouse as light stand . Otherwise you can hold light while camera continues on interval shooting.


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## Nigel95

rebel said:


> Just use spouse as light stand . Otherwise you can hold light while camera continues on interval shooting.



This is possible for sure but when entering contests and you want the fish in the right position, it can easily take 200 photos, to get the "perfect" final shot. It is a real pain to hold the external flash for so long at the same position. But just for a picture where the fish don't need to be perfect, it can work (if you have space in the room). Mine is against a wall in a corner with another tank next to it. Makes it harder. 

Using a remote controller while holding the flash by yourself also can help but you can't analyze the fish very well.


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## doylecolmdoyle

Cheers both good tips... getting someone to hold the flash and holding the flash yourself while using a remote to trigger the camera! will give both a shot!

I do have hanging kits but not the style where the bars run the length of the tank, I think a stand for a flash is cheap enough, I will have to look on ebay


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## Simmo

Thanks, really useful video - great tank too.


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## zozo

Nice video thanks... 

A tip i once got from a professional scholar in photography about glass reflection was. to build a simple frame in front of the subject. Broomsticks and household ladders or what so ever does the job. Then hang 2 black cloths as a curtain on the top horizontal broomstick, with the help of cloth pins. Stick the lens through the slid from the 2 pieces of black cloth and also secure this with cloth pins. Then you have all black with just a lens sticking out. Just make the cloths big enough to slide left and right, up and down ain't an issue.

I thought it was a very useful tip, seeing the size of the room I live in... Because despite wearing black clothing myself I often still had other things reflect such as furniture etc. in the room around the tank.


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## Nigel95

zozo said:


> Nice video thanks...
> 
> A tip i once got from a professional scholar in photography about glass reflection was. to build a simple frame in front of the subject. Broomsticks and household ladders or what so ever does the job. Then hang 2 black cloths as a curtain on the top horizontal broomstick, with the help of cloth pins. Stick the lens through the slid from the 2 pieces of black cloth and also secure this with cloth pins. Then you have all black with just a lens sticking out. Just make the cloths big enough to slide left and right, up and down ain't an issue.
> 
> I thought it was a very useful tip, seeing the size of the room I live in... Because despite wearing black clothing myself I often still had other things reflect such as furniture etc. in the room around the tank.


Indeed my setup has changed a bit over time. I bought 2 black curtains that block light really well. Now a days I have one or more softbox above the tank instead of the black cardboard to create really soft lighting with 2 diffusion layers inside. On the sides of the tank,  I clamp the curtains over there and wrap them behind  the tripod + camera setup at whatever you have at home to keep it in place. Usually I sit beside the curtains with a remote controller to take photos and send them over to a laptop with tethering so I can see the result while shooting. I also use a lens hood on my lenses you can pick them up very cheap on Ali express. Just to eliminate reflections as much as possible it can ruin everything. Always setup your setup and check a test shot on a big screen to see if everything is okay. You don't want to have all the fish in the right spot and in the end ruining your shot by other variables...


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## dwarf cichlid

I know it's a whole while since this was posted but I found the approach extremely useful and you have achieved excellent results - the depth of field is superb. Many thanks.


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## Nigel95

dwarf cichlid said:


> I know it's a whole while since this was posted but I found the approach extremely useful and you have achieved excellent results - the depth of field is superb. Many thanks.


Glad it works for you mate!


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