# Getting sharp clear tank shots



## Aeropars (6 Mar 2012)

Hello All,

I've recently got myself a beginners DSLR (Nikon D3100) and have paid more attention to other peoples photography.

I'm amazed at the clarity and sharpness of some photos on here and was wondering what people do to get them? Are they photoshop'ed after taking or is it a case of taking them straight form the camera onto here?

I'm up to speed on ISO, aperture and shutter speed although I'm still trying to get a feel for how extreme the settings changes should be. I've also got myself a tripod to make sure its perfectly still.

Does anyone have any advice?


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## Tom (6 Mar 2012)

Make sure you have a high enough shutter speed to capture images without blurring - say, 1/60th or quicker is best for handholding or moving subjects. You then need to match that with a narrow enough aperture (depends on lens, but I'd prefer F4 or above on my 2.8 lens). Then match the ISO to suit those settings. 

If you use a tripod you don't need a high shutter speed, so increase the 'F' (e.g. from F4 to F6.3, F8 etc) and drop your ISO a bit. You might need to turn filters off to stop motion blur though.


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## Antipofish (6 Mar 2012)

Another thing is to have tank lights on and all other lighting off and curtains closed or preferably shoot when its dark.  Get good illumination that way I find   Avoid using the on camera flash and dont be afraid to up your ISO to improve shutter speed if you need it rather than opening up the aperture too much (depending on what depth of field you want of course, for macro shots its good to have a shallow DOF but for FTS shots you want a sharper image).


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## Aeropars (7 Mar 2012)

Thanks for the replies.

Tom, when you say 'drop the ISO', do you mean changing it to a higher value? My camera will go to 3200 so I assume I limit the light coming in through the lens by changing aperture and shutter speed but make the sensor more sensative?


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## Antipofish (7 Mar 2012)

Aeropars said:
			
		

> Thanks for the replies.
> 
> Tom, when you say 'drop the ISO', do you mean changing it to a higher value? My camera will go to 3200 so I assume I limit the light coming in through the lens by changing aperture and shutter speed but make the sensor more sensative?



And because the sensor is more sensitive to light, it is also more prone to "noise" which gives a grainy effect that is not desirable in a sharp image.


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## ceg4048 (7 Mar 2012)

Aeropars said:
			
		

> ...I'm amazed at the clarity and sharpness of some photos on here and was wondering what people do to get them? Are they photoshop'ed after taking or is it a case of taking them straight form the camera onto here?


Lee,
   Image programs like Photoshop are as important to digital files as a darkroom, developer chemicals and paper is to analog film. If your shot is exceptional and everything goes just right you can have an image that's useable straight from the camera but it's always better to do what the pixel geeks call "post processing". In Photoshop, or Gimp or whatever (we're not talking about those rubbish programs that come as default image viewers with Window$) you can retrieve elements in the shot that the camera captured, but which are obscured by the cameras processing of the image. So you can retrieve subtle colors, sharpness, shadow detail, reduce glare and improve contrast. The camera just throws you a data file. You have to use the data to reconstruct the image you thought you saw in the first place. ideally, if you're using a Nikon then Nikon's Capture NX because it has all the calibration files for their cameras, but Photoshop/Gimp works as good or better, and is arguably easier to use.

A popular technique for shooting tanks is to deliberately underexpose the image, because the camera actually records the data of the image and the program can add more luminosity to the pixel value. If you overexpose the image, the data is lost because the sensors simply flatline, or "clips" the data at it's maximum recordable value, so any information above this max limit is lost.

That's why you can relax about the camera settings. As Tom mentions, you can just set a shutter speed that will not cause blurring due to movement. A 1/60th of a second is good, but a 1/125th of a second will freeze most things in the tank. On any lens, F8 is the highest performing aperture. This means that a lens is at it's sharpest and least distortion at F8 and is only slightly less good at the next wider setting f5.6 or at the next smaller setting f11 - but this does not mean that opening up the aperture to f3.5 or f2.8 or whatever is useless. It's likely that you won't notice the quality all that much. You will however see the difference in the amount of things in the image that are out of focus. At f8 many things are in focus, but at f2.8 fewer things are in focus, so use the apertures to get what you need in focus and take the penalty of sharpness.

I think people place too much emphasis on these f-stop values. Not every shot is a Pulitzer prize winner, and getting the data to recreate your image is more important than not getting it just because you didn't want to use less-than-perfect settings. if there is not a lot of light in the tank, and if you are not using a flash, then you have to use a wider aperture, and you use as low a speed as you can get away with to get an un-blurred shot that you can then work with in your image program. You will be amazed at how much exposure headroom you actually have in the camera's data file. ISO 100, 200, 400 and even 800 are good, but you can start to see "grain" or noise above that, especially when you start to manipulate the image.

My advice is to go get yourself a copy of a decent image processing program. It doesn't have to be the latest and greatest version. The older versions (or a used version) are cheaper and do much of the same things, but perhaps don't have as many bells and whistles - which you don't really need anyway. I think The Gimp is free as well.

Cheers,


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## Aeropars (7 Mar 2012)

Thanks Clive. Great post as always.

I've already got Photoshop and Photoshop Elements so I'm good to go in that respect. Typically, what attributes to people change in the post production of the images?

I've taken a few with the settings suggested and I can already see the difference so I'll have a play around tonight and see what I can come up with.

Lee


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## ceg4048 (8 Mar 2012)

Oh, great, if you've already got PS then you're ahead of the game mate. Post processing varies with each user and it depends on what their objectives are as well as what type of file they input to the program. Generally though, you'll always want to play with the Levels or Curves (which is more complicated) in order to fix the exposure. Looking at the histogram, if there is a flatline area then you'd want to move the slider(s) to eliminate the flatline. 

Nikon cameras usually have very large photo cells so that the image is not as sharp as it could be, especially because of the anti-aliasing filters used on just about all DSLRs, so you can use Smart-Sharpen to play with this and to get better detail. Play with the three modes- Lens Blur, Gaussian Blur or Motion Blur. Normally you can set the number of pixels at 1 and then slide the percent bar to anywhere from 50%-100%. The thing about sharpening is that you want to use it as a correction tool to retrieve the original data, but many people overuse it which results in a very harsh looking image.

Also, color balance is an issue in tank shots. The weird bulbs we use often can fool the auto white balance (AWB) function so that you image records too much green. Un tangling the right colors can be a pain no matter what you do. If you get the greens right then the magentas are off, or the blues turn to cyan. The best way to solve this is to create your own, custom white balance using an 18% grey card or even a simple sheet of whit printer paper submerged under the lights. I don't know this model so I'm not sure if you have this function. Once you program this in the camera then always shoot with that white balance setting until you change the type of light you use. So if you replace a Grolux bulb with a Triton bulb, or ADA bulb then you need to recalibrate because the different bulb will have a different spectrum. If you replace with a same type bulb the differences will be much less obvious.

Another important correction is Shadow/Highlight, whcih again, is subject to overuse. Because the luminosity profile of the tank in the vertical axis is so extreme, what happens very often is that a leaf near the surface gets overexposed, the subjects half way down look OK, and the subjects at the substrate level get underexposed, so that when you adjust using Levels you tend to blow out the highlight at the top. That's why Curves might be a better option than Levels, because you have a much broader tonal range to control. Levels only has 3 "anchor points", midtone, light and dark.

There are so many different ways to do the same thing in PS. If you're an expert then you already know all the tricks and you can give me some tips maybe.

Also, if you shoot in RAW instead of JPG, the the RAW  plugin has a different interface to do the same things. The RAW shooters can give you better tips.  

Cheers,


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## Antipofish (8 Mar 2012)

Whilst I agree with most of what ceg4048 says (and nice tip about deliberately underexposing when shooting a tank ), I have to disagree about his comment "I think people place too much emphasis on these f-stop values" regarding Aperture. Aperture to me is one of the keys to getting the image you want.  It is the whole basis of what the viewer sees and does not see.  A wider aperture and you get to see only the subject (lower f/stop number) and a narrower aperture and you see more.  This is a basic stepping stone to creating the image you want.  So to my mind, too much emphasis can never be placed on it.  Shutter speed and ISO (in that order most times) play an important part in the exposure triangle too, but a large percentage of semi pro and professional photographers shoot in "aperture priority" mode on their camera for a reason, and the ones who shoot in full manual usually give greater consideration to aperture above the other two variables most of the time.  It all depends on the shot though.  In aquaria as long as you have a min 1/60th to 1/125th of a second you should get a clear image.  Shooting sports obviously requires more emphasis on Shutter speed.  You can do wonders in post production programs like Photoshop as mentioned, but strive to get the best image in the first place and you should reduce the amount of time you are sitting at your computer screen instead of looking at your aquarium


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## George Farmer (8 Mar 2012)

My top tip is to use the Live View function if you have it.

You can determine very accurately (especially on modern DSLR LCD screens) how the shot will look. Also use the zoom buttom (x5 or x 10) to get the focusing spot-on (focus manually at a point in the foreground, typically.)

This is my typical workflow for shooting a full-tank shot.

1. Turn off filter to avoid moving plants that may blur.
2. Set up camera on a tripod.
3. Ensure the camera is perfectly square and central to the aquarium.
4. Fill up the viewfinder (or LCD in Live View) with as much as the aquarium as possible.
5. Set camera to manual mode. Focus manually too.
6. Adjust aperature, shutter speed, ISO to obtain correct exposure. In Live View you'll get a good idea before you press the shutter release.
7. Use White Balance adjustment in Live View to accurately determine your white balance. This saves lots of time in Photoshop etc.
8. Take a few shots. Bracket the exposures and deliberately under and overexpose. 
9. Choose the best shot once it's uploaded onto your computer.
10. Open the shot with Photoshop.
11. Crop out unecessary background clutter i.e. above and below the tank.
12. Make your post-processing adjustments. Hopefully there won't be many because you've nailed it by using Live View...
13. Resize to 800 pixels or so along the longest edge.
14. Unsharp mask at 0.2-0.5 pixels, 100% threshold.
15. Curves to create necessary contrast if necessary.
16. Upload to Photobucket or Flickr.
17. Grab link and share on UKAPS!!   

Because you're using a tripod there's no reason to rely on fast shutter speeds unless you want to capture fast moving fish. Also consider using mirror lock-up and self-timer (or remote shutter release). Although mirror lock-up is uncessary with Live View, as the mirror is already locked-up. Self-timer is good because it eliminates any camera blur caused by pressing the shutter release (this can even occur on a tripod).

Play around with different focal lengths to get difference perceptions of depth. Wider focal length (lower mm) = deeper perspective.

For 'serious' shooting I will get lots of extra light above the tank (flash or loads of nice colour renditon T5). This obviously gives room for greater depth of field (smaller apertures), faster shutter speeds and lower ISO. All this adds up to better quality images. 

Finally, most modern DSLRs will shoot up to ISO 1600 or above with minimal noise, especially if you're only posting 800 pixels images on the web.


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## Mr P (8 Mar 2012)

hi chaps,i keep my camera in aperture priority most of the time and  it does effect the overall image of your photo,by using a wide aperture you can make your subject really stand out ,small aperture give you front to back sharpness through your photos, you should get in the habit of taking shots with different apertures of the same subject and seeing what you like on your monitor after,some subjects do need a higher or lower speed,i do some quite long exposure work(several minutes),i  think just keep practicing and using your camera and it becomes second nature .i have not photographed my tanks alot but georges photo look very good so i would listen to him,all the best ,skankypup.


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## Antipofish (8 Mar 2012)

George Farmer said:
			
		

> My top tip is to use the Live View function if you have it.
> 
> You can determine very accurately (especially on modern DSLR LCD screens) how the shot will look. Also use the zoom buttom (x5 or x 10) to get the focusing spot-on (focus manually at a point in the foreground, typically.)
> 
> ...



Awesome post George ! Reminded me of a couple of things too   Cheers.


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## Antipofish (8 Mar 2012)

skankypup said:
			
		

> hi chaps,i keep my camera in aperture priority most of the time and  it does effect the overall image of your photo,by using a wide aperture you can make your subject really stand out ,small aperture give you front to back sharpness through your photos, you should get in the habit of taking shots with different apertures of the same subject and seeing what you like on your monitor after,some subjects do need a higher or lower speed,i do some quite long exposure work(several minutes),i  think just keep practicing and using your camera and it becomes second nature .i have not photographed my tanks alot but georges photo look very good so i would listen to him,all the best ,skankypup.



Thats some damn good advice too.  Practice taking shots at different settings.  All of them.  Its a great way to learn.


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## Piece-of-fish (8 Mar 2012)

George Farmer said:
			
		

> My top tip is to use the Live View function if you have it.
> 
> You can determine very accurately (especially on modern DSLR LCD screens) how the shot will look. Also use the zoom buttom (x5 or x 10) to get the focusing spot-on (focus manually at a point in the foreground, typically.)
> 
> ...



Great topic and advice guys...
George could you expand a bit of number 8 and 14   
Cheers.


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## George Farmer (8 Mar 2012)

Piece-of-fish said:
			
		

> Great topic and advice guys...
> George could you expand a bit of number 8 and 14
> Cheers.


No problem, Ed!   

*8. Take a few shots. Bracket the exposures and deliberately under and overexpose.*

Bracketing means shooting several shots with different exposures. For example you could take 5 shots - all different.  

Using your Live View take one shot that you consider looks the best exposed.

Then deliberately underexpose by one stop i.e. from 1/50 sec to 1/60 sec shutter speed *OR* f/5.6 to f/6.3 *OR* ISO 800 to ISO 640.  Then take another shot by underexposing by another stop i.e. from 1/60 sec to 1/80 sec etc. etc.

The do the same by overexposing two seperate shots, each by one stop over i.e 1/40 or f/5 or ISO 1000 then 1/30 or f/4.5 or ISO 1250.

From these five exposures you can evaluate which looks best once you've seen them on your computer screen.

*14. Unsharp mask at 0.2-0.5 pixels, 100% threshold.*

The Unsharp Mask is under the "filter" menu in Photoshop. There are two sliders; one for pixels, one for threshold. I always keep the threshold at 100%, and then drag the pixels slider to change the sharpness.  The smaller the image, the more pronounced the effect will be for the given pixel value. When adjusting the sharpness for images on the web I always do so after resizing to 800 pixels or so.

I hope that makes sense. It sounds complicated when writing but is really simple in practice.


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## ghostsword (9 Mar 2012)

Great advice George!!

This was exactly the sort of advice I was looking for!! 

I am saving it, email it to myself as well, it is superb.

Now just need to firgure out where to put the flashes. 

___________________________


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## George Farmer (9 Mar 2012)

ghostsword said:
			
		

> Great advice George!!
> 
> This was exactly the sort of advice I was looking for!!
> 
> ...


Thanks mate.

This is just stuff I've picked up myself over the years after lots of trial and error - there's nothing to say it's the best way to do things, but it works ok for me.


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## ghostsword (9 Mar 2012)

Yes, but that sort of advice stops me struggling and find out from myself what works and what does not work. 

I got a headstart ..  

Possibly the post of the year (so far), I am sure that many people will return to it time and time again.


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## Piece-of-fish (9 Mar 2012)

Thanks a lot George indeed...


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