Help with photography, please!

[JMReefs]

Hey everyone, this is our first post. We need some help with photographing our coral. We have a canon t4i with a canon 60mm f2.8 macro lense. We could use any advice as far as the settings. We have led lights and are taking pictures under the blue and white lights with a tripod using the timer, but we're having problems with the clarity of the pictures and not being able to get the true colors of the Corals. We could use any tips or advice.
Thanks so much!
Meryl and Jerry

 

[RacinRevo0818]

No expert here but I can tell you what helps.
Shoot in raw
Use tripod
Turn off all flow
Set iso to lowest setting example 100
Lock the mirror to stay opened (read owners manual)
Shoot in av mode with aperture between 7 to 22 just see what works best
Edit raw image to get the correct color balance
I have had the best luck using auto white balance and adjusting from there
Use with a timer or remote to take picture
Shoot shoot and then shoot one more and you might get the shot you want.
Be patient and learn from your camera what settings work.

 

[Poseidon]

Welcome to R2R JMReefs!

Please make sure to check out the stickies at the top of this forum, it has some pretty decent visuals to help get you started.

As for specifics, there is not a "magic" camera setting that works for everyone, as lighting is different from tank to tank, and light to light. If you are going to use Av mode, then try F11 and then set the EV to -1 and see if that works. (A tripod is a must.)

 

[returnofsid]

Either learn how to shoot and edit RAW or learn how to set a Custom White Balance.

LED lighting is very difficult to photograph. Our cameras have trouble handling to overly saturated blue spectrum that our LEDs produce. Shooting in RAW and then balancing the colors in post editing is one answer. Setting a custom white balance is a second option.

As far as further help goes, it'll be difficult to give you "set in stone" settings. As Poseidon said, every tank is differently lit. Your best bet would be to take some photos and upload them to here, explaining what you like and dislike about each photo. Seeing the photos and being able to see your camera settings (Yes, using an EXIF viewer some of us are able to see exactly what camera settings you used for each photograph), we will be much more able to give you suggestions.

 

[Bishop]

when you say you have an issue with clairity I cant help but think of water quality or a bowfront tank. The coral can handle a dip in water quality a lot better than your camera can. If the tank is a bow front then you just wont get a very good image. Shooting strait at the glass is a must also and a lot of the really great shots are taken throught a water surface viewer.

As for white balance as well as more quality in the image, I'd highly suggest using adobe lightroom.