Gel Photography Filters

[Beej1254]

I've heard a few times now that using Gel Photography filters helps less capable cameras and smart phones take pictures of our fish tanks. I'm not sure of the exact technical reasons why this works but I wanted to give it a shot especially sense a pack is less than $8 shipped.

Has anyone tried these?
They should arrive Thursday so when they do I'll post some comparison photos with my IPhone 6s.


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[Delapool]

Never heard of them I confess. Will be interested to hear how they went.

 

[Beej1254]

Well I have notification they are shipped and on the way. Should be here tomorrow, I'm excited to see if it actually works


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[Beej1254]

Ok well here is a small test run. I wish I had more time to test these out but I have to pick up my son haha. I'll be doing more tests later and tweaking the lighting around to see what gives the best results. Overall I'm not complaining about what I've seen so far

Normal shot:



Actinic:



Orange filter:



Side view:



Side view orange filter:






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[Beej1254]

Ok to be a little more clear on what's going on. The photos with the orange filter are taken with 95% brightness blue light on my 120watt LEDs. Apparently the photo gels preferably the orange spectrum block the blue light from the camera lens resulting in a closer to normal colored picture.

I'm not a photography expert by any means so if you are I'd love to hear your expertise vs my limited knowledge.

Because of this filter you get the nice colorful coral photos without the washed out blue. This technique needs its perfecting and of course would be better with better equipment. But overall I feel good about some results I think I'll be able to get after playing around on my iPhone 6s and these gel filters.

I'll post more pictures when I don't have outside light coming in through the windows and once I tweak things more.

Also if you search online you'll be able to find other reefers who have tried this with much better write ups.


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[Delapool]

Well, I'm no good. I liked them all

Do they cut out light glare as well? That's a big problem for my photos as the top of plants looked bleached but it is just high light.

 

[Beej1254]

Ok here are some more pictures..

The lighting conditions:

Dark room - only source of light is fish tank
120w LEDs 95% Blues only

Camera - iPhone 6s

Gel filter color - YELLOW


Full tank shot no filter.. Blue LEDs 95%:



Blue tank shot with yellow filter...Blue LEDs 95%:



Close up red Zoa colony...blues 95% no filter:



Close up red Zoa colony..blues 95% with yellow filter:



Close up Pink Zipper..blues 95% and yellow filter



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[Delapool]

To me I thought I could see more with the filters used?

Would you have a link on the filters at all? Kind of tempted to buy

 

[Beej1254]

Yes! That's what I am seeing as well. I'm really surprised at how well this tiny little piece of colored plastic filters out the blue light. Here's a link to the gel filters I bought


Neewer Universal Photography Speedlite Flash 1.85" x 3.03"/47 x 77 mm 35PCS Square Full Color Balance Gel Filter Kit with Magic Strap for Canon Nikon Sony Pentax Olympus and Other Flashes https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00QN48X0Q/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awd_OYA2wbYG3EF29

Depending on the camera you have you may need to buy bigger size filters to cover your camera lens.

The technique..at least how I do it is that I just take a piece of either yellow or orange gel filter and put it in front of the camera lens and let the camera focus. The gel filter removes the extreme blue light leaving you with a clear photo of your corals and their beautiful colors! I'm gonna play around with this more and adjust lighting and try different gel filters to see if I get better results.

All in all not bad for such a low cost. I didn't want to buy a nice camera to take pictures of my reef tank so this is a nice and cheap way to use my iPhone 6s to get good shots


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[Delapool]

Gee, that is a low cost!

And er, technically for the budget committee it's camera related not aquaria related, no?

 

[Beej1254]

Haha yes! Exactly!

I bought it to take better pictures!!...


....of the fish tank. Lol


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[Beej1254]

Just trying these gel filters out again. Pretty cool results. Photos taken with an iPhone 6s and the color filter stated above the picture.


Red gel filter




Yellow gel filter










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[BigRedsReefs10]

The yellow looks like a winner . Nice shots


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[Delapool]

Love the yellow as well! Very superb

 

[Beej1254]

I really like the yellow as well. Especially for close shots. The reason I chose the red for full tank shots is because everything showed up much brighter then the yellow. I really feel that in certain situations especially with the equipment I have that certain filters make all the difference


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[Delapool]

You should enter one in POTM