picture perfect photos

[hashbaz]

This is a photography question, but one related specifically to the appearance of a planted tank.

I think i have a good grasp on all of the basics: lighting, exposure, distances etc. But I am looking for suggestions on perfecting the photos. To some degree, I have started to modify my plant choice to improve photo quality, and I am looking for more suggestions on perfecting photos.

Here are a few examples of what I have found that helps photos come out better:

Picture 1:

I will use this photo as an example of poor exposure. Notice how the driftwood is under-exposed while the dwarf sag (front right) is over-exposed. The bright green plants make it hard to get everything exposed properly, so I took out the dwarf sag.

Picture 2:

(this is my most current picture)
I don't like how the green myrio (upper right) looks in this pic. It is a very beautiful plant, but does not look very good in my photos. You can see how it looks like a green cloud instead of the really cool plant that it is. I don't like the way it looks but have not yet found a solution. Perhaps the leaves are too fine to be photographed from that distance.

Does anyone else have any suggestions for "fine tuning" their photos?

[GlitcH]

Oh your just getting way to picky now hash

No really though......I think it's all personal preference cuz I think both the photos are great.
Not that I don't see what your talkin about.
The first photo is really the only of the two that I think has any real flaws.
And like you say....it's probably the sag that's causing the problem. But.......you could always photochop it.

I did quick dodge and burn job on this one.

[hashbaz]

GlitcH, yes I am being VERY picky - but I look at tanks by Travis Simonson and Steve Hampton and other "award winning" caliber tanks and wonder what I could do differently.

I know that plant health and aquascaping skills play a huge part (and I am working on these), but so does the camera/photographer.

I consider photoshop cheating.

But who ever said cheating was a bad thing?

[Jchillin]

FWIW, I'm quite sure that a bit of pic enhancement is done on a regular basis. It's not "cheating" per se (cropping in stuff from multiple sources is one example), it is your enhancing the natural beauty of the tank that the camera refuses to show.

I agree with Glitch...we are our own worst enemies when it comes to critiquing our hard work.

[travis simonson]

If anything, underexpose your pictures; you can always bring out the contrast in post-processing. But over-exposed pics are unfixable. Everything gets bleached white and the color values are shot.

[hashbaz]

Thanks for the tip Travis.

What kinds of stuff do people like to do in "post-processing?"

I am about to experiment with raw format (no compression), and white balance settings to see what happens.

[reefrunner69]

I consider photoshop cheating.

If you work for a news source and your providing news photos...I agree, photoshop isn't wise. But it's not cheating in the Art of photography. Ansel Adam (shot fim, maybe you've heard of him) created most of the "cheating techniques" for the darkroom that have been adapted to photoshop and are still used today.

Dodging and burning are steps to take care of mistakes God made in establishing tonal relationships.

Photography is more than a medium for factual communication of ideas. It is a creative art.

There are no rules for good photographs, there are only good photographs.

You don't take a photograph, you make it.

All words of the Master himself So don't hold yourself back by not using photoshop, it's there for the limitations of the media with which you are trying to capture your tank, and unfortunately you have reached them. Your tank contains more dynamic range than you can capture with the digital sensor of your camera. The range of light is too great for your camera to capture. This leaves you two options.
1) Expose for the highlights (brightest areas) to properly expose them and fix the shadows (dark areas) in an editing program, in both of your first two photos the highlights are blown and you've lost detail, the tops of the plants are all over exposed.
2) Expose two identical photos, one for the highlights, one for the shadows and blend them in photoshop (or other editing program)
3) You can add more light to your set up for fill in the shadows and expose for the highlights. IMO, the last will yield the best results, but it will also cost you the money to buy the lights, unless you know someone that has some or you can make a DIY setup.

[travis simonson]

Folks, this is the man you should all be listening to. His pictures are among the best you will ever see One day us freshies may figure out how to rival the salties, but we've got a long way to go :P

[travis simonson]

btw My avatar was not post-processed - I actually have square pupils :P

[DeFeKt]

so mum was right about watching to much tv makes your eyes go square...

hmmmmm.