Question About This Picture. Can Anyone Help?

[FishCrazyBenBOMB]

Ok there is a picture i'm going to post here below that I found, I think it's one of amano's tanks or something but see how the background is like light and goes into blue at the bottom and such.

How do they do that? Make the background look like that. Looks like it just goes on forever and it's in like a vally idk.

Here is the picture.

 

[follicle]

I'm a graphic designer, and to me it looks like a simple gradient back drop. A gradient is when two colors are blended together. In this case, white and a dull dark blue. The gradient occurs toward the bottom of the print.

I'm thinking a local graphic designer and printer might be able to help you out if you can't find something like that online.

 

[FishCrazyBenBOMB]

Well I found out how they actually do this, i'll post it if anyone else is interested.

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When they took the picture they will have had no background or a clear frosted sheet.

Then someone will hold an external flash just above the back of the tank (behind but above if you know what I mean)

So when the camera took the picture it got the light from the flash and as it gets closer to the substrate it gets darker (blue light goes further too)

A trick that is easy for someone with no equipment is to get a sunrise effect by laying a small standard incandescent or warm (3000K) light on the cabinet behind the tank and turning it on. You will get the rear colour yellowish at the bottom fading into white as it gets closer to the flourescents. You can also have a warm at the bottom and a red at the top with no flourescents at the top and get the yellow merging into the red and a darkened tank looking like a sunset etc. experiment with coloured incandescents. They are cheap

 

[SWerner13]

tight thats awesome, i was thinking the same things when I saw those tanks, i was planning on getting an external flash soon anyway. I'll experiment this summer.

 

[WhiteDevil]

Just take the image to the print shop then? what material is best, I got a ton of those bulbs from the bachelor party days still, Maybe a purple sunrise would be nice.

 

[FishCrazyBenBOMB]

Well I tried this and the light shined right through the tank, liek you can obv. tell that there is a light behind it. No effect at all other anything so i'm going to have to look into it a little more to understand haha.

 

[JasonC]

You may want to look into the "frosted" part of the equation. I would check out a photography store, or a theatrical supply store that sells color media, and try to buy a sheet of diffusion media to put on the rear glass of the tank. There are many different types, so if you describe what you are trying to do (maybe take a picture with you) they should be able to hook you up with the right one... shouldn't cost more than about 8 or 9 bucks for a 20"x24" sheet. If they cant help, I can look through my swatch books to see if I can get you more info. I am interested in seeing if you can get this to work.

 

[severum mama]

You know, one thing I didn't realize when I first thumbed through Amano's "Nature Aquarium World" books is how staged these photos are (for lack of a better word). In addition to using a ton of expensive photography equipment that most non-professionals just don't have, he removes all the equipment from the aquarium to get that super clean look. When asked how he gets the water to ripple so perfectly for the photos, Amano replied that he uses a hair dryer! LOL. I found all this out when I attended the Aquatic Gardener's Association convention 2008 in Atlanta. HN1 and I watched a demonstration by Amano, and a Q & A session was part of the demo. He set up a high-tech planted tank from scratch, somewhere around 70 gallons I believe, and explained a lot of his techniques and equipment (he used all ADA brand stuff). He speaks very little English, but used a translator to help him talk to the audience. It was an incredible experience.

I'll see if I can dig up some of the pics.