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AK77
Fish Herder
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I'm really looking forward to watching this thread and learningWhere is Morri, he is a dab hand with the camera.
So, what are the basics for taking decent macro photos?
Seffie x
Hi Seffie,
Firstly I'd like to make it perfectly clear that I am a beginner myself and am happily sharing what little knowledge I have acquired and hopefully it will help raise the quality of peoples' photographs by explaining some of the mechanics of it all. If I knew a few years ago, what I know now, maybe some of the pictures taken with my compact wouldn't be quite so dire lol. Essentially though, you won't take great photographs without understanding the basics about the individual components that make up a camera and lens, so I'll try my best to give a crash course and then some tips on aquarium photography. If others have more experience in this or are amateur photographers or even pro's, please feel free to chime in with tips etc.
For close-up / macro photography, ideally you want a DSLR camera with a dedicated macro focussing lens. You can use an SLR but obviously waiting to develop film is time consuming. Many profession photographers have actually gone back to using film over digital cameras, but for the beginner, I'm not recommending their use.
Sorry to all the compact camera users! Unfortunately most compacts aren't really up to the task of macro photography. The optics in these general purpose "point and shoot" cameras are mostly geared towards portrait or landscape set ups. Virtually all have a "macro function" but its pretty much a gimmick and more of just a close up photograph than a macro one. Obviously some are better than others but, on the whole a DSLR with a macro lens wins hands down every time.
I used to think that megapixels were everything, that the more the better. Well in one way this is true, however, a 6mp DSLR will blow a 12mp compact out of the water in terms of optical performance. This is largely due to the lens limitations of a compact, whereas a DSLR has the luxury of changing lenses which are designed for specific tasks (28mm wide angles for landscape, 50mm for general photography, 135mm for portrait work, 500mm for covert / wildlife photography). A lot of SLR/DSLR lenses have macro/close focus functions but, it depends on the ratio as to how big they are going to be. 1:2 is good, 1:1 is life-size. Not all are true macro lenses and the quality and clarity of your photographs will depend ultimately on the lens you use.
Okay, so once you have your camera, lens and tripod (pretty much essential for macro work), next comes your balancing act between ISO, aperture size and shutter speed..... Your what??
The ISO is essentially the sensitivity of the CMOS sensor that the light goes into. Usually this ranges from 100 to 1600. 100 would be used in bright lighting conditions and usually gives the best results. 1600 would be used in low light levels but, you get "noise" or grainy pixels in dark areas and the picture quality diminishes considerably (see the picture of the hydroid for example). The most I ever set my camera to is 400 ISO. This gives a fair amount of sensitivity yet still retains an acceptable level of picture quality. Think of the CMOS as a digital version of the retina of your eye, which processes all the light information. It has the ability to change how well it sees in the light and the dark, unlike our own eye. As a general rule, the lower the ISO, the better the image quality. Don't be fooled, as I was, into thinking that ISO 1600 is the best – hence why my compact photographs were, well... $h!t, not to put too fine a point on it lol.
Taking a photograph is like filling a bucket with water. What affects the photograph is how you fill that bucket of water up. Imagine you have two buckets, each placed under two identical taps. Both hold 10L of water. One bucket you open the tap fully so that it fills the bucket in 10 seconds. The second bucket you open the tap up only 1/4 of the way. The buckets both get filled with 10L of water, the second one just takes 4 times longer.
In the above exaggerated example, the bucket is the CMOS sensor which you are filling with light. The time taken to fill the bucket is your shutter speed and the water is obviously light. All clear so far?
Okay, so what's the point of filling the buckets at different speeds? Why not just fill it up in the shortest time and get the picture taken? Well, imagine you are taking a photograph of a fountain with water cascading from the top down to the base at the bottom. If you use a fast shutter speed and fill your image sensor up quickly, you will see the individual droplets of water falling. Its like freezing time or taking a snap shot. If you use a slower shutter speed, you will still see the fountain but the water will appear to be be blurred and give the impression of movement. So according to how your want your photograph to look you must select the appropriate shutter speed.
Okay, now just to complicate things, we have a thing called an aperture (iris of the lens). Just like our eye expands and contracts the diameter of the iris depending on how much light is available, we can do the same thing with a camera lens. This has two functions. One is to adjust the amount of light passing through the lens and entering the sensor. If too much light goes in, then we get an over exposed photograph or just a white image. Similarly with the shutter speed. If we use a slow shutter speed in bright conditions, then the same will happen. Too much light enters the CMOS and it "over fills" it. Think of the aperture as the tap valve, which we can open or close to adjust the rate and amount of light passing through it.
The other function of the aperture is depth of field and sharpness. Okay, so what's this all about? I thought the lens focus dictated the sharpness and what was in focus?? Well, yes the focus does dictate this but, not totally. The depth of field can really transform an image. Rather than a flat photograph where everything is pretty much clearly visible, we can adjust what we want to focus on and blur out the foreground/background. The focal length of a lens largely determines this but, the aperture also affects it.
Okay so how does the aperture affect sharpness? Well, if you have a DSLR with a manual focus lens attached or an old SLR camera (your dad or granddad (or if you are as old as Seffie
) might have one of these in a cupboard. Ask nicely if you can experiment with it and always treat it with care and respect! Look through camera and point the lens at a vase or chair or some object like that. Now adjust the focus so that the image is blurred, making sure that the aperture is wide open (you can't see the iris blades inside). Now adjust the aperture controller and rotate it so that the iris begins to close. You will note that the smaller it gets, the darker but clearer the image of the object becomes... yet we know its out of focus. The darkness we observe would cause a dark image if we took a snapshot, so to overcome this we set the camera shutter to be open longer. Remember, filling the 10L bucket, just slower.So when we have an object in focus and decrease the aperture size down, its like fine tuning the sharpness. In turn this makes the area behind the object come into focus, that were previously blurry when the aperture was wide open. This is how we adjust the depth of field which affects the feel of a photo. Different lenses have different depths of fields. Some are shallow and allow for very interesting pictures. Others are deeper giving a more overall detailed perspective. Lenses also have "sweet spots", whereby the optical clarity and colour contrast and depth of field are optimized at a specific aperture size. With the Tamron SP90, this occurs at between F8 and F11 depending on whether the extension tube is fitted and aim to use those settings. Sometimes though there isn't enough available light and so I have to increase the aperture down to F2.5. Remember... the smaller the number, the larger the aperture size.
A good quality lens usually has a nice soft "bokeh" or out of focus area and doesn't distract the viewer from the intended subject. Some lenses, mostly mirror lenses, have a horrible bokeh, creating weird circle like distortions to the background. Mirror lenses are usually 500mm and above, which are used for distant objects like stars, the moon, birds and wildlife photography. Since a lot of these fall on backdrops like the sky, the distortions aren't really noticeable but, a photograph of a deer in the woods from 50m away would have these ugly distortions on the trees and shrubs, etc. Mirror lenses also work differently. Where a normal lens uses the optics to bend light and focus it on the sensor, a mirror lens doesn't. It uses a mirror, located at the back of the lens to collect the light from distant objects. It then reflects light to another mirror at the front centre of the lens, which in turn reflects light into the sensor on the camera body. They were actually invented by Sir Isaac Newton. What a clever chappy he was! I'm digressing a bit here but, just trying to explain a little more about different lenses.
There are a variety different types of DSLR/SLR lens which can be split into two catergories. Some are prime lenses, whereas others are zoom lenses. Prime lenses have a fixed focal length like 28mm, 50mm, 90mm, 135mm etc. These tend to have superior optical clarity and contrast, mainly because there are fewer internal lenses to manipulate the light. Zoom lenses have the ability to change their focal length, like 28-80mm or 70-210mm. These are better for more general picture taking and just mean that you don't have to carry as many "dedicated" lenses around with you. However, image quality is compromised for this luxury in most instances.
Not all lenses are created equal. You may have two lenses by the same maker. For example Vivitar are a fairly well known lens maker of old. However they didn't actually make anything, but merely rebranded 3rd party manufacturers. Some of these 3rd party manufacturers were vastly superior to others and so of the two "identical lenses" one may be poor optically, while the other could be a real gem.
Similarly You may have two identical specification lenses from two different manufactures. For example I have two 135mm F2.8 lenses by two different makers. One has excellent sharpness and contrast, while the other is noticeably soft. Which one is better? Well they both are, depending on the situation and feel I wanted to create. For example, If I was taking a black and white portrait of someone and wanted the detail to be sharp, the atmosphere to be dark, moody, natural, then I'd use the Soligor. If I was doing a makeover portrait to be hung on a wall, then I'd use the Porst, to hide the blemishes and make the subject … less fugly lol. Those lenses should be banned. Many a time I've seen some girl in a friends photo and thought, "Wow... she's stunning"... Hook me up dude!! But the thing that greets you looks s0d all like what was advertised. Sheesh!
Moving swiftly on....
Lenses also have an "F" rating, which refers to the maximum aperture size. For example I have several 55mm lenses. Why have I got so many 55mm lenses? Well, they range in aperture size from F2, F1.8, F1.7 down to F1.4. The lower the F number, the bigger the maximum aperture and "faster" the lens. The lower the F number the more light can enter the lens, making them better for lower lighting situations/ faster shutter speeds. Directly proportional to this is the price of the lens lol.
A 55mm F2 lens (depending on make) can be picked up for as little as £10. My F1.4 set me back £50, although can go for up to £80. I've seen F1.2 lenses go for over £260! Hence why if your granddad gives you an old SLR camera - TREAT IT WITH RESPECT! Just because its old doesn't mean its cr@p. The lens that took the photographs on the first post is in fact 20 years old and cosmetically, is pretty beaten up, although the optics are in good condition. Some of my other lenses date back to the 60's and 70's and one I had was manufactured in the mid 50's! Many old lenses can be fitted to modern cameras with an adapter, so if you are lucky enough to be given an old camera or know your parents/ grandparents have one stuck in a cupboard or attic, ask nicely if you can have it. Some might not be the best quality, or have faults like scratches or fungus but, you may have a real gem on your hands!!
Okay, so that should give you a little understanding (hopefully) of cameras and lenses and how they function with many variables that you can play with. So what about taking photographs of your critters??
As you've probably worked out, lighting is the key. Photography literally translates to "painting with light" so the more light you have available in the aquarium, the more options you have. As most of the inhabitants of the tank fail to sit still for more than a few moments, you need to be able to have a reasonably fast shutter speed in order to avoid motion blur of the creature (somewhere in the region of 1/50th of a second or above). Even if a fish is stationary on a rock, you may still get motion blur on the gills or fins if the shutter speed is slow. Multiple T5's or metal halides are a must.
The flash, although adding light, really works against you when photographing your tank. The light reflects off of the glass and bounces back into the lens, causing light spots. It also discolours the subject and makes things look really stark. It can also cause over exposure with light coloured sand so in general avoid the flash at all costs. It can also create shadows if the lens barrel is in the way. You either need a very well illuminated aquarium or a fast lens - or both. Some digital cameras can be fitted with a flash ring – a device that fits onto the front of the lens, which solves the problem of shadows but again, will cause problems with reflections. They are also expensive. So either ask Santa REAL nicely and muck out the reindeer shed, or get looking under the sofa cushions and start saving.
When photographing a fish, coral or critter, try to get as close to 90 degrees with it as possible. The greater you deviate from a square angle of viewing, the more the light is diffracted by the water and the more the camera will pick up on these distortions and produce weird, ugly images with a lot of chromatic aberration (Where the edges of objects instead of being crisp, have a blur and weird glow or aura).
A tripod is also pretty essential. It removes the additional factor of camera shake due to holding it, which means you can use a slightly slower shutter speed (which means more light into the camera). Using a tripod also allows you to plan your shot and get the focus spot on. If your camera has live view, use the dioptre (eyepiece) to focus on the subject, then the LCD screen with digital zoom to fine tune the shot. This can change your image from sharp to razor sharp. If you have a digital macro lens, the focussing can be done for you, although may still need tweaking manually a fraction. I prefer to use the camera in manual mode, giving me complete control of the shutter speed and the aperture, as sometimes the pre-programmed defaults don't give the best results. Once you become familiar with your camera and lenses abilities and constraints, you'll most probably prefer the manual mode too.
Use the timer! If your critter is behaving itself and sitting still, then set the timer to take the shot. The mere movement of depressing the button on your camera can and does create motion blur. 2 seconds delay is usually enough, although if the tripod is fully extended or the lens is long, then use a longer delay. I have the option of 2 or 12 seconds. If using the Tamron SP90 with the extension tube, I usually use the 12 second timer, as the end of the lens is still vibrating after two seconds from pressing the button. The shorter the lens, the less exaggerated the vibrations will be. If you have an external/remote trigger, then use this. This then removes the need to use the timer function as you are not in direct contact with the camera and therefore not causing it to move.
Turn off your pumps. If you are photographing corals that move in the current, then shutting your power head off for a few minutes will greatly improve the end result. Xenia are a good example of a PITA coral to photograph. Even if they aren't moving in the current then they are still pulsing open and shut.
Clean your glass. Scrub off the algae and get the glass as clear as possible. Similarly with your water. Allow this to clear after removing the algae. Running activated carbon and running a skimmer will also improve the clarity of your water. By the same token, insure that your lens is always clean. If using old lenses, you often find that they have developed fungal growth or have internal dust. Usually this doesn't affect image quality to any discernible degree, but get those ugly finger prints off the glass and avoid touching the lens with anything other than a microfibre cloth. The rear optic is more important than the front, as a scratch on the rear glass nearest the sensor will show up more than one on the front. The Tamron lens I have that took these photos has two very faint scratches to the front optic. Yet has done nothing to deteriorate the quality of the photographs. So don't be disheartened if your lens looks a bit shabby, as you will probably be happily surprised at the pictures it still takes and why you should still look after your camera equipment.
Since the aim of this thread is macro photographs, its important to get as close as possible to your subject. For example with the extension tube on the SP90, I have an focal length of 12" down to around 3-4" @ 1:1 ratio. If the creature I want to photograph is at the back of the tank, then I'm not going to be able to take a picture of it because its beyond the lenses focal range, and have to remove the extension tube and go back to operating at 1:2 ratio. To get around this (obviously it won't work for everything) you can do one of two things. If its a coral, try relocating it temporarily to the front of the tank. If this isn't possible... tough titties I'm afraid, unless you want to spend a few hundred quid on a waterproof case for your camera and lens or have an acrylic photography box that you can place your camera in. However I wouldn't fancy doing the latter as it would only be a matter of time before my E-510 was swimming with the fishes
.The other option is to coax your subject into position. If its a hermit crab either pick it up and plonk it into position or use some acrylic tube and drop a food pellet into the tank at the desired location. Your hungry critter should come running and with any luck, sit still while it tucks into its free lunch.
My last tip is take lots of photographs and don't get disheartened. You may rack of 30 images or more and only have 1 decent one. This is pretty normal. Don't be satisfied with taking one or two photo's. Experiment taking the same photograph at different apertures/shutter speeds and lighting positions to see what this does to the end result. If you're wanting to take a picture for a competition or to hang on your wall, then try positioning the camera to get a nice backdrop and consider the whole composition.
That's about all I can think of for the moment. If you have any specific questions, just post them here and I'll try my best to answer.
Happy snapping!!
AK
and yes in the dark! Will get it out and have a look over the next ffew days.
but seriously, will I be able to see it?
.
