Pics of some recent frags
 

I don't have a proper camera for taking tank pics, but thought I would see what my old Sony vid cam can do. It has a still pic option and a tele macro setting, so I gave it a try.

Here are some pics of recent frags, some growing pretty good, almost looking like mini colonies. I am not always sure of the ID though, so any feedback on that is welcome, too.

Green Birdnest? Has brown body.
http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...ps25d433e4.jpg

Valida? From Rich.
http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...psc22d54c3.jpg

Cali Tort
http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...ps10f37d5f.jpg

Bubble Coral, have frags if anyone is interested in this variety.
http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...psd7e8a5f6.jpg

Tenuis
http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...psa1f18b96.jpg

Green Bali Prostrata (just a guess), bright fuzzy green polyps with yellow tips. Not a slimer, though.
http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...ps30fd84f4.jpg

Purple Stylo
http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...ps10be18ed.jpg

Setosa, started off as single 1 inch frag stem
http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...psb0c7ee82.jpg

Red Planet, started off with just some polyps on a partially covered frag plug. From Rich.
http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...ps4e404d36.jpg

What is this?? Got it from Rich. Deep pink, with royal blue tips.
http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...ps7b323788.jpg

Yellow Birdsnest
http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...pse47e736b.jpg

Tyree Sunset
http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...ps868a9fc7.jpg

Another mystery acro?? Light pink with blue tips. From Rich.
http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...ps16d3d1d5.jpg

??? Brown/green/pink body with blue tips. From Rich.
http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...psc1a84728.jpg

Turaki? Green with blue tips.
http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...ps5f3b5b16.jpg


??? Brown body, but new growth is deep pink. From Rich.
http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...ps49f98704.jpg

Wow, you certainly have some nice pieces that I would like myself!! :P

Thanks, Holly, and I just saw your tank, too. Very nice. And welcome to Canreef.

I am trying to get some more pics from this tank to post. But am having a hard time getting the subject frags in focus, with the camera I'm using. Also, pics come out more purple than in reality. Not sure if I need to change my White Balance setting or something else.

I just started SPS a few months ago, and they are growing nicely. But this is really my 1st attempt with the close-up pics.

some gorgeous pieces! wow your video cam did a bangup job!

Ya, the Camera I use is only an Olympus SZ-12 14 megapixel digutal camera. I need to turn the blue's almost off on my fixture and then have to actually bring it up in an editing softwear to bring the sharpness up, reduce noise and somtimes adjust the color on certain coral because there are just some coral my camera can't pick the colors up on unless I bring down brightness or glare or something like that. There is this one acro i call "ice blue" that my camera picks up as all white lol but it's not. I think I found a setting for taking pictures of that coral though, but even then I have to adjust stuff on that editing softwear so I can get it as close to how I see it in person as possible lol unless you have like a $600-$800 camera, some coral is almost impossible to get a good picture of haha. I think you did a good job with your shots tho! for sure.

Here are a few more pics of some more of my corals.

Sun Coral
http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...ps89959816.jpg

Purple Cross. My first SPS from 5 months ago. Growing like crazy, could be fragged again.
http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...ps9d8803d6.jpg

Common Green Mushroom. Have lots of these, if anyone wants some.
http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...psad0d4f92.jpg

Colt coral. Under strong light in this tank, so very fuzzy polyps. Looks quite different in my other tank.
http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...psc6d6de89.jpg

Frogspawn. Running out of room with it, so frags can be available.
http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...psc9face3d.jpg

Neon Candy Cane
http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...ps4a0b63a6.jpg

Fuzzy Mushrooms
http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...psa3ecc7d6.jpg

Another Valida?
http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...ps2358c7e3.jpg

Pink Lemonade
http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...ps2ab489ff.jpg

Dendros
http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...ps030064db.jpg

Common Green Palys. Have lots, if anyone wants some.
http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...psfa2d1bb1.jpg

Green Monti
http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...ps6509b585.jpg

Bird of Paradise
http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...pse9452025.jpg

Nice stuff! this one looks more like a green Cyphastrea than a Monti though :-)

Yes, you're right. Although, I thought that was just a type of monti. I am still learning...

This piece had a rough ride when I first got it. I had it too high, and it got bleached a bit. I lowered it, partially shaded, and seems to be coming back nicely now.

And a few more. That about covers everything in this tank.

Some kind of Bonsai, I think.
http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...psc2da8fa6.jpg

Orange Digi
http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...ps7d48c72a.jpg

Pink Milli
http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...psb905787e.jpg

I know,... not a coral, but a pretty green color. And I know its bad, stealing my Ca. It will be gone soon.
http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...ps008ded19.jpg

DANG! That "Purple Cross" caught my eye!! I really want a piece of that!!! Super nice!!! Send me some pieces when you frag it!! :P

Thanks, but probably won't be fragging it for a while. I think the Purple Cross (Acropora Austera) is pretty common, though. I'm sure you can get there on the Island.

haha sweet! It's definately a nice acro!

Trying out a new camera, an Olympus TG-2. Lots of features and capabilities (eg. super macro feature, and good underwater to 50'). Happy with the colour in the pics, but I don't like the AF. Has many different modes of AF, but was not adequate for some coral shots. And if you can believe it, this camera does not have a manual focus!! Here are some pics.

I am seriously thinking of returning the camera...

Dendro, probably the best pic.
http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...psc4e1a391.jpg

Setosa, OK, but focus a little off.
http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...ps5a3d4c4d.jpg

ORA Green Birdsnest. Again, not the best focus.
http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...psb4cdc8b7.jpg

Lokani. This focus is really bad. Tried everything, but no go.
http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...ps7ad395bd.jpg

Here is the pic of this same Lokani taken a few months back with my old Sony vid cam using the still pic option. While not great, it still shows more detail than the new Olympus.
http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...ps49f98704.jpg

I have found that the macro setting on some point-and-shoots struggle with close up focusing. Try pulling the camera back a bit to see if the focus improves. Also, are you photographing these under full lights ON? Or evening lower light settings? Some of these photos look like they were captured with a really high ISO which suggest to me that the tank had a lower light level.

It was the ones closest to the front of the glass that came out best. The Lokani was further back. I tried a lot of different settings, incl macro, super macro, aperture priority, and some preset scene ones they give you. But this was the best I could do.

I just can't believe they don't have a manual focus.

Another possibility is the camera is focusing on the glass, which is why the closer ones turned out better. I haven't cleaned it for a couple days, and might be some bits of algae on it.

This camera can be put underwater, and maybe that would make for better focusing, too. But I didn't want to do that, if I was contemplating returning it.

I did these with full lights on. The bright coloured ones were with flash on, too. With flash off, they were more subdued.

Nice collection of corals for sure!

I see in your photos that the autofocus is probably not the problem but shake is what is causing the blur. Motion blur. Try using the camera with better light and it will produce sharper pics. The more magnification you use and the more motion blue you can get, so keep that in mind.

Try not using the flash either because that does not produce very good pics.

here are a few of mine. when taking pics of corals, shut down your pumps so that the flow will be not so strong and this way it will be easier to keep the camera steady. Using a higher F number will give you very slow shutter speed, so try to avoid that as well. I am very happy with the Olympus TG-2, it's a wonderfull camera for the aquarium.

http://i786.photobucket.com/albums/y...ps1bf37976.jpg

http://i786.photobucket.com/albums/y...ps345e4047.jpg

http://i786.photobucket.com/albums/y...ps83d6a0ac.jpg

http://i786.photobucket.com/albums/y...ps0103cecc.jpg

http://i786.photobucket.com/albums/y...ps936fea96.jpg

Well, I sure can't argue with the quality of your pics. I was trying to shoot through the glass. But I had it on a tripod, so motion blur shouldn't be a problem. Maybe I need to try some more underwater shots.

I was planning to return it this morning and look for another camera, but maybe I should give it another try.

Try using a remote shutter release?

I don't have a remote with this camera, although I could use the timer to release the shutter.

Also, my tank is acrylic which probably doesn't help with the auto focus.

OK, I tried the camera underwater, and the focus seemed to work a lot better. Maybe I will keep the camera after all. I came very close to returning it today. But now glad I tried it one more time. These shots were taken with the Macro setting (not the Super Macro).

Red Planet
http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...psd8738eae.jpg

Purple Stylo
http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...psadaf6797.jpg

Lokani - This one still was not perfectly focused, but colour is pretty accurate.
http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...psdc43df59.jpg

Ice Fields Tenuis - Used flash, so colour not as good, but I like the detail.
http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...ps81d2ad4d.jpg

wow! awesome!

Now that's much better :) and a keeper!

Thanks, Daniella. I'm much happier with the camera, and have now decided to keep it.

I think you will like it. The more I use it and the more I like this camera. Oh and the video mode is great to!

Yeah, I should try the movie mode underwater, with the pumps running, and close up to some corals, to see how it looks.

I did try the movie mode in my plane, in the cockpit, a few days ago. However, was disappointed, because again the AF would often focus on the windshield putting the scenery out of focus. My old Sony at least had a manual focus, so I could set it far out, and it did pretty well. This is not a big concern for me, though, as I am waiting to get a new POV camera for my plane. Most of the good summer float flying is done now for the year, so have until next spring to find a good one. Maybe by then the Gopro 4 will be out with GPS...

Getting a little off topic, but here is a youtube using my old Sony from a few weeks ago going into a local alpine lake.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9o5Ytfr-g0

Must be an awesome feeling of freedom to have your own plane and go anywhere you want. Such beautiful scenery. When I see that I miss California as in Quebec where I live now it's rather flat everywhere and our greatest mountains are just tiny hills.

I understand for the camera...no manual focu is a problem for sure in that type of situation, but for the aquarium the camera is great.

Maybe you should get a DSLR for other type of photography and just the little Olympus for the aquarium and traveling light. Those little underwater cameras are usually limited in features. I tried a few and this was best for image quality but there are compromises.

Thanks for your help, Daniella. I am a lot happier now with this camera and will be keeping it. I will have to do a lot more experimenting with it, but at least now I know I can get good shots of my corals. And that is what I was looking for. Being able to use it underwater is certainly a big advantage.

As for DSLR, my other photography needs (and abilities) are not that great, so will save/use that money for a good POV camera instead.

Red Planet progression shots
 

Kind of proud of this one, considering where it started. Growing like crazy now.

Jan/2013, frag was just a skin flap barely covering 1/2 of the plug, and hardly recognizable as a Red Planet.
http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...psb8ae2235.jpg

Apr/2013, starting to show some growth.
http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...ps4e404d36.jpg

Oct/2013, growth has really taken off.
http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...ps932c66af.jpg

Nov/2013, an underwater top down shot, about 4 inches across now.
http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...ps3bb7650f.jpg

Wow, awesome growth on the Red Planet.

Thanks, Anthony.

Seems that it takes a couple months usually for SPS corals to settle in. But once they start growing, they really take off. I acquired some more SPS frags the last couple months, and same thing seems to be happening. Very little growth on the new frags, but the older established ones growing like crazy.

Might be my LEDs, too. They say they are harsh on new frags (if they came from T5 or MH lighting), and takes a while to acclimatize to the new lighting. I do start the new frags lower down, or at the back of the frag rack, but it doesn't seem to matter.

At the moment, my tank parameters are not perfect, with P04 around .09 (used to be mostly zero). And still fighting some algae. But again, the established corals don't seem to mind.

Those are some great progression shots.

Awesome growth too.