Just dived in

[Aqua-Digital]

Lens is 18mm-55mm

settings for corals, WB i had on auto

[Aqua-Digital]

Originally Posted by H2o2

For sure you must have the actinic lighting right because that last photo sure has a lot of pop :-)

Takes a lot of care to grow them like that!

[Scythanith]

This has a little white balance correction, some black point adjustment, some more definition, and some output sharpening. By nooooo means perfect (I mean my editing, no your pictures haahaa), but shows off the patterning a little better

As for the camera info, listen to Steve, he's a pro

A couple extra pointers:

Shoot straight through the glass, NO angles!
Wear dark clothing, less reflections off the glass.
Use a tripod.
Use manual focus for stationary objects. This, combined with AP, can really showcase what you want to be the focal point of the photo.
If you can set WB easily enough (you can), set it to ~10,000K and start there. That's essentially the same as "cloudy" setting.
It has been mentioned but shut off the power heads and return pump.

Take lots of pictures and mess around with your settings! Once you find what you like you can probably save the entire batch of settings under a custom label and return to them every time you're shooting the tank.

As for the wife shot, Steve hit it on the head, bounce that light! Also, the camera doesn't always know what's right, you may have to dial in a bit of flash compensation. Usually looks like a little lighting bolt and a +/-. Your picture may have required a little "-".

Cheers,
Scott

Originally Posted by Aqua-Digital

first attempt at photography, clearly got a lot to learn but not bad start for me at least. got two good subjects, the wife and my corals.

[Aqua-Digital]

thanks for the tips

[Scythanith]

Also, keep an eye on your ISO settings. Try and shoot with the number as low as possible. That will keep the graininess of the picture down to a minimum. If the ISO is on auto, then look in your settings to see if you can limit its upper value while in auto. I'd say don't go past ~1600 iso. I don't know your particular camera though so that may be a little low. If you can get everything still enough, shoot at iso 400 all day long. This may work for stationary corals, but will likely not be a good setting for swimming fish. Those will be the ~1600 iso setting.

Good luck!

[Aqua-Digital]

thanks

[kien]

That's a great camera and great first shots. Lots of great advice here. My advice would be to remember to have fun with it! Photography can be as challenging, frustrating and annoying as reefing :-)

[mrhasan]

Originally Posted by kien

That's a great camera and great first shots. Lots of great advice here. My advice would be to remember to have fun with it! Photography can be as challenging, frustrating and annoying as reefing :-)

Cause both need insanely amount of money

[Aqua-Digital]

yeah just found that out but just picked up S/H 70-300mm for $200

[sphelps]

Originally Posted by Aqua-Digital

yeah just found that out but just picked up S/H 70-300mm for $200

That'll be good for outdoors but fairly useless indoors or for your tank.