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Capture and Editing Practice - Advice?

2K views 12 replies 5 participants last post by  Kubla 
#1 ·
I am new to photography and editing. I have a Canon T5i with the kit lens, as well as a Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 STM.

I use a tripod, and I use live view quite often. I use AF first, and then make manual adjustments when needed. I shoot mostly in Manual Exp Mode in order to get a good feel for the different settings, and to get the picture I want.

The only flash I have is the on board, for now. One of the things I am trying to do is determine whether or not the colors, and overall photo, come out better with or without flash. I know it would be better if I had an off camera flash, but for now that is not an option.

I am using the Canon software to edit RAW photos. Right now I do not have any other software, so this will have to do for now.

I welcome any advice or tips for better capture or editing. Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

Boeseman's Rainbow no flash 1/125 F/1.8 ISO 800


Boeseman's with flash 1/200 F/5 ISO 800


Neon Rainbow 1/125 F/2.2 ISO 800 (this one I edited a bit more than the others, mostly for sharpness, contrast, and NR)


Threadfin Rainbow 1/200 F/7.1 ISO 100 Flash



Thanks for looking, and for your feedback.
 
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#2 ·
Some of these are slightly out of focus, with fast zippy fish like your rainbows. Try using back button focus if you aren't already, but I generally manually focus. I focus in on an area and wait for the fish to come into the zone. A faster shutter speed like 1/250th or faster. The aperture should be stopped down for more depth of field. #2 and #4 are the best photos, those photos have all the same things in common. They have a faster shutter speed and deeper depth of field. Photographing fish requires lots of patience, take your time and you'll be rewarded.
 
#3 ·
Thanks for the advice. The photos with the flash allowed for faster shutter speed and higher apertures, which is why the depth of field and sharpness is better. I feel like using the flash takes a bit away from the color of those fish though, granted I am only using the on board flash but i am not sure how much difference that makes.

Do you notice that the color of your fish look better in photos without flash, or just in general when viewing without a camera?

I notice that you are using an external flash, do you position it off the camera? If so, is it above the tank or next to it?

Thanks for the help. I find photographing fish to be a huge challenge, and a great learning experience.

Edit: I saw your rig on your thread, makes sense now. But, I also just remembered one other question, did you do any post on those pictures, or are the straight from the camera?
 
#7 ·
The on board flash will usually not create desirable color. If you don't have OCF try throwing extra light on top of the tank just for the pic. This will allow you to increase shutter spread and aperture so it's more likely you will get a really sharp photo. Sometimes you can catch the fish when it slows or stops so use continuous shooting mode. I also use LR like pandjpudge for slight editing.
 
#9 ·
Try giving darktable or rawtherapee a try, both a free programs that might be easy to edit photos with. They are supposed to be good alternates to lightroom, I haven't really poked around with them myself though. But I do see them often recommended for those starting out and not wanting to dive into lightroom right away.
 
#12 ·
OCF won't generally work with HSS (High Speed Sync) which is normally anything over 1/250 SS. You can buy a trigger to do that I believe. You really shouldn't need anything faster than that anyway. When using OCF you want to get the Flash right on top of the aquarium looking down into the water.

Blacking out the background is usually accomplished by using a very small aperture (large number) and the best ISO (100). What you doing is making the exposure black (if pic was taken without flash) and the flash is lighting just the subject. You can also blacking out the background in post-edit with Adobe.
 
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