[charlie]

I will second Doug's thoughts. I bet he turns up today sometime!!!!

[zhenya]

Thanks for well wishing, guys, it;s been like three days already so I fear the worst.

[zhenya]

OK, I am still ticked off about loosing my prized wrasse but I need to put it out of my mind, although it is a mistery to me still how it got out. I haven't found it, mind you.

Anyway, while I was looking with the magnifying glass I also took some pictures, so enjoy them and lets get back to feeling good.

Some macro shots of the polyps.




Here's a shot showing beginning of the new branch on the A.aspera.


This is the best I could do on that mille, Mike

[charlie]

Large bummer on the wrasse Gene, but like you said, on the brighter side, you still take a MEAN picture. Now I have to ask you a question, what are the settings on our camera when you take those macros. I spent 2 hours yesterday, and didn't come out with one keeper in the manual mode!!!!

[charlie]

I should also ask, how close are you the coral when you take the pic!!

[zhenya]

Charlie, my tank is small.., as you know... So I come right up agains the glass to take those close ups. The subject is all but couple of inches from the lens most times. If it is further I crop like 10% to make it look closer than it actually was.
When shoting in manual mode you need to look in the viewfinder and pay close attention to the dial on the bottom of the screen. If you see it is going into the negative side (-) from the middle point more than a stop you need to either bump your ISO or decrease shutter speed, or you can open up the aperture a little. I usually use f2.8 if I focus on a single polyp but if you want more of the subject in focus then f8 and smaller is the normal setting for aperture. I then play with the shutter speed untill I'm satisfied with the exposure time(watch that dial move left or right as you change shutter speed). Once you move into the low light and need the real slow shutter speeds you must either have hands of steel(like Mike's ) or use that darn tripod. I usually just press my lens aginst the glass because it has a hood on it and that helps to hold camera steady. If I need to step back than tripod comes out and I use delayed release. Press the button and let it tick few seconds, I usually move away so that my reflections are out of the shot.

That's about it. Oh, and my lens is only 60mm not 100mm like yours, so I can move right up to the subject and still focus. Also, when focusing try to focus about one third from the middle of the subject going forvard. If I use f16 or smaller I focus not on the closer spot to the lens but about a third from it.
Look at your focusing grid and select the point that you want the focus to be on. I use center point for a single polyp, or fish, but use different points depending on the subject I want to capture as a whole, or most of it.

[charlie]

Hey, I am being pretty dense here, I guess. When you say you focus about 1/3 from the middle of the subject, what exactly do you mean? Sorry 'about this. It kind of shows my inexperience!!!

[Poseidon]

Those are neat Gene! That Milli is just to fuzzy I think... Sorry to hear about your wrasse, that was my experience with a Solarensis too...

Oh, and thanks for the compliment, but I find that I am not as steady as I once was. (Sad huh, I am only turning 35 next month, )

[zhenya]

Originally Posted by charlie

Hey, I am being pretty dense here, I guess. When you say you focus about 1/3 from the middle of the subject, what exactly do you mean? Sorry 'about this. It kind of shows my inexperience!!!

Sorry, Charlie. It is I who's getting dense around here...
I meant to say that DOF on the 100mm lens is very shallow at it;s widest aperture setting. So, I would set it at f8-11 if light allows and focus on the closest to the lens if you want more of the subject in focus. If you are taking a single polyp shot I would try focusing on about a third from the front edge of the subject. This is my opinion only, and it may be pretty stipid but it works for me.

Mike, sorry to hear about your solar wrasse, that's a real bummer.
You still take awesome shots hand held, so don't worry.

[charlie]

Gene, I copied all of that and printed it in notepad, that will give me a reference. Thanx. One of these days I will learn this stuff. It is either that, or it has been so long since I have really taken a bunch of pics that I have forgotten how.:slap::slap::slap:

One thing, when I get those frags, I am going to put them on the bottom front of the tank on the eggcrate for acclimation. That may be a good time to practice, huh????

[SouthBayPhoto]

Gene - Outfriggin' standing work, as always.

Hey now Mike...if you're hand is getting unsteady, that means mine is (turned 36 in Feb) and I'm not up for conceding to that just yet!

**Note to Gene - if you would like for me to take the following pic down, please let me know and I will. I copied it from your latest set, but only to post here and help Charlie get a sense of what you were talking about regarding the focus point in the first third of your object to shoot. If me copying, writing on and reposting the image bothers you, PLEASE let me know and I'll delete it instantly. I only used it for demonstration purposes only because it seemed like a perfect shot to explain to Charlie what you were meaning **

Charlie - Please see the following modified shot (copyright by Gene; not me). This might help you understand what Gene was talking about in regards to focusing 1/3 in from the front of the object you are shooting. I hope this helps. Part of the reason for going about 1/3 in, is because the first third will be fairly in focus. Not absolutely sharp like your focusing point (depending on the aperture that you pick), but most times sharper than after your focusing point (again, depending on aperture).

If you look at Gene's original posting of the pic (without all the writing on it), I think you'll start to see where it comes into focus and then starts going out of focus. This might give you a better understanding of the "range" of the aperture.

Also, one cool thing you can do to test this is to take a ruler and place it on a table. One end on the actual table and one end raised about an inch or two from the table (set it on a book, whatever). Set your aperture as wide as the lens will go. Then stand in one spot (best to use a tripod so you know that the camera and lens are in one spot for the entire test) and focus your shot on a particular inch line (say the 5 inch line). Take a shot. Then close down the lens maybe 2/3 to 1 stop. Focus on the 5" line again, take another shot. Do this all the way up through say f/16 or so. If you really want to, go 1/3 of a stop at a time to see the fine detail of difference. If you're going to do that, definitely use a tripod because even if you move a half an inch in your stance, that will throw it all off.

When reviewing the shots, you will then understand how the depth of focus (DOF) works for that particular lens. You will see how much is in focus and where it drops off before your focus point and after your focus point. This is also one way to see if the lens is front or back focusing as well.

Anyway, on to the pic...



This is for demonstration purposes only and that's the only reason I copied it for this purpose.

By the way, once you wipe the tears from your eyes for laughing at my beautiful artistic work, then let me know if it helped.

[SouthBayPhoto]

Gene,

I'm sorry...I just thought about it... I probably should have just posted that in a separate thread here, but since Charlie was asking, I figured it was relevant. Sorry about that...if you need me to move it, let me know.

Also, sorry to hear about the wrasse. Your pics of the wrasse was inspiration to me to consider eventually having one.

Maybe he jumped up, knocked himself out on the lights/eggcrate and sank to the bottom and another critter thought he was dead and ate him. I hope that's not the case and you find him in your sump or something ( )...but maybe that's what happened.

[charlie]

Maybe we should start another thread here Mat, THAT WAS HELPFUL!!!
Along with the info that Gene gave me, I think I see what you folks are talking about now. I really apprecaite the help, now let's let Gene post some pics of his tank so we can get his thread back on track again.
You are right Gene, 23 pages about pics of a tank, we don't need help, do we??????

[zhenya]

Mat,

Thanks for making the visual presentation, it was in fact a correct way to help Charlie understand it. I'm just too lazy to come up with something like that.

Charlie, I hope you practice a lot on all of your frags, because I personally think it is much easier to get a good macro shot shoting fragments rather than entire colonies.

And guys, this thread is a perfect place to discuss photography since we are in a photography forum. Just posting pix is one thing but Mat;s posts were very helpful, so, no worries.

[charlie]

Here's to praying for some polyp extension.

[SouthBayPhoto]

I'm glad it helped out, Charlie.

I'm kind of a "visual guy", so most times I can read stuff, but it's easier if I do it or see how it's done/performed and that helps me out...so that's why I figured I'd post that up.

I'm glad it's all good.

[charlie]

I am kind of a visual guy too. Maybe someone could take a trip out here into the remote areas, , and watch and show me how to do this.

[zhenya]

Originally Posted by charlie

I am kind of a visual guy too. Maybe someone could take a trip out here into the remote areas, , and watch and show me how to do this.

Now, this is just too remote for me to find my way...
Maybe some day I'll have a nerve to buy me some old motor home and do some traveling....in style....


By the way, I think I found the culprit that did my wrasse in.., are you ready for this?

Saw it coming out this morning, I gues he finished his breakfast at the time...

[charlie]

UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM, yeah, OK!!!!

I am at a loss for words............................................. ...

[zhenya]

Originally Posted by charlie

UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM, yeah, OK!!!!

I am at a loss for words............................................. ...

What's the matter, Charlie? My big worm scared ya?