# Why can't I take a good FTS?



## mattdean (Oct 23, 2010)

So, I have a reasonably good camera and lens. I have tried different settings but can't seem to get a good, crisp, detailed full tank shot. Any tips on getting a good pic?

Here is the best I could get:


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## fesso clown (Nov 15, 2011)

Sorry, I can't really help...just thought I would say that it looks great to me.


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## mattdean (Oct 23, 2010)

Thanks. Probably just being too picky. I just see other tanks shots and they seem so slick.


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## larrysy (Jul 21, 2014)

That is a great FTS shot. 

What are your settings for this shot?


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## duckhams (Oct 13, 2009)

I think you nailed it! The super crisp/slick FTS's you see are probably post edited to adjust contrast, exposure, highlights etc to remove glare, make the blacks blacker and the corals pop etc. You've done an awesome job on the rework, the tank looks amazing!


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## goobafish (Jan 27, 2015)

Yours is far better than any of my attempts. It is extremely finicky and very atypical of most situations photographers encounter. I can give you quite a few tips, but its likely that you already do all these things and more based on that shot. Your EXIF data would be helpful too.

Always important
-Clean glass, both sides with no streaks
-Bright lighting
-Tripod

More important than ever
-Stop all flow/return
-Your lens is exactly perpendicular to the glass (if your camera allows you to zoom while focusing, chose a target and ensure there is no distortion when it is in focus) The shot will always suffer distortion if you aren't exactly level and perpendicular to the glass.
-All ambient light should be shut off, and the picture must be taken in the evening unless you can black the room out during the day

Things to try
-A remote flash firing from the top of the tank would help expose with a deeper field of view
-If you typically shoot with white lights, an actinic flashlight positioned above the tank will give you more light and bring out colours
-Higher than usual ISO, say 600-1000, to provide deeper field of view at a faster shutter speed to catch the fish.
-Wide-angle lens, or wider angle. Not sure what you're using


Any tips for me ?


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## mattdean (Oct 23, 2010)

goobafish said:


> Yours is far better than any of my attempts. It is extremely finicky and very atypical of most situations photographers encounter. I can give you quite a few tips, but its likely that you already do all these things and more based on that shot. Your EXIF data would be helpful too.
> 
> Always important
> -Clean glass, both sides with no streaks
> ...


Afraid no tips for you. I do post processing in Photoshop, but otherwise, i am doing all you suggested, except for the higher ISO. I will try that.

I do have actinics on the tank, use a 10mm lens (about as wide as it gets) Everything else is as you suggest. I'll try the higher ISO and see how it turns out.

I am going to try raising my lights a little so it may not be as harsh. They are only a few inches off the top of the tank.

Cheers


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## mattdean (Oct 23, 2010)

I tried different ISO, moving my light up a bit to make it less harsh, different F-Stops. Can't get better than I have. So, must be the limitations of my camera - which I am not surprised about. That's cool. It's not that it's bad, just not what I would like. Cheers


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## goobafish (Jan 27, 2015)

What camera are you using?

I didn't notice it the first time, but you definitely bought the metallic teal/orange yuma from me at the Bradford coral show, it looks identical to how it did in my tank . Make sure not to squish the babies on the back! I got a few sweet pictures of that frag.


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## mattdean (Oct 23, 2010)

Yep. that was me. It's quite nice.

I have a Sony a57 DSLR. It's OK for the money. I wish I could get the same quality I get when taking pictures for my real estate listings. Check out these two pics with the same camera. This is the detail I wish I could get with the tank pic.


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## deeznutz (Aug 21, 2013)

I find using daylight give more detail, more whites and less blue. 
Use a flash if your lights are too blue.
Use a high f stop will give you more depth.


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## mattdean (Oct 23, 2010)

I have all my lights on, which are T5 Super Blues and an Aqua Pink, as well as the actinic. I know the blue spectrum is hard for cameras, so I'll try not using the actinic, and see if I can set up the flash from above.
Thanks


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## mattdean (Oct 23, 2010)

So, I tried shooting without the actinics and there was virtually no difference in sharpness and clarity. I am convinced it's a limitation of the camera. Oh well. Not worth the investment just for a better pic


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## goobafish (Jan 27, 2015)

mattdean said:


> So, I tried shooting without the actinics and there was virtually no difference in sharpness and clarity. I am convinced it's a limitation of the camera. Oh well. Not worth the investment just for a better pic


In 99% of cases the limitation is not with the camera. Most of my best shots were shot on an Olympus E410 or a Canon T2i, I do not get better pictures with my brand new pro camera, just more control.

You are clearly a very good photographer to get that quality out of a 16mp crop sensor, but that doesn't mean that you can't get a better picture. One thing I left off the list that I shouldn't was you absolutely must shoot in RAW, especially if you are doing post-editing.

-Jpegs capture 8 bits of brightness, while RAWs do 12-14 bits
-You lose a great deal of dynamic range, which is very important for details in an aquarium that features many different areas of brightness
-Whenever you adjust white balance or exposure a JPEG will lose quality, while a RAW will not. Whenever you open and edit a JPEG you will lose quality.
-RAW allows you to use photoshop's sharpening and noise reduction, although I have not tried it
-RAW allows you to change the entire colour-space which can provide a more true-to-life colour set

I was wondering why I couldn't get the EXIF data from your picture with my Chrome EXIF viewer, but I didn't guess it was an edited JPEG.

Download Adobe's Camera Raw ad-in for Photoshop if you are having trouble importing your RAWs.


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## mattdean (Oct 23, 2010)

OK. Cool. Apparently, Sony's ARW format can't be directly imported to Photoshop, so I'll try taking RAW pics and using their converter to bring them in so I can edit them better. Worth a shot!


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## goobafish (Jan 27, 2015)

mattdean said:


> OK. Cool. Apparently, Sony's ARW format can't be directly imported to Photoshop, so I'll try taking RAW pics and using their converter to bring them in so I can edit them better. Worth a shot!


Camera raw accepts ARW files, it accepts all the raw formats. I think my olympus one is CR2. Don't do any conversations your self, you should be editing the ARW.


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