Struggling getting entire coral in focus

bshow24 · 02/02/2017, 11:57 PM

I'm looking for some advice here. I've been trying to take pictures of my coral growth lately, but I'm having trouble getting the entire coral in focus. Usually it's either the bottom or the top, but never both.

I use Aperture Priority with my ISO at 100, F stop usually at 8 or 9, and shutter speed adjusts based on lighting. I have a Tamron 90mm Macro Lens and usually have to set it to auto focus due to the fact that I am using an avast porthole.

I'm relatively new to taking pictures that require a knowledge and skill to get them right, so all the help I could get would be awesome.

Misled · 02/03/2017, 07:05 AM

Raise the aperture number, (14 or 16), or back the camera up some. Both will give you a larger "Depth of Field". The larger apt number will also increase the shutter speed.

bshow24 · 02/03/2017, 10:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Misled

Raise the aperture number, (14 or 16), or back the camera up some. Both will give you a larger "Depth of Field". The larger apt number will also increase the shutter speed.

Thank you. I'll give this a try tonight.

IPT · 02/10/2017, 07:28 PM

Jesse makes some excellent suggestions. Also make sure your lens is perpendicular to the subject and lastly keep in mind the inherent limits of DOF. A lot of the images you see that are macro with huge DOF are focus stacked (made of multiple images with different planes of focus and merged into one photo).

Higher Thinking · 02/10/2017, 09:05 PM

I am not a photo expert at all, but our recent club meeting had a speaker giving tutorials on photography. I remember a specific point he made that the very best macros will only focus on one area to the sacrifice of the rest of the piece. He said it's possible to get the whole coral in a photo, but you end up sacrificing other qualities of your macro shot. Basically, get a flawless part of the coral with the rest blurry, or get a so so picture of the whole coral.

Obviously there is much more to it than that, but that was the point of what he was discussing.

DrChop · 02/20/2017, 02:07 PM

What body do you shoot with? I have that lens on my Canon 70d and it works well, very well actually..But being Macro, it's very difficult to get wide coverage just as that's the nature of the lens. If you have a Canon, you might try a wider lens or even a zoom. Also, if your tank is the JBJ 28g Nano, your only chance for sharp, in focus solid pix is from the sides. I have that tank as well and you can't get much at all shooting from the front because of the bent glass. There are a lot of variables in shooting these things, but using a tripod is going to be really beneficial as well.

Tinpanva · 02/20/2017, 03:53 PM

There's always photo stacking, but that's ninja level.

DrChop · 03/03/2017, 10:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tinpanva

There's always photo stacking, but that's ninja level.

or just bridge/photoshop automation

zeeGGee · 03/03/2017, 01:04 PM

I'm not an expert neither but these are my settings: ISO 400, 1/100, f/2.8 Tokina 100ATX Pro with Nikon D7200. I take photos from the front of the aquarium.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

rollopac187 · 03/19/2017, 07:38 PM

Those are impressive pics. It amazes me the details a good picture can show. The texture on the Tang(?) is awesome

02/02/2017, 11:57 PM	#1
bshow24 Registered Member Join Date: May 2012 Location: Thousand Oaks, CA Posts: 584	Struggling getting entire coral in focus I'm looking for some advice here. I've been trying to take pictures of my coral growth lately, but I'm having trouble getting the entire coral in focus. Usually it's either the bottom or the top, but never both. I use Aperture Priority with my ISO at 100, F stop usually at 8 or 9, and shutter speed adjusts based on lighting. I have a Tamron 90mm Macro Lens and usually have to set it to auto focus due to the fact that I am using an avast porthole. I'm relatively new to taking pictures that require a knowledge and skill to get them right, so all the help I could get would be awesome. __________________ Tank: Reefer XL 525 Reef Tank Equipment: 2x Radion XR15 Pro, Radion XR30 Pro, Vectra M1 Return, 2x MP40 Powerhead

02/03/2017, 07:05 AM	#2
Misled RC Mod Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Pittsburgh, Pa Posts: 11,440 Blog Entries: 11	Raise the aperture number, (14 or 16), or back the camera up some. Both will give you a larger "Depth of Field". The larger apt number will also increase the shutter speed. __________________ Jesse I'm not saying I'm Batman. I'm just saying nobody has ever seen me and Batman in a room together.

03/03/2017, 01:04 PM	#9
zeeGGee Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2016 Posts: 201	Struggling getting entire coral in focus I'm not an expert neither but these are my settings: ISO 400, 1/100, f/2.8 Tokina 100ATX Pro with Nikon D7200. I take photos from the front of the aquarium. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Last edited by zeeGGee; 03/03/2017 at 01:10 PM.

02/10/2017, 07:28 PM	#4
IPT Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Alaska Posts: 3,197	Jesse makes some excellent suggestions. Also make sure your lens is perpendicular to the subject and lastly keep in mind the inherent limits of DOF. A lot of the images you see that are macro with huge DOF are focus stacked (made of multiple images with different planes of focus and merged into one photo).

02/10/2017, 09:05 PM	#5
Higher Thinking Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2014 Posts: 64	I am not a photo expert at all, but our recent club meeting had a speaker giving tutorials on photography. I remember a specific point he made that the very best macros will only focus on one area to the sacrifice of the rest of the piece. He said it's possible to get the whole coral in a photo, but you end up sacrificing other qualities of your macro shot. Basically, get a flawless part of the coral with the rest blurry, or get a so so picture of the whole coral. Obviously there is much more to it than that, but that was the point of what he was discussing.

02/20/2017, 02:07 PM	#6
DrChop Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2017 Location: Riverside, CA Posts: 12	What body do you shoot with? I have that lens on my Canon 70d and it works well, very well actually..But being Macro, it's very difficult to get wide coverage just as that's the nature of the lens. If you have a Canon, you might try a wider lens or even a zoom. Also, if your tank is the JBJ 28g Nano, your only chance for sharp, in focus solid pix is from the sides. I have that tank as well and you can't get much at all shooting from the front because of the bent glass. There are a lot of variables in shooting these things, but using a tripod is going to be really beneficial as well.

02/20/2017, 03:53 PM	#7
Tinpanva Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2012 Location: Central Virginia Posts: 254	There's always photo stacking, but that's ninja level.

03/19/2017, 07:38 PM	#10
rollopac187 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2017 Posts: 7	Those are impressive pics. It amazes me the details a good picture can show. The texture on the Tang(?) is awesome