Pic Comparison and some Questions

[Anonymous]

Hi, everyone,

Here are two pics I took of my tank tonight. They are of the same subject, namely, some BlueLeg Hermits munching on some food.

The two pics were taken with a Canon G3 Powershot, on auto.

The Bluer pic was taken with no flash, and the brighter one had flash.

The question is, Neither pic in my opinion matches the view I had when looking in the same spot in the tank. What I see when looking at that spot in the tank with the lights on is sort of inbetween the two.

Are there any tricks for getting the pic to turn out exactly like what I see?

Mind you, this problem is only noticable when taking tank pics. All the pics of family and such seem to be spot on as far as brightness and color go.

Thanks for any input


Bryan

 

[mkirda]

With flash, the pic is overexposed by about one stop, IMO.

See if the camera will allow you to vary the flash output.
If so, dial it down by 1/3rd stop increments so you have them at 0, -1/3, -2/3, -1, then try comparing them side by side.

If not, you may have to go to an off-camera flash which will give you variable output and control over that output.

Regards.
Mike Kirda

 

[Anonymous]

Not familiar with that particular camera model, but look around on it and see if there's a white-balance adjustment. The goofy spectrums of our tank lights really screw with cameras' sensors. I usually have to set mine to compensate for fluorescent lighting. (Although my new VHOs seem to read through pretty well)

 

[Anonymous]

Okay,

Now, I just looked both of your suggestions up in the camera manual, and both the whiteness and the output of the flash can be manually set. So, tomorrow night I will shoot some more pics and see what happens.

Thanks for the tips

Bryan

 

[Anonymous]

Okay, I took some more pics, using all of the preset settings for whiteness. None of them are quite right, but I can set custom settings.

The problem is in order to set a custom setting I need to focus the camera on a white sheet of paper or a Gray Camera Sheet and press a button and wallah, it sets it automatically.

Problem is how to focus on a soggy piece of paper. Should I laminate one and stick it in the tank?

am I on the wrong track?

Bryan

 

[mkirda]

Gray Camera Sheet
Bryan

Bryan,

You can get a plastic gray card from B&H or Adorama. I have one at home.
Haven't used it for a tank yet, but easily could. I think it was 8x10 and was around $10?

Regards.
Mike Kirda

 

[Len]

Byran, custom white balance is critical to get the colors to come out the way they should. You an fine tune it to get it to what you like (or even do it in photoshop). I believe you can save these custom WB in the camera so you don't have to do it everytime.

To focus on the white sheet (thick paper is ok, white acrylic is better), set the camera focus to manual. Otherwise, it just keeps AF seeking as you probably found out. Gray cards are the best, but I wouldn't stick these things in the water or you'll ruin them