Blastomussa Merleti

[mgchan]

I've been side-tracked by digital photography and have been away from reefing for a bit (e.g. neglecting my tank!). I'm back into it again and trying to balance both. Here's a macro shot I'd taken at the beginning of the month:

Camera: Canon 20D
Lens: Canon 100mm f/2.8 USM Macro
Exposure: 1/30 sec
Aperture: f/3.5
ISO: 800
Focal Length: 100mm

Manual focus using a tripod.

 

[Chiefmcfuz]

Very nice pic, keep em comming! Oh and give us the info on what camera you are using and the settings and special lenses you are using as well.

 

[mgchan]

I've added the camera and settings.

 

[SlamaJama]

awesome shot mike...

 

[mgchan]

Thanks Mike! BTW, check your PM.

 

[Pedro]

Very Very nice!

How close were you to the subject? Or did you do a crop? I know a 100mm by itself usually doesn't get you that close.

Terrific photo, look forward to seeing more.

 

[mgchan]

Thanks!

The lens was anywhere from 6" - 8" inches away. The 100mm is 1:1 and is pretty good on the macros. Some cropping was done but not much. The ones I didn't use wouldn't have needed any cropping. As an example I'll post the uncropped version later.

 

[mgchan]

Here is the uncropped and unprocessed version. It was resized to match the original that was posted. The Canon 20D by default does not sharpen, adjust the brightness/contrast and hue/saturation.

In the case of corals, I found that if you can place it at the bottom of the tank, close to the front, you can get pretty decent shots. Depending on the type of corals, shutting off the pumps will help you get sharp shots at slower speeds. Use of the lens hood and getting close to the glass will cut back on unwanted glare and reflections.

 

[Pedro]

What am i looking at? All i see is a nice red X.

 

[mgchan]

Try refreshing your browser.

 

[Pedro]

Mg,

Funny thing is that in IE it works, in AOL it doesn't. I see the edited version. The cropping is so minimal that it's not even an issue. It's a superb shot. I agree about the propping of the corals as close as possible. Please post more.