Photography Project
I picked up a couple new Angels today and I decided I wanted to take some photos. I experimented with flash and zoom settings, and I found out things I did not know. First, flash photos produce crisper pictures, and it’s usually closer to what it really looks like than just using the tank light. Second, it’s *really* hard to take pictures of moving fish.
Here is a little breakdown of what I was able to come up with. Take a look at these photos and guess which was flash and which isn’t (click ‘em to see the big one).
The one on the left was taken with a flash, and the one on the right was without flash. These are the original photos. Initially, the flash one is much better.
After some Photoshopping, here is what was produced:
What’s kind of odd is in the doctored non-flash image, the lighting looks more natural and reflects what the tank looks like. However, the doctored flash image shows better what the fish looks like. I’m sure it has something to do with the wood he’s chillin’ under. At any rate, this was just my first experiment, and there will be more pictures and experiments and different cameras, so expect to see more posts like this.
And if you’re interested, the camera I used was an Olympus Stylus 400 digital camera with built-in flash. I also used a tripod.
The rest of my photos can be seen at my Aquarium Advice gallery.
-j
Fall Back
I always feel lonely around this time of year. I love Fall; the air is crisp, the trees are beautiful, winter is on the way. When I see the marvelous colors, feel the almost-cold wind on my face while the rest of my body is warm, for some reason I become very interested in sharing my marveling with someone. Not anyone in particular, just someone. It only gets more intense as the Christmas season approaches, with the lights and trees and celebration. It goes away around February, but for the next two months, if you catch me zoned out, just snap me out of it.
The picture to the right was taken from my desk window. Click it to see the large version (200k).
-j
Finally
I’m finally taking the plunge; I’m setting up a reef! Actually, just a 10 gallon nano reef, but a reef nonetheless. I’m checking out the lighting first, and I may get some rock and sand. I need to do some more research on when to add rock and stuff, but I found a great fish store near my office that I can buy mixed water from. I’m going to get my rock from LiveRocks.com I think. Not sure what I’m going to get livestock-wise, but I’ll figure it out. I’ll be posting pics and stuff. I’m pretty excited about it. Stay tuned!
-j