First SLR camera

[zappylady]

I have just upgraded from a point-and-shoot to a SLR - with the help of this site I hope to get to know how to get good photographs of my fish.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v442/zappylady/Pictuscat.jpg

[tlemetry]

This image is a bit large.
T

[paradise]

ZL, a few comments:

1. Congrats on the new camera, it's a great starting DSLR
2. May want to try an easier subject in the beginning. Honestly those cats are VERY difficult to shoot.
3. A lot of "OBVIOUS" photo editing, or at least that is what it looks like. The key to post-editing is to make it look like you did not do it :)

Please give us some info from the shot, so that we can help you better.

[alanhill]

As Ed said you're tackling a difficult subject at quite a high reproduction ratio and it's a successful result. Did you crop the image? If so, I'd be interested to see the original version, because it would make it easier to suggest ways to improve it.

Alan

[zappylady]

As Ed said you're tackling a difficult subject at quite a high reproduction ratio and it's a successful result. Did you crop the image? If so, I'd be interested to see the original version, because it would make it easier to suggest ways to improve it.

Alan


Hi, Alan,

The only cropping that has taken place was at the bottom of the picture due to 'out of focus' gravel. The only editing is that I tried to remove a flash pleco, not very successfully, which was on the bogwood. What size should I post the original?

[paradise]

that "removal" is what I was referring to. It's really obvious there.

ANy pics up to 800 wide work fine on APF

[zappylady]

Below is the original image, I have Paint Shop Pro software, can you give me advice as to how to make this image reasonable.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v442/zappylady/PictusCat.jpg

[squidfish]

Hi Zappy


Those Angelicus cats from my memory never sit still so would not be an easy subject to begin with, unless you had a lot of light and could notch the shutter speed right up. Did you take the picture in full auto mode with on-board flash?

The focus is a little soft from the movement of the cat, have you applied any sharpening to the image in Paint Shop Pro? If not this will help reduce the softness a little.

Cheers

Rich

[paradise]

Rich, I think that is a Pictus cat. :)

Here is my little "clean up" job:

http://aquatic-photography.com/pics/pictus.jpg

[hir0]

very nice clean up job Ed.

[zappylady]

The original was taken on auto mode with on-board flash. No sharpening had taken place.

Paradise, you have done a grand job on it - can you give me idea of what you have done and how?

Should I crop the bottom of the image slightly?

Many thanks.

[tlemetry]

I use photoshop for my image corrections but I think this suggestion could help with paint shop also.
I can see the 'ripple' where you corrected. I had a big problem with this using the clone tool. I figured out if I keep the original clone 'spot' close and snap a new spot between each click it will eliminate the pattern repeat.
T

[paradise]

Well, first of all, it's hard to clone areas that have great detail in them. You could not clone because the wisker would prevent you from doing any real cloning. So instead I burned the pleco out a bit, to make it less obvious. At a certain point it loses the focus of your eye and is not much of a problem.

What I did with the photo was this (an this is all Photoshop CS2, so I dont know if Paintshop will be able to handle it)

1. Open image, and do sharpening. I have lately been using this method: switch to Lab color, choose the "lightness" channel to avoid color problems. Do Unsharp mask, in very small increments. You can toggle the color channel to see the results. Once you happy, back to RGB it goes :)
2. then I used the burn tool to de-emphasize the pleco and a couple of other areas (above the dorsal is one).
3. After that I did final cleaning using the "blur" tool, at higher magnification. Usually it lets you do "final" cleaning of the background area, taking out the dots and other "sharpening" artifacts that are visible at that magnification. You can also do better burning and cloning that way. That is it.

Again though, I always advice against doing this type of stuff to "almost good" images. I would concentrate on learning what it takes to take that good image. They should not take more than 5 min in photoshop (benny rule, btw) if it takes more than that, it's not worth it :)

[zappylady]

Thanks for advice, Ed, will take on board your advice and will have another shooting session. I also have Photoshop but have never used it so will get the manual out and have a play.

[squidfish]

Rich, I think that is a Pictus cat. :)


Your right Ed. My mind was on a certain Synadontis cat for some resaon. :)

Cheers

Rich

[Obliviou$]

Your right Ed. My mind was on a certain Synadontis cat for some resaon. :)

Cheers

Rich

Many mistake the pictus for an african synadontis, and your mind is probably allways set to africans :)

Great cleanup Ed.

[alanhill]

Ed is right: good post-processing can add 10% to a photo - but at least 90% is done with the camera. You did a pretty good job. I would suggest a slightly higher viewpoint to cut out some of the out-of-focus gravel.
I would also suggest you try to practise on an easier subject - a hyperactive catfish with whiskers that long is very difficult. A nice sluggish pleco would let you take half a dozen pictures, varying something a little each time, so that you could test different viewpoints, settings and so on.

Alan

[zappylady]

Thanks for the advice, Alan, yes I should have set the tripod higher and although the Pimelodus Cat is very active I find he is the one that comes to the front of the tank to have his picture taken. The tank is a very busy 55 gal with very active fish so it is quite difficult to capture a single fish. I think I'll take the advice of this site and set up another small tank for photography, although I was worried that this would stress the fish out.

There are twelve plecos in the three tanks and most of them hide most of the time, the zebras and flash plecos are the most active in the day. The other problem is that the community tank (43 gal) has a bow shaped front and I find it extremely difficult to photograph anything in this tank. I also think that the front glass is slightly tinted.

Once again thank you for your help and I'll do some experimenting.

[zappylady]

:-D Forgot:-

CONGRATULATIONS TO LIVERPOOL - brilliant nailbiting match - they deserved to win after the 'come-back' in the second half. :-D :-D :-D

[RazorBlade]

I know it's off-topic, but since it's your thread anyway:

CONGRATULATIONS TO LIVERPOOL - great comeback win. Lotsa nerves. They deserved it.

P.S. I'm not a Liverpool fan, but between the two sides I would have loved to see a Liverpool win! (Gunners fan here) :P