Phenacogrammus interruptus

[Bjarne]

Testing out my 60mm Micro-Nikkor f/2.8 D

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v518/bjarnesaetrang/DSC_0306-01b640.jpg

1/80 sec
F/3.3
ISO 320
RAW
No tripod
No flash

[paradise]

Bjarne, I like the shot overall, but for some reason the DOF must have been razor-thin (3.3 should be thicker than that) so only the head is in focus. The tail area is VERY soft. Plus it seems (at least to me) a bit over-saturated, no?

[squidfish]

Hi Bjarne

Have to agree with Ed's comments. Looks oversaturated to me too. I have photographed congos myself and they are not easy being so reflective and getting the exposure right can be tricky. Given the tail is so soft in focus, how about a head crop, it would be very colourful.

Cheers

Rich

[hir0]

actually, f3.3 is very thin even at 1:2. you're probably gonna need to go down to about f13 or smaller to get more DOF. that said, how do you like the lens? i've been considering replacing my 50mm 1.8 with one.

[Bjarne]

Thanks for youre comments. That's what I like :) I fully agree with the DOF, that's what you often get playing without flash in a deep tank. The fish is swimming around in my 380 liters tank in company with several more congoes. This tank is deep, about 65cm from top to bottom, so a flash-setup her would be a bit tricky I think. The tank is, in my opinion, a colorful setup with a lot of plants in redish to greenish coloring. That's give most pictures from this tank a colorful look because of the background that reflects the hoodlightning (4x30W fluorecents tubes). I haven't give this pic any extra saturation. Only lightened up a bit with "Levels" in PS and a bit contrast.
I've got a bit tired of all-sharp pics of fish, but a pic of a fish like this should have a focuspoint that is sharp. That's important I think. It doesn't matter that the tail or most part of the body are soft or out of focus. In my opinion it gives more life to the object (fish) than many "flashed-freezed" fishpics I've seen around. Maybe more "artistic" if you want ;)

Thanks again for great comments:)

And, yes I think this is a superb lens for this type of photography.

[hir0]

hey Bjarne, if you did decide you wanted to use flash... i think i've come up with a good way to get the white balance tuned in better. I've tried this on my little 5 gallon planted balloon ram tank. what i did was, use a white peice of plastic (since it's waterproof)... and inserted it into the water with one hand, and took a flashed photo of it with the other hand. most DSLRs will allow you to use a photo as a whitebalance preset. so i used the all white photo (it had a slight yellowish tint) to set my whitebalance. i took a few shots with my D70 and it turned out pretty good. just food for thought.

[alanhill]

I can almost accept the colours. I'm not too happy about the focus; the tail is just too soft. But I really think the background spoils it. The bright acid green highlights really distract the eye and the red-brown tones don't help either.

Alan

[Bjarne]

Thanks for good and constuctive critique :)

[JerseyJay]

Bjarne,

Great shot but I have to agree with others, TOO soft and TOO saturated. 1/80 will not get you sharp results but then again, that is not what you want.

Good luck and thing about the flash :)

[benny]

In addition to all that has been said, I would add that composition could benefit form a looser framing, and slightly towards the left if possible.

Good capture.

Cheers,