CTReefer (4/4/2007)

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Hey PCIALF: What is the difference between that ExpoDisc & simply using a white piece of plastic, or a grey balance for that matter? Also, how do you use this thing & can it be used for any camera including simple point & shoot models? I noticed that they had different prices on it depending on lens sizes? Any info will be appreciated.

Steve

The difference is this attaches directly to the lens the ambient light shines through it and it gives a much more uniform and accurate light sample when setting custom WB. When you shoot a white piece of anything unless it is underwater it is not totally accurate colors but with this aiming it at the tank gets the correct white settings

I will post some sample picks with and without it. I have had difficult issues getting correct WB till I got one of these.

Steve

Anthony Calfo

CTReefer (4/4/2007)

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Looking forward to seeing a few photos. Have you tried using another white source besides that filter? Let's say you just took something like a very sheer white cloth & placed that in front of the lens & aimed it at the tank & took a WB reading, what would be the difference between that & the filter? How about a piece of plain old white plastic? Have you tried doing those comparisons? Just curious

Steve

Here is one using the Expodisc

Notice the nice whites

Saturation for starters is through the roof. If you manually tweaked it... it was too heavy handed. If you used a generic pos-processing program... its awful (read: unnatural colors). Such programs generally ruin aquarium pics regardless (like the "auto adjust" in PS... yikes)

Just trying to help you and others here my friend... please advise what happend with the original image?

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Anthony Calfo

What can I do for a clearer better shot?

Thanks

Thanks

First, regarding the white balance:  if you edit the photo after you've taken it with a new white balance technique how can you or anyone tell if the changes are due to the white balance or the post-production editing?  You need to shoot one with no white balance, then one each with the different white balance techniques you are trying out (coffee filter, white plastic).  A trick I learned from my dad, an old hand at good photography, is to put in your photo a paper with a number or your shot parameters, so when you look at them later you can tell which shot is which.

Regarding post-production:  what program are you using? I'll be happy to coach you on good techniques (read:  subtle ones that don't scream "I altered my photo!"). The goal should be to make your photos look like your real animals, in color, sharpness, contrast, etc.  If you like we can make a new thread or resurrect the old one where we can post unaltered and then altered photos, and we can offer critique and methods to make those photos look great AND natural.  But I don'twant to steal this thread

That would be great!

Anthony feel free to clean up any posts in this thread of mine to not drift from the intent of the thread

Thanks

Without exaggeration, if this came across my desk I'd delete it unceremoniously in a blink (nothing about this is printable on a page). It is badly goosed.

Most keepers and viewers are aspiring for the most beautiful natural colors. We reject dyed corals, dyed fishes, etc... and we reject photoshopped images of the unreal too.

Please rest assured that manipulations of color, saturation and hue by amatuers categorically do more harm than good. I count myself in the amateru category and do no manipulations of images. Only when needed, I even then leave it to the pros. Rarely (I mean rarely) is a great photopgrapher also a great post-processing artist.

Have you tried the coffee filter or white cap trick yet in contrast to your gadget? Do consider a gray card from a photoshop too. It could be very illuminating.

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Anthony Calfo