Teach me to camera ;)

[PanTech]

So I have a terrific camera at my disposal: Nikon D50
but it is very frustrating takin hundreds upon hundreds of sloppy pictures...

I am curious....what kind of lense do people use to take such detailed close ups of their caudates?

Here are some of my better pictures...all advice is welcome.

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just some shots of my c. orientalis with sum shrimp
not sure if i uploaded them right...

 

[PanTech]

 

[PanTech]

My axolotl tank:

sorry for the messy posting

 

[Greatwtehunter]

What kind of moss is that growing through the screen in the axolotl tank?

 

[bewilderbeast]

these aren't bad shots... there are three things about a camera that you need to think about when you take photos with an SLR...

film speed or ISO, (how sensitive your film will be to the light that it is exposed to).
F-stop (how far open you aperture is and thus how much light it takes in per second of exposure).
and exposure time (the longer the exposure, the more light that hits the film).


between these 3 factors you need to find the right balance to get the picture you are looking for...

--The higher the ISO or film speed, the more grainy and "noisy" the picture will tend to be. this is important to keep in mind for those crisp, detailed close ups...

--The higher the F-stop (a smaller opening), the larger the depth of field. The smaller the Fstop, the lower the depth of field. Depth of field isn't so important for close ups of caudates because you will generally be focusing on just the animal and thus only need a narrow depth of field. There are other things that an open aperture does to a shot but I'll leave it at that.

--exposure time is how long you have the film exposed to light... the longer your exposure time, the more blurred moving objects will appear to be. If the exposure is too long, your hand motion will cause motion blur unless you have a tripod.


there are some camera basics... there is much more but I don't think your shots are too bad as it is so you should have fun if with just some basic knowledge of cameras...

 

[PanTech]

@ justin

the moss is christmas moss I ordered it from magic aquatics they got tons of great moss...its only been growing out for a couple of weeks in the co2 tank but it is beautiful.

@bewilderbeast

thanks for the help Im currently playing with the ISO and exposure time, and IT IS SO DAMN HANDY! But Id stil like to figure out what kind of lense I need to get some really good close ups. I'm planning on getting some cherry shrimp and I'd love to get some good shots of them.

 

[bewilderbeast]

OK glad to be of help... You need a macro lens for close ups... or you could use extension tubes or bellows... the lens is the simplest way to go but the most expensive.

Also, If your camera has the option to shoot using RAW (a file type, like jpeg) you should try it. RAW files contain far more information than a jpeg (which interpolate and discards data to make the files smaller and more manageable).

 

[katebutton]

i'm no photography expert but i like the axie pictures. the plantings in that tank are really nice!

 

[Calista]

Check the instructions you received with your camera. To get close-up photos you set your camera on macro. A tulip-looking flower will show in the window of your camera.

Your photos are not bad at all, but the macro setting will make a world of difference.