Awesome video Sam. Been thinking about dusting off the SLR, this has made me more determined to get my butt in gear 😁 Would love to see more advanced photography tips, and different views like whole tank and top down as you mentioned.
Just found this video thank you no messing on this one. I had started with my new camera and lightroom but I learnt a few tips and tricks and now I have a new lens to buy 😂. I would be really interested if you did a video on a dslr maybe an instagram reel or something. Thanks again great video.
I’m thinking how to capture coral and fish video for instagram reels. I have what I think is called premier pro. Again very new to the dslr world so I would love to learn how capture some cool videos for instagram and possibly touch them up in the same way as you have explained about photos here. Lens ordered btw on your recommendation I have a few already 😂😂 this has to be the last one for some time now. My biggest challenge is light in my living room I have 4 windows that are 12 foot x 4 foot.
Yeah sweet! I’m no premier pro expert, have dabbled with it, Final Cut Pro and davinci resolve, but I always return to the simplicity of iMovie 😅 For video, I would absolutely use a filter as it’s a fair bit harder to edit the colours the same way we do with raw images (well, it’s just more time consuming I find)
@@ParkersReef iMovie I have messed with a little for work. But I’m by no means an expert. I have an 82b filter forget the brand begins with T. Any suggestions on filters for video? And thank you.
Sam, thank you so much for sharing this tips! More tips would be awesome as well as coral photography would be great as well! Thanks again Sam, greetings from Costs Rica! Happy reefing
Hey Sam great video! I’m wanting to start a fish UA-cam channel on a separate account and I dusted off my Canon Rebel T7. This video is super helpful for me! Have you done a video on how to record video of fish tanks, by chance?
I haven't (from memory!) but I am more than happy to share with you my technique! I actually film most of my youtube videos on my phone with a filter. I then process them on iMovie of all platforms (I find it does everything I need and is much quicker and simplier than any of the "pro" platforms. It has a wonderful "auto" colour correction that you can then fine tune the warmth, saturation and darkness/lightness of. Works a treat!
Great video and explanation Sam Couple of things I’m sure your aware but if you have some setting in LR you often set like WB, dehaze, noise reduction etc you can make a custom preset. I also include the lens correction (although on the 100mm macro it doesn’t seem to need much correction especially on cropped shots) - I’ve found the lens hood can also help with reducing reflections on the glass. - last weekend I was experimenting with a coral viewer and the macro lens as a ghetto lens tube and was surprised with how good it worked
Yes great tips! I was aware, but I should have mentioned here. I personally like to adjust each individually, but I’m a control freak :p The lens hood is an excellent point
@@ParkersReef haha all good I normally fiddle with them as well depending on lighting/ISO etc but I find it does help especially for things like lens correction which I don’t normally open up that tab otherwise
adobe is a subscription, so you don't have to commit to it long term. It is all I've ever used, so I'd feel strange recommending anything else off a google search alone :)
Excellent video!! It's nice to see others editing techniques. When I edit an image of a fish swimming say left to right I like to leave more area on the right. It's a bit more pleasing to the viewer if the fish appears to have a place to go. (Just my 2 cents) I would love to see more video like this. Cheers!
Thank you for this video, will be watching it a few times more before heading to the Blue Planet Aquarium here in the UK on Saturday. Q. I have a Canon 80d. Which lens out of the following would be most suitable? EFS 24mm 1:2.8 STM EFS 18-200mm 1:3.5 - 5.6 IS Thank you in advance xXx
Definitely inspired me! Great video. Would love to see same with coral top down. With my d300 I could not get iso down though with f4 and 160/125 would you slow down more or turn the lights up? Using macro 105 2.8 lens. Mostly my auto iso was 1600 ish
Awesome video Sam. I may have missed this and it may have already been asked in the comments, but could you please explain the focus settings that you use? That seems to be the biggest issue for me.
Yeah good question. On a high end or recent camera body, they have incredible “eye-auto-focus” which is game changing. But if on an older or less high end body, I generally set it to a single point in the middle of the frame and rely on that :)
Great video Sam! I’m trying to get the hang of me in the right light in camera and my tanks looking like they do in person. Going from an M50 MK2 to an A7 3 but some tips on setting like I’m this video would help huge. You can see on my last 2 videos on TANK TV my tank looks white washed 🙄but hoping going over to the Sony will help.
hey mate, sure thing! If the images are looking very white washed, there are two settings to focus on. Most important will be warmth of the image (or it's "Kelvin") slide that till you get it fairly close and then if it is light reflecting off of things floating in the water, try the "dehaze" setting a bit in Lightroom. Yell out if you need further help!
@@ParkersReef Tanks Sam! it’s more of the filming side if you take a look at my last two videos. The camera while filming puts me into the right focus and colour but then white washes the marine tanks. Not the tropical ones just marine. So just trying to get that marine tank looking like it does in the background while filming the vlogging. Not new to fish keeping by far but cameras yes 😂 Again thanks for the help!
if videoing, I do find it easier to pop a brown or yellow filter on the lens. Blue LED wash the sensor pretty hard, so taking some of that out helps. In your mushroom fragging video it looked like you did that with the lights off?
@@ParkersReef when fragging the mushroom yes lights were off with just an LED light on the camera but as for the rest just trying to get that image like you have while filming where the tank looks like the actual tank in person 😂
Great vid, I’ve been looking into getting a dslr, could you tell me if you was looking to get one on a budget, what cannon model would you go for with which lens?
If on a budget, buy second hand! I have only used canon, so I would recommend a canon, but it really doesn't matter. If it doesn't come with any suitable lenses (a zoom in the range of 35-125mm) I'd recommend the canon 50mm F1.8. It's their cheapest lens and is an absolute beast!
That was amazing! I have a dslr just sitting on a shelf because I don't know how to use it but this video has inspired me to at least try! You should have a course on Skillshare!
Yeah that will be tricky for a few reasons, firstly, you'll need to find a straight section of glass/acrylic to photograph through (the curved stuff will not work great at all), Next, you'll need to minimise external light as much as you can to avoid reflections Then, you'll want a fairly slow moving subject as you wont have much light to work with. My advice, take LOTS of pictures and don't be afraid to trash the ones that are no good. Don't spend hours in lightroom trying to save an image that isn't worth saving
Do you think I can also have pretty pictures of fish with Nikon Coolpix P1000 (digital zooming camera)? Im a beginner and Im thinking about buying one for birding, but I would like to take pics of fishes too.
As always very useful 👍 I have just one unrelated question for you on tangs. Would you know how old a male lipstick tang takes to develop its fin streamers at all?
@@ParkersReef I would like to learn different aspect of the lens and use of it with reef tank photography and see how it could be used as I have tried to take pictures with different ones and with the blue lights especially at night when I get home after work makes it that much difficult to capture the pictures. This video is a good guide but would like to learn more in-depth.
got a new Cameria eos r8and rf 100 2.8 macro like your video. i just get blurry pics shooting in mushroom tank 130 par don't no anything about Cameria. any help would be apricated
Hi, have started my first saltwater tank for wo weeks and want to know that for store the premixed saltwater, do Ineed to keep the pump and heater running all the time? or what is the best way to store the water, looking at store one month at the moment. Thank you.
I did this coral one about five years ago, so things have evolved a little in the Lightroom area, but most of it still applies: ua-cam.com/video/N5Ot6NQyEps/v-deo.htmlsi=_-ydxPT80XAjah-i
Hey Parker, not a camera pro by any means but have been trying to figure out how to get macro looking video on my tank for my canon m50. I got a macro lens used but am only able to capture coral at the front of the tank. Any suggestions for trying to get macro looking shots of things further back in the tank? Thanks mate
@@mikejohnson9923 yeah you can buy look down tubes off the shelf. Avast make them, pacific sun make them and then places like building an obsession do too :)
I have a Sony a6000 I just got a 55-210 lense thought it would get more zoomed in pictures but it does not focus because it's too zoomed. Is it because I don't have a macro lense on it?
Check the minimum focussing distance for that lens, I think it is around 1 meter. Which means you will need to be at least one meter back from the tank to get pictures in focus.
Okay question for you I’m BRAND NEW to this I just got a cannon EOS t6 and a cannon “zoom lense Ef 75-300mm How are you able to stand so close to the tank and take photos that are focused in? I have to back up 5ft to take a photo that’s focused (and yes I know how to use the focus at the very end of the lense) Also don’t be afraid to tell me your camera sucks that’s why it your lense is no good or you’re using the wrong lense
ok exciting!!! I definitely wont tell you that your camera is no good, but I might say that your lens is not the best option. The canon ef mount 75-300mm lens has a "minimum focusing distance" of 5ft. That means that is literally as close as you can get to something for it to focus on it. Perhaps look to pickup a canon 50mm ef f1.8 lens. They are super cheap and are amazing! Minimum focus distance is only 1 foot and it's got a super speedy aperture of 1.8 which really helps get quality pics of our dimly lit aquariums (compared to outside)
@@ParkersReef yes upon further research I saw that. And thank you much for the lense recommendation! I’ll go pick one up. Great videos btw I’ve been watching them like crazy!
Fun fact. Amazon allows unlimited RAW photo storage with your prime subscription. I still have every photo from when I was 15 to 37. I’ve never deleted an image. Ever.
Lots of photographers are cagey about their methods! Well done for sharing, learned a lot and will be getting myself a Lightroom subscription 🙂
More we share the better we all get! Plus I might learn some tricks from these comments :)
The most helpful video I’ve seen. Thank you
Glad it was of use! Thanks for watching!
Your tank put me in a trance. Looks amazing. I didn't hear a word you said for the first 3 minutes.
haha thanks mate :)
Awesome video Sam. Been thinking about dusting off the SLR, this has made me more determined to get my butt in gear 😁
Would love to see more advanced photography tips, and different views like whole tank and top down as you mentioned.
Ok great, will see what I can do mate :)
Multi skill man, great finish in the photos ,thanks for the video Sam!
Thanks Antonio, appreciate the support mate!
Great Video Sam. This helps me quite a bit .
Glad it was of use! Yell out if you have any questions :)
Off to an aquarium today so this video was very helpful, great job mate, thanks for sharing 👌🤙
Have fun!! Thanks for watching :)
@@ParkersReef 😀👍👍
Appreciate the content! New to photography and this helped quite a bit.
Glad it helped!
Great tutorial for beginer
Glad you liked it
Just found this video thank you no messing on this one. I had started with my new camera and lightroom but I learnt a few tips and tricks and now I have a new lens to buy 😂. I would be really interested if you did a video on a dslr maybe an instagram reel or something. Thanks again great video.
Glad you enjoyed it! What else would you like to see in another video?
I’m thinking how to capture coral and fish video for instagram reels. I have what I think is called premier pro. Again very new to the dslr world so I would love to learn how capture some cool videos for instagram and possibly touch them up in the same way as you have explained about photos here. Lens ordered btw on your recommendation I have a few already 😂😂 this has to be the last one for some time now. My biggest challenge is light in my living room I have 4 windows that are 12 foot x 4 foot.
Yeah sweet! I’m no premier pro expert, have dabbled with it, Final Cut Pro and davinci resolve, but I always return to the simplicity of iMovie 😅
For video, I would absolutely use a filter as it’s a fair bit harder to edit the colours the same way we do with raw images (well, it’s just more time consuming I find)
@@ParkersReef iMovie I have messed with a little for work. But I’m by no means an expert. I have an 82b filter forget the brand begins with T. Any suggestions on filters for video? And thank you.
Yep, brown filter. Sounds weird but works well. Can stack an orange on top if the lights are really blue
great video, thank you, I've been struggling taking pictures of my fish, gonna give it a go now!
Keep me updated with how you go!
Sam, thank you so much for sharing this tips! More tips would be awesome as well as coral photography would be great as well! Thanks again Sam, greetings from Costs Rica! Happy reefing
No worries Allan! Will see what I can do for you!
Hey Sam great video! I’m wanting to start a fish UA-cam channel on a separate account and I dusted off my Canon Rebel T7. This video is super helpful for me! Have you done a video on how to record video of fish tanks, by chance?
I haven't (from memory!) but I am more than happy to share with you my technique! I actually film most of my youtube videos on my phone with a filter. I then process them on iMovie of all platforms (I find it does everything I need and is much quicker and simplier than any of the "pro" platforms. It has a wonderful "auto" colour correction that you can then fine tune the warmth, saturation and darkness/lightness of. Works a treat!
Looking forward to this and also when you show us your cooking skills on the bbq
Have to wait for a BBQ special mate!!
@@ParkersReef wow great video makes me wanna take some photos
Dude your tank is awesome im super jealous
Thanks!
Great video and explanation Sam
Couple of things I’m sure your aware but if you have some setting in LR you often set like WB, dehaze, noise reduction etc you can make a custom preset. I also include the lens correction (although on the 100mm macro it doesn’t seem to need much correction especially on cropped shots)
- I’ve found the lens hood can also help with reducing reflections on the glass.
- last weekend I was experimenting with a coral viewer and the macro lens as a ghetto lens tube and was surprised with how good it worked
Yes great tips! I was aware, but I should have mentioned here. I personally like to adjust each individually, but I’m a control freak :p
The lens hood is an excellent point
@@ParkersReef haha all good I normally fiddle with them as well depending on lighting/ISO etc but I find it does help especially for things like lens correction which I don’t normally open up that tab otherwise
@@mthomson3408 yeah I leave lens correction switched on. If using major name lenses, it does a good correction job
Hi Sam, awesome. Do you have any other suggestions on editing software that you can try before you buy? Many thanks, Phil.
adobe is a subscription, so you don't have to commit to it long term. It is all I've ever used, so I'd feel strange recommending anything else off a google search alone :)
Excellent video!! It's nice to see others editing techniques. When I edit an image of a fish swimming say left to right I like to leave more area on the right. It's a bit more pleasing to the viewer if the fish appears to have a place to go. (Just my 2 cents) I would love to see more video like this. Cheers!
Nice tip, thanks for sharing!!
Thank you for this video, will be watching it a few times more before heading to the Blue Planet Aquarium here in the UK on Saturday.
Q. I have a Canon 80d. Which lens out of the following would be most suitable?
EFS 24mm 1:2.8 STM
EFS 18-200mm 1:3.5 - 5.6 IS
Thank you in advance xXx
No worries!! I’d go the 24mm. It’s pretty short range, but the aperture will allow you to take quicker shots in the dark environment :)
@@ParkersReef awe thank you so very much. Truly appreciated xXx
Anytime, enjoy blue planet!
Definitely inspired me! Great video. Would love to see same with coral top down. With my d300 I could not get iso down though with f4 and 160/125 would you slow down more or turn the lights up? Using macro 105 2.8 lens. Mostly my auto iso was 1600 ish
That’s ok, give that a shot with that iso level for now. Otherwise perhaps go F3.5 and 1/100th shutter speed?
Awesome video Sam. I may have missed this and it may have already been asked in the comments, but could you please explain the focus settings that you use? That seems to be the biggest issue for me.
Yeah good question. On a high end or recent camera body, they have incredible “eye-auto-focus” which is game changing. But if on an older or less high end body, I generally set it to a single point in the middle of the frame and rely on that :)
This is great
Glad you enjoyed it!
Great video Sam! I’m trying to get the hang of me in the right light in camera and my tanks looking like they do in person. Going from an M50 MK2 to an A7 3 but some tips on setting like I’m this video would help huge.
You can see on my last 2 videos on TANK TV my tank looks white washed 🙄but hoping going over to the Sony will help.
hey mate, sure thing! If the images are looking very white washed, there are two settings to focus on. Most important will be warmth of the image (or it's "Kelvin") slide that till you get it fairly close and then if it is light reflecting off of things floating in the water, try the "dehaze" setting a bit in Lightroom.
Yell out if you need further help!
@@ParkersReef Tanks Sam! it’s more of the filming side if you take a look at my last two videos. The camera while filming puts me into the right focus and colour but then white washes the marine tanks. Not the tropical ones just marine. So just trying to get that marine tank looking like it does in the background while filming the vlogging.
Not new to fish keeping by far but cameras yes 😂
Again thanks for the help!
if videoing, I do find it easier to pop a brown or yellow filter on the lens. Blue LED wash the sensor pretty hard, so taking some of that out helps. In your mushroom fragging video it looked like you did that with the lights off?
@@ParkersReef when fragging the mushroom yes lights were off with just an LED light on the camera but as for the rest just trying to get that image like you have while filming where the tank looks like the actual tank in person 😂
Great vid, I’ve been looking into getting a dslr, could you tell me if you was looking to get one on a budget, what cannon model would you go for with which lens?
If on a budget, buy second hand! I have only used canon, so I would recommend a canon, but it really doesn't matter. If it doesn't come with any suitable lenses (a zoom in the range of 35-125mm) I'd recommend the canon 50mm F1.8. It's their cheapest lens and is an absolute beast!
U a good boy Sam! Thanks for tips! I not has a dslr tho, I just use dad iPhone take photos 🤷♂️🥰🐶
This might convince you to keep an eye out for a cheap setup :)
@@ParkersReef I gotta buy reef tank first 😉😂🥰
@@JakeDogg-RIP Step 1!
That was amazing! I have a dslr just sitting on a shelf because I don't know how to use it but this video has inspired me to at least try! You should have a course on Skillshare!
Thanks mate! Glad it was of use!
Any advice for photographing in a public aquarium? Thanks!
Yeah that will be tricky for a few reasons, firstly, you'll need to find a straight section of glass/acrylic to photograph through (the curved stuff will not work great at all),
Next, you'll need to minimise external light as much as you can to avoid reflections
Then, you'll want a fairly slow moving subject as you wont have much light to work with.
My advice, take LOTS of pictures and don't be afraid to trash the ones that are no good. Don't spend hours in lightroom trying to save an image that isn't worth saving
One of the BEST reeftank DSLR guide I was able to find here! Well done Parker😎🪸💪
Glad it was helpful!
Do you think I can also have pretty pictures of fish with Nikon Coolpix P1000 (digital zooming camera)? Im a beginner and Im thinking about buying one for birding, but I would like to take pics of fishes too.
yeah absolutely. Whilst the Coolpix is not the best camera out there, it will still take considerably better pictures than a phone will
As always very useful 👍 I have just one unrelated question for you on tangs. Would you know how old a male lipstick tang takes to develop its fin streamers at all?
Glad you enjoyed it. Afraid I don’t know what age they develop streamers, they do seem to need to be a reasonable size before they form though
Please do the in-depth video of reef tank photography
What would you like to see covered?
@@ParkersReef I would like to learn different aspect of the lens and use of it with reef tank photography and see how it could be used as I have tried to take pictures with different ones and with the blue lights especially at night when I get home after work makes it that much difficult to capture the pictures. This video is a good guide but would like to learn more in-depth.
@@fellowreefer shoot raw, post process to get the colour you need. Try that first, then let me know how you go :)
got a new Cameria eos r8and rf 100 2.8 macro like your video.
i just get blurry pics shooting in mushroom tank 130 par don't no anything about Cameria. any help would be apricated
If shots are blurry, I’d speed up the shutter speed
Hi, have started my first saltwater tank for wo weeks and want to know that for store the premixed saltwater, do Ineed to keep the pump and heater running all the time? or what is the best way to store the water, looking at store one month at the moment. Thank you.
Normally just a little pump to keep it moving is enough
What camera body is that your using?
I’m using a canon R6
is there one of these for corals ? :D
When i take pictures under blues with my eos100d it's veryyyyyy blue. is that normal?
I did this coral one about five years ago, so things have evolved a little in the Lightroom area, but most of it still applies:
ua-cam.com/video/N5Ot6NQyEps/v-deo.htmlsi=_-ydxPT80XAjah-i
Hey Sam I may have missed it but were you using the eye tracking focus. It's the one thing that tends to let some of my pics down
I sure was, it’s the best feature on this new r6 body.
But ultimately, just means more pictures in the 100 you take will be useable :)
@@ParkersReef did you go for one of the new lenses or the EF adapter.
I’ve got three RF lenses now plus an adaptor for some EF lenses that o won’t replace :)
great vid need to buy a camera now lol
thanks bud!
Got me on the thinking bench too. You are starting to be an expensive bastard mr Parker sir!
Haha sorry mate!!
Hey Parker, not a camera pro by any means but have been trying to figure out how to get macro looking video on my tank for my canon m50. I got a macro lens used but am only able to capture coral at the front of the tank. Any suggestions for trying to get macro looking shots of things further back in the tank? Thanks mate
Hey Mike, best thing for coral macro is a top down tube. I might do a video on that too as the images are to die for :)
@@ParkersReef interesting I’m guessing it’s a diy or have an acrylic company make it large enough for your lens to go down?
@@mikejohnson9923 yeah you can buy look down tubes off the shelf. Avast make them, pacific sun make them and then places like building an obsession do too :)
@@ParkersReef ty I’ll check it thanks
I have a Sony a6000 I just got a 55-210 lense thought it would get more zoomed in pictures but it does not focus because it's too zoomed. Is it because I don't have a macro lense on it?
Check the minimum focussing distance for that lens, I think it is around 1 meter. Which means you will need to be at least one meter back from the tank to get pictures in focus.
@@ParkersReef I think because the lense isn't macro was going to buy a filter but instead going with a 60mm macro lense.
GIMP is a great (free) editing software, quite similar to Photoshop.
Sure is!
Do you think this would work using mirrorless?
Absolutely does, my camera is mirror less :)
@@ParkersReef thanks I appreciate that guess it’s time to clean that glass 👌
Get to it! Let me know how you go
out of curiosity what it the camera you are using
Canon R6
@@ParkersReef wow big boy camera!
@@wudz-_-3251 nothing too crazy to be honest! But the autofocus on it is next level to what I have used before :)
Okay question for you I’m BRAND NEW to this I just got a cannon EOS t6 and a cannon “zoom lense Ef 75-300mm
How are you able to stand so close to the tank and take photos that are focused in? I have to back up 5ft to take a photo that’s focused (and yes I know how to use the focus at the very end of the lense)
Also don’t be afraid to tell me your camera sucks that’s why it your lense is no good or you’re using the wrong lense
ok exciting!!! I definitely wont tell you that your camera is no good, but I might say that your lens is not the best option. The canon ef mount 75-300mm lens has a "minimum focusing distance" of 5ft. That means that is literally as close as you can get to something for it to focus on it.
Perhaps look to pickup a canon 50mm ef f1.8 lens. They are super cheap and are amazing! Minimum focus distance is only 1 foot and it's got a super speedy aperture of 1.8 which really helps get quality pics of our dimly lit aquariums (compared to outside)
@@ParkersReef yes upon further research I saw that. And thank you much for the lense recommendation! I’ll go pick one up. Great videos btw I’ve been watching them like crazy!
@Twhit030 glad you’re enjoying them!
sam great video as per usual, I was all in until I found out it was going to cost me 180$/yr to subscribe.
See if you can find an alternative software. I get it through work which is a bonus for me 😅
Shoot in RAW. Always shoot in raw. Use Lightroom. Set your white balance, maybe use some orange filters like our glasses. Bam, done.
Fun fact. Amazon allows unlimited RAW photo storage with your prime subscription. I still have every photo from when I was 15 to 37. I’ve never deleted an image. Ever.
yep that's the general jist of it!
Same concept for a full tank shot?
Yeah similar, I’d just increase the appetite setting up to about F6 and probably slow the shutter down to about 1/80the of a second
Get better pictures with a wider aperture and above flash
yeah can do, although I don't like the lighting from the flash. Got any sample pictures to show us your skills?
Simple aside from the cost of the camera lmao
You can pickup older model DSLRs so cheap these days!