# baby jag



## bulldogg7 (Mar 3, 2003)




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## bulldogg7 (Mar 3, 2003)

different color phases
platinum
















gold








normal coloration


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## bulldogg7 (Mar 3, 2003)

goofin off


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## malawi_luver (May 5, 2004)

Very nice  What camera/lens setup do you use?


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## bulldogg7 (Mar 3, 2003)

Canon XS
all the pics except the "platinum colored" were taken with the 18-55mm kit lens, overhead slave F11-14 1/200 ISO 100
the 2 platinums were with a "Tamron AF70-300mm F4-5.6 Di LD macro" F22 1/250 ISO 100 with the same flash but no diffuser.
He's growing out in a 10gallon right now so doesn't take much to really light him up.


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## Carmine (Nov 30, 2009)

Hey Bulldogg,

Do you have more sample pictures of fish takin with the Tamron 70-300? I have just ordered this lens more from outside shooting, but i guess you can also use it for indoor fish macro's. Nice


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## bulldogg7 (Mar 3, 2003)

It's not a true 1:1 macro, but will will do great 1:2 ratio closeups at about 4 ft away. It does great on fish with a slave flash over the tank. Makes a great all around lens outside too. Even as a portrait lens, it'll blur the background nicely


a few fish shots with it:


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## Carmine (Nov 30, 2009)

Lol Bulldogg,

You made my day! I only tought i would use him outside but when isee this pictures ****.

Only thing is is, *** got a Nikon D3000 and they dont support automatic slave flash! Is it doable to manual set a flasher? And does this cost much?


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## bulldogg7 (Mar 3, 2003)

I now nothing about Nikons, but I got a cheap remote trigger on ebay
The transmitter hooks up to the hotshoe, the receiver attaches to pretty much any flash.


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## Carmine (Nov 30, 2009)

Really thanks for the info!! So i guess this will always work!

Maybe a tip for getting me an external flash for my birthday in 2 weeks! Gotta talk the girlfriend! :thumb:


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## bulldogg7 (Mar 3, 2003)

something i-TTL compatible will let it set it's own output to match your camera settings when attached to the camera, will come in handy for everyday use and in auto modes. 
Cheaper non TTL manual flashes work great for fish once you figure out the exposure to use. 
I haven't gotten any TTL flashes yet, but that's my next buy. Some things like school plays and family stuff you just don't have time to do test shots to see what works.


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## Carmine (Nov 30, 2009)

But how does a manual flash works? You need to press a button yourself? You cant be that quick to press it and shoot the fish, or am i wrong?


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## bulldogg7 (Mar 3, 2003)

You just set the output manually, it still flashes from the camera signal. 
http://www.planetneil.com/tangents/2007 ... ttl-flash/


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## Carmine (Nov 30, 2009)

So this flash could work with my camera (D3000) without problems? I mean remote controle. Like putting it on top of the tank?

Nissin Speedlite DI622N

greetings,


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## bulldogg7 (Mar 3, 2003)

says it works as a slave too, should fire off of your popup flash in slave mode. Looks like it has plenty of power and the i-TTL will come in handy with everyday non fish stuff also.
says it goes into sleep mode after 30 seconds, not really sure if that would work with the wireless transmitter, but it might?

there's a forum focusing on aquatic photography http://www.aquatic-photography.com/forum/ a lot of those guys use Nikons and may have some experience with that flash. I've gotten a bunch of ideas and tips from there.


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## Carmine (Nov 30, 2009)

Thanks for the Forum!!

It will deff. put my Aquarium pictures a step higher.


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## NorthShore (Feb 3, 2006)

Carmine said:


> So this flash could work with my camera (D3000) without problems? I mean remote controle. Like putting it on top of the tank?
> 
> Nissin Speedlite DI622N
> 
> greetings,


I don't believe the D3000 has commander mode which is needed to fire flashes wirelessly. I'm not even sure the nissin flashes can be triggered wirelessly. You can use a slave trigger, but they are inconsistent at best. Cables will allow you to place a flash above the tank. Using a nikon su800 transmitter will allow you to fire nikon flashes wirelessly but again I'm not sure this will work with the nissin flashes.


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## Carmine (Nov 30, 2009)

Thats why i said its a D3000.

Is it doable with a cable? How long are those things and can you fit any nikon flasher on my camera then?


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## bulldogg7 (Mar 3, 2003)

Cables come in different lengths, there's cheaper ones with only one or two contacts but they only send the shutter signal, best to get a cable that will support the Nikon flashes. NorthShore's the Nikon guru :thumb: I'm still learning about my Canon little by little.

couple shots with the kit lens, his blues were shining today but hard to get a good pic of


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## Carmine (Nov 30, 2009)

Great pictures again!

Yep im also still learning to get the best out of my camera. Its going very well, only the options with flashers and stuff is a bit hard sometimes.

You can only get this kinda pictures with the flash on top of tank. You cant take them without it.

Oh well *** started with just the body and a **** lens. Now *** got the 18-55mm dx vr, 50mm f1.8 and the 70-300mm. Next on the list is the stand and after that its gonna be a external flash.


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## bulldogg7 (Mar 3, 2003)

This is with the pop-up flash, same settings as the last 2 pics. Even with my camera set in manual the flash uses TTL to calculate the correct exposure. On shiny fish it usually gives me a bad reflection, I could've used something to diffuse the flash and gotten a little better result.









One of the reasons I like to use manually powered slaves is they always put out the same amount of light. If it comes out over exposed or blown highlights I can usually fix it with a different aperture setting. Some cameras let you turn the TTL off I think.

Using a flash from the top or the side bounces the light in a different direction other than straight back at the lens. I still get a reflection but not as bright and blown out.


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## Carmine (Nov 30, 2009)

Yep but i find the quality is again a bit less good now when you shot with the pop up flash.

The pictures are like more natural coloured and now freezed that much.


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## NorthShore (Feb 3, 2006)

Carmine said:


> Thats why i said its a D3000.
> 
> Is it doable with a cable? How long are those things and can you fit any nikon flasher on my camera then?


There are a number of options.

Cable. 3 foot length is standard and not cheap. 6 ft cables start to cost as much as a flash.

Nikon SU800. This will trigger the nikon SB600, SB800 and SB900 flashes wirelessly. This is what I use.

Slave trigger mounted on any flash, where the light emitted from your onboard flash will trigger the flash remotely. Not consistent but very affordable.

Various wireless controllers that sit on the camera where receivers are mounted on flash and are triggered remotely. These can be had cheap but the good ones are expensive. Once again, you get what you pay for with most of this stuff.

Don't worry about ttl capabilities. Most cameras can't read fish tanks like an outdoor scene, so having the camera dictate the settings in aquatic photography is pointless.


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## NorthShore (Feb 3, 2006)

Sorry to the OP for the sidebar.

Very nice pics, looks like you've got the overhead flash system working well.


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## Carmine (Nov 30, 2009)

Yeah he does!

*** need to post one of mine! Its low light picture (like i love hem) but you can get it right without the overtank flash.










Well for now i need to try like this...


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## bulldogg7 (Mar 3, 2003)

Great oscar shot!

Almost had what I was after, but had my aperture too wide. Gets frustrating sometimes, I just don't have the coordination to get this shot each time.


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## Carmine (Nov 30, 2009)

Yeah almost perfect, just a little bit to much light on his face!

But boy is he a jumper! very nice


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## Carmine (Nov 30, 2009)

Hey Bulldogg,

How far are you standing of the tank when you use the macro function on the Tamron 70-300?
So i can try shooting some. It came with the mail today!!

Quick pick for a "Bulldog" fan:

Here's mine:









Was shot from inside, she was playing in the snow. (dont pay attention on the hair lost on her side, she was attack by a big dog when she was a puppy  )


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## bulldogg7 (Mar 3, 2003)

Anything closer than 5ft you have to flip the macro switch
Closest you can focus in macro is 3.1ft, you have to be zoomed between 180-300mm to use it. At least on the Canon version, I'm guessing the Nikon is the same.


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## thinking_fish (Aug 13, 2007)

WoW =D> nice shots


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## azra (Feb 19, 2010)

Very nice captures! Caught at the right moment. :thumb: :thumb: :thumb:


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## Decoder (Dec 31, 2006)

NorthShore said:


> There are a number of options.
> 
> Slave trigger mounted on any flash, where the light emitted from your onboard flash will trigger the flash remotely. Not consistent but very affordable.


Hi. I am thinking of doing this way. Can you explain how it is inconsistent? It doesnt fire sometimes?


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## bulldogg7 (Mar 3, 2003)

I have a Wein PN (peanut) that works great. It was around $20, nice and small and attached to the flash via pc cord.


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## Decoder (Dec 31, 2006)

Yea I had tried one and the result was very pleasing. I didnt test it long to detect any inconsistency though.

Those are very nice and funny action photos bulldogg. But man jags look like ca-ca as juvies =)


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## bulldogg7 (Mar 3, 2003)

I finally got tired of all the reds yellows and blues, figured I'd get something more black and white with attitude  He's doubled in length since new years eve, gotten so thick now he doesn't even look like the same fish in that first post.


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## Decoder (Dec 31, 2006)

The jerky look of the managuense is awesome  It wont take long for him to get the RGB colors though


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## blodhi74 (Oct 4, 2008)

Very nice.


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## bulldogg7 (Mar 3, 2003)

:lol: just tried shooting RAW, started to throw the comp out the window till I figured out how to keep ACR from changing the color profile to adobe and leave it at SRGB :roll: Just got a 50d a couple of weeks ago, the jpeg's are soft at any setting :-?


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## bulldogg7 (Mar 3, 2003)




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## Fevz (Nov 18, 2009)

Hey Bulldogg. You have really good shoots. Impresive movements and fish charisma. But after i took a close look at your pictures i found lack of sharpness and a bit over exposed. You really should try taking pictures with RAW. It has many powers. Like if you expose picture to much, you can still fix it in camera raw. Also you get sharper pictures by using a filter in Photoshop. In CS3 or CS4 you can use (filter-->sharpen-->unsharp mask) And then amount to 150, radius to 0,9 and threshold on 0.

Oh and by the way. If you get propper lens you will se the difference in money. I own Canon 30D and mainly use my Canon 17-55 f2.8 lens. That lens is one of the sharpest of the EF-S lenses. If you are able to borow some expensive lenses you will see diference.
Also in what F do you normaly shoot fishes? I found best sharpness in these f stops (4.0, 5.6, 8.0, 11, 13)

Keep up the good work. And remember it's worth tryin shooting in RAW format. You will see the difference.

Oh and sorry for any wrong spelling. I'm kinda rusty in English typing these days


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## bulldogg7 (Mar 3, 2003)

Found out the 28-135 kit lens was front focusing, got that tweaked a few days ago, still don't think it's quite as sharp as the old 18-55mm was but I love the quick focus. Need to start saving for the good glass one day, ordered a sigma macro for flowers and stuff, sure I'll try it out on the fish. Been eying a $600 L lens but the wife would flip if I spent that much on another lens right now, she still hasn't gotten over the new camera.


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## Fevz (Nov 18, 2009)

What sigma lens will you buy? 105 mm f2.8? I tried this lens once. It's got a slow auto focus, but really comfy feel on manual focus. It makes sharp shoots 

I have few samples here


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## bulldogg7 (Mar 3, 2003)

The 50mm, should be here tomorrow. Will probably play around some this weekend.

got this guy growing out in a different tank


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## bulldogg7 (Mar 3, 2003)

I was compressing my jpgs too much, didn't notice till I resized the first shot, finally got that part fixed. Got the sigma today, so far it seems pretty nice, that focus takes a little getting used to.









pretty shallow depth of field even at F11 close up, but should be great for insects


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## delaacruuz (Mar 14, 2010)

Nice


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## bulldogg7 (Mar 3, 2003)

got them moved to the 180 finally


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## Aquamojo (Jan 4, 2003)

Really nice set of photos. Well done indeed.

Mo


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