SteveT Photo Contest WINNER

[SteveT]

CONGRATULATIONS to JAHMIC and DJKMS for winning my photo contest!!!

There were a lot of very good pictures submitted, I will try to give a brief reason why I choose these 2 above the rest.

I am going to try and host a photo contest like this once a month. Winners of the contest will have a grace period of 2 months in which they cannot enter the contest but instead will be asked to help me with the judging of the next 2 competitions.

Here is the winning photo by Jahmic. I really like the clarity of this shot, especially the detail picked up on the dorsal fin. The fact that such detail was achieved at that focal length with a moving fish as the subject is what stood out to me, to be most impressive about this capture.

Here is the runner up by Djkms. Composition is beautiful! The shallow depth of field, along with the contrast of the dark background really draws the eye to the polyps in focus. Putting the focal point in the lower right third of the frame gives the picture a nice sense of space. I also enjoy when "boring corals" brought to life through photography.

Congrats again to you two! Jahmic, pick which 3 frags you want as your prize and Djkms gets the other 3. Kris, if you have the one of the frags you are left with I can swap it with other stuff I have. Getting a bunch of stuff you already have isn't much of a prize.

 

[djkms]

Thanks Steve! Following the rule of 3rds can be huge when taking photos and I made it a point to follow the rule with my submissions. Congrats Jahmic, awesome photo for sure and well deserved win! Save a good polyp or 2 for me!!

 

[sweat044]

These are great pics! I am jealous. How do you get your pics so clear? I bought a new digital camera and my pics are crap! Do you turn your pumps off? Any help would be great.

 

[jahmic]

Oh wow! Thanks Steve!!

For anybody that may be curious as to how I pulled it off, the image was taken off the tripod utilizing manual focus. I utilized the rockwork that he was hovering over to initially set my focus, rather than trying to focus on the subject itself, and several shots were then taken as he swam around that area...I had to keep my fingers on the focusing ring and finely adjust the focus as I took each shot. In adjusting the focus to the subject, I did set it by keeping an eye on the edges of his dorsal fin. The biggest challenge was the shallow depth of field, as I had about 30 images that were just slightly out of focus before I captured the above image. Auto focus at that aperture will rarely capture as sharp an image, in my experience, as the camera just takes too long to focus...especially with the lens that I was using...by the time the lens focuses, the subject has already moved out of focus. In the end it was a lot of patience and an equal amount of luck.

Kris, the composition of your image is excellent...the richness of the colors is definitely impressive. I haven't had nearly as much luck taking photos under dim lighting, and may need to pick your brain at some point. Well done.

I'm really looking forward to helping out with judging future contests...even more than possibly participating again in 3 months. Thanks for giving me the push to dust off the camera in spite of not having a computer at home these days!

 

[jahmic]

These are great pics! I am jealous. How do you get your pics so clear? I bought a new digital camera and my pics are crap! Do you turn your pumps off? Any help would be great.

As I had a moving subject, I didn't turn my pumps off...I was probably typing up my little blurb on the image as you posted, which should give you a good idea of what I did. That being said, I'm almost certain Kris had to turn off his pumps to get that image.

 

[djkms]

Pumps off, all LED lights to 100% intensity, all room lights turned off and TV off, shades closed, basically any source of light removed or turned off if possible except for the aquarium lights. I do have a black background on my tank and having a shallow DOF also helps.

 

[Haulin Oates]

Excellent!! Although I thought I had a shot... that was some stiff competition for sure. And thanks jahmic for sharing your technique!!

 

[BPreefer]

Great job guys

 

[jahmic]

Pumps off, all LED lights to 100% intensity, all room lights turned off and TV off, shades closed, basically any source of light removed or turned off if possible except for the aquarium lights. I do have a black background on my tank and having a shallow DOF also helps.

Well you definitely got your exposure down...I was convinced that image was taken under blues/actinics with the rich color you were able to capture. I would've expected to see the tips washed out slightly under full lighting. Dang crazy fluorescing under LEDs.

 

[SteveT]

Excellent!! Although I thought I had a shot... that was some stiff competition for sure. And thanks jahmic for sharing your technique!!

You did have a shot, your blasto shot was in my top 5 I was considering to win! These two just edged you out a bit

 

[cdrewferd]

Great shots guys. Any feedback on my picks Steve?


Drew

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[djkms]

Steve,

Unfortunately I will not be at the meeting on Sunday, wife made family plans which don't involve fish tanks as she puts it lol. I do have candy apple reds and alien explosions (however mine seem to have darker skirts) but I am game for whatever. Chad said he would be kind enough to grab my zoas if that's ok with you? Thanks again for running the contest and I am honored you liked my photo!

 

[SteveT]

Khalis picked the cherry charms, blue riddlers, and alien explosions. So that leaves you with CAR,melons,mohawks. Since you have CAR's I can swap them for another high dollar type zoa that I have fragged: Candy apple pinks, Space Monsters, Magicians, Captain Americas, Or I could even do another cherry charms frag if you like. I have no problem dropping them off with Chad at the meeting.

 

[SteveT]

Great shots guys. Any feedback on my picks Steve?


Drew

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