Coral Stampede | 40% OFF AFTER SALE | GOING ON NOW

[CodyBot]

@CodyBot cant believe you let that strat go for a deal! I had a proxy set at 308 to bid last second but my screaming 13 month old had other ideas. Although really i cant complain…

I'm guessing you did a digital zoom on these, correct?

 

[wes84]

I'm guessing you did a digital zoom on these, correct?

I zoomed in on my iphonenif thats what you’re asking lol

 

[tkoenig88]

WE HAVE A WINNER

Congratulations on winning a spin of the Wheel Of Prizes!!!​

@CodyBot I’m not sure, how do I get my spin?

 

[Jemi83]

Frank2215

Jemi83

 

[wes84]

I zoomed in on my iphonenif thats what you’re asking lol

@CodyBot did i do it wrong?

 

[wes84]

~Mother Colony Photo~ CV Rainbow Goni * VERY RARE *	CV Rainbow Goni * VERY RARE * Sale $280 | Retail $400
	​

@steveschuerger i got this one but theres one more on their website for $240 right now

 

[CodyBot]

I zoomed in on my iphonenif thats what you’re asking lol

Yep. It's going to be hard to do a whole lot with them but I'll work what magic I can in a moment.

When you're using a phone for pics, your have one of two options. You either need to bring your camera closer to the corals (below the water level), or you need to bring the corals to the camera. I'll give you all my little secrets I used to use before I got a DSLR and stepped up my game.

You need a viewing box that is completely made of clear acrylic. It needs to be clear because you're going to have to get the phone right on the coral (less than 3" away) and if it has colored acrylic then it's going to shadow the target. Also, you need to buy the lens kit I'll link below. It's a macro lens that you can just clip on your phone. You also need to find the gel filter that works best for your lighting and cut little squares of it. You put the gel filter over the camera then clamp it on with the macro lens. The macro lens is the real value in what I'm telling you. I purchased quite a few of them to find the one with the farthest focal length, and this one comes in at about 2.5-3", which is way better than the 1.5-2" focal length that most have.

Now, get a temporarily magnetic frag rack that you never put in the tank unless it's time for pictures, preferably black to make the colors pop. Keeps it clean if you only use it for pictures. You will want to set it about 4-6" below the surface of the water and put your frags on with time to let them settle and open back up. Now, put the phone with the macro and gel filter in the all clear acrylic box, and try to submerge it a little to get closer to the corals without letting water in the box. With this method you can take pretty good dang quality pics with just a smart phone.

Then, from there, you can take them into any photo editing software for touchups. I'm a firm believer that coral pics should be modified. The camera doesn't always do a good job capturing the look in real life, and you should edit them so that the pictures are representative of the true beauty of all these gorgeous things we love to have!

Amazon product

 

[CodyBot]

@CodyBot did i do it wrong?

Sorry, I was busy finding links, pics, and writing a lengthy response for you

 

[CodyBot]

@CodyBot I’m not sure, how do I get my spin?

Responding to the pm now.

 

[CodyBot]

Thank y'all for coming out today! I hope y'all had as much fun playing and winning games I had hosting them for y'all! I was just glad to have a theme that made my "y'alls" feel at home! I look forward to seeing everyone next time but for now, get pumped about those gorgeous corals heading y'alls way! Until next time, reef on!

​

 

[CodyBot]

Spin 8




@tkoenig88 ​

 

[CodyBot]

@M0n4rch working on your spin now! I'll post it up in a moment!

 

[wes84]

Yep. It's going to be hard to do a whole lot with them but I'll work what magic I can in a moment.

When you're using a phone for pics, your have one of two options. You either need to bring your camera closer to the corals (below the water level), or you need to bring the corals to the camera. I'll give you all my little secrets I used to use before I got a DSLR and stepped up my game.

You need a viewing box that is completely made of clear acrylic. It needs to be clear because you're going to have to get the phone right on the coral (less than 3" away) and if it has colored acrylic then it's going to shadow the target. Also, you need to buy the lens kit I'll link below. One of those is a macro lens that you can just clip on your phone. You also need to find the gel filter that works best for your lighting and cut little squares of it. You put the gel filter over the camera then clamp it on with the macro lens. The macro lens is the real value in what I'm telling you. I purchased quite a few of them to find the one with the farthest focal length, and this one comes in at about 2.5-3", which is way better than the 1.5-2" focal length that most have.

Now, get a temporarily magnetic frag rack that you never put in the tank unless it's time for pictures, preferably black to make the colors pop. Keeps it clean if you only use it for pictures. You will want to set it about 4-6" below the surface of the water and put your frags on with time to let them settle and open back up. Now, put the phone with the macro and gel filter in the all clear acrylic box, and try to submerge it a little to get closer to the corals without letting water in the box. With this method you can take pretty good dang quality pics with just a smart phone.

Then, from there, you can take them into any photo editing software for touchups. I'm a firm believer that coral pics should be modified. The camera doesn't always do a good job capturing the look in real life, and you should edit them so that the pictures are representative of the true beauty of all these gorgeous things we love to have!

Amazon product

Yep. It's going to be hard to do a whole lot with them but I'll work what magic I can in a moment.

When you're using a phone for pics, your have one of two options. You either need to bring your camera closer to the corals (below the water level), or you need to bring the corals to the camera. I'll give you all my little secrets I used to use before I got a DSLR and stepped up my game.

You need a viewing box that is completely made of clear acrylic. It needs to be clear because you're going to have to get the phone right on the coral (less than 3" away) and if it has colored acrylic then it's going to shadow the target. Also, you need to buy the lens kit I'll link below. One of those is a macro lens that you can just clip on your phone. You also need to find the gel filter that works best for your lighting and cut little squares of it. You put the gel filter over the camera then clamp it on with the macro lens. The macro lens is the real value in what I'm telling you. I purchased quite a few of them to find the one with the farthest focal length, and this one comes in at about 2.5-3", which is way better than the 1.5-2" focal length that most have.

Now, get a temporarily magnetic frag rack that you never put in the tank unless it's time for pictures, preferably black to make the colors pop. Keeps it clean if you only use it for pictures. You will want to set it about 4-6" below the surface of the water and put your frags on with time to let them settle and open back up. Now, put the phone with the macro and gel filter in the all clear acrylic box, and try to submerge it a little to get closer to the corals without letting water in the box. With this method you can take pretty good dang quality pics with just a smart phone.

Then, from there, you can take them into any photo editing software for touchups. I'm a firm believer that coral pics should be modified. The camera doesn't always do a good job capturing the look in real life, and you should edit them so that the pictures are representative of the true beauty of all these gorgeous things we love to have!

Amazon product

Is this the gel filter you are taking about? I got this from a link you posted a while back. I have the eshopps super spy but the iphone i use for photos is larger than the circle so it doesnt sit flat and i get the lights reflection on the acrylic. My other iphone is smaller and fits but doesnt have as good of a camera. I have the orphek macro lens but i feel like it didnt magnify anything. Maybe because im trying to look at stuff 12+ inches away? Ill get the one you linked and try it with my smaller phone. Ill aso try moving them up closer on a clean black frag rack like you said. Thanks for taking the time to give me all this great info, i appreciate it!

 

[woodyarmadillo]

@CodyBot cant believe you let that strat go for a deal! I had a proxy set at 308 to bid last second but my screaming 13 month old had other ideas. Although really i cant complain…

 

[CodyBot]

Is this the gel filter you are taking about? I got this from a link you posted a while back. I have the eshopps super spy but the iphone i use for photos is larger than the circle so it doesnt sit flat and i get the lights reflection on the acrylic. My other iphone is smaller and fits but doesnt have as good of a camera. I have the orphek macro lens but i feel like it didnt magnify anything. Maybe because im trying to look at stuff 12+ inches away? Ill get the one you linked and try it with my smaller phone. Ill aso try moving them up closer on a clean black frag rack like you said. Thanks for taking the time to give me all this great info, i appreciate it!

That's not the particular filter I use, but no filter is a silver bullet. Each one does a specific job, so each one is going to look better with certain lights than other ones. For instance, I mostly use Viprasectras and a Half Straw filter looks great with them at 10% whites and 75% blues. If I turn the whites off, or in heavy blue situations, I switch to a Full Straw filter, which filters out a lot more blue. As I have said a few times before, each filter is meant to take out a certain amount of blues, so you need a specific filter for a specific situation. However, you do not want all the blues out, which is what orange does. The amber range is different in that it allows some blues to pass through, which gives the full spectrum of what you're seeing in an accurate way. The Orphek filter does not magnify and is an orange filter. I would not recommend it.

The macro lens I linked does indeed magnify, but only at a very close range. I won't go into the topic of lens length, but your camera on your phone is an extremely short lens (due to physical limitations) so you can't take the highly detailed shots you want for corals from a distance. The best you can do is just take a very high megapixel image then try to zoom in all while praying it looks halfway decent. Phone cameras are built for selfies, not photography.

As far as the looking box is concerned, there really isn't an option anywhere for you to buy one that is best for your application. You'll need to make it, which I can coach you through as well. If you're not a handy person, and if I have the time, I could potentially make one for you, but I'm not making any promises on that front. My plate is full for the next handful of months. Once the box is made, you just lay the phone down and there's no reflection from light because the macro lens is literally resting on the bottom.

 

[wes84]

That's not the particular filter I use, but no filter is a silver bullet. Each one does a specific job, so each one is going to look better with certain lights than other ones. For instance, I mostly use Viprasectras and a Half Straw filter looks great with them at 10% whites and 75% blues. If I turn the whites off, or in heavy blue situations, I switch to a Full Straw filter, which filters out a lot more blue. As I have said a few times before, each filter is meant to take out a certain amount of blues, so you need a specific filter for a specific situation. However, you do not want all the blues out, which is what orange does. The amber range is different in that it allows some blues to pass through, which gives the full spectrum of what you're seeing in an accurate way. The Orphek filter does not magnify and is an orange filter. I would not recommend it.

The macro lens I linked does indeed magnify, but only at a very close range. I won't go into the topic of lens length, but your camera on your phone is an extremely short lens (due to physical limitations) so you can't take the highly detailed shots you want for corals from a distance. The best you can do is just take a very high megapixel image then try to zoom in all while praying it looks halfway decent. Phone cameras are built for selfies, not photography.

As far as the looking box is concerned, there really isn't an option anywhere for you to buy one that is best for your application. You'll need to make it, which I can coach you through as well. If you're not a handy person, and if I have the time, I could potentially make one for you, but I'm not making any promises on that front. My plate is full for the next handful of months. Once the box is made, you just lay the phone down and there's no reflection from light because the macro lens is literally resting on the bottom.

This is the orphek set i got originally but just ordered the one you linked also. I can build a viewing box, just have to find time to do it. I built my sump and a bunch of dosing containers out of acrylic so building a viewing box shouldn't be a problem. Would you use 1/8” cast acrylic for the viewing panel, or extruded? Im not sure if one is clearer than the other.

 

[CodyBot]

Spin 9




@M0n4rch ​

 

[CodyBot]

This is the orphek set i got originally but just ordered the one you linked also. I can build a viewing box, just have to find time to do it. I built my sump and a bunch of dosing containers out of acrylic so building a viewing box shouldn't be a problem. Would you use 1/8” cast acrylic for the viewing panel, or extruded? Im not sure if one is clearer than the other.

I stand corrected about the Orphek.

As far as acrylic, 1/4' is best considering that when you push down on the viewing box, you will get some pressure. Better to spend a couple more bucks and know your expensive smart phone is safer incase you made a faulty weld. This vendor is the cheapest I've found and they have great customer service. I get all my stuff from them.

Clear Plexiglass Acrylic Sheets - Available in Pre-Cut Sizes and Custom Cut-to-Size

Premium Clear Plexiglass Acrylic Sheets - Ideal for DIY Projects and Commercial Use. High Durability and Clarity. Available in Multiple Pre-Cut Sizes. We can also custom cut-to-size.

www.estreetplastics.com

 

[M0n4rch]

Spin 9




@M0n4rch ​

Sweet! Thanks!

 

[CodyBot]

@CodyBot cant believe you let that strat go for a deal! I had a proxy set at 308 to bid last second but my screaming 13 month old had other ideas. Although really i cant complain…

About the best I can do. Sorry, the originals (as far as image quality, definitely not the talent in the pics) are crap so it's not as much to work with