Top down photography

[Marc Levenson]

I built a special topdown photo box for Travis (TS on ReefCentral.com) today.
I'd post a picture of it, but he already has it! :D Anyway, it is similar to a
specimen box like the LFS use to hang a fish on the front of the tank.

However, all the walls are made of black acrylic, with only the base being clear
acrylic. I'm looking forward to Travis' new shots from above, as there is no
light reflection and you can bet he'll blow us away with some superior macros.

This is what a coral looks like from above, through the box. I tested it with
my Fuji S602Z today. You can see the left and bottom walls of acrylic in this
shot.

[ These are big images, give them time to download ]

http://www.melevsreef.com/pics/1103/topdown_box.jpg

Electric Blue Maxima
http://www.melevsreef.com/pics/1103/topdown_maxima.jpg

Macro of a branch of Acropora sp.
http://www.melevsreef.com/pics/1103/topdown_acrofrag.jpg

Top down shot of Montipora capricornis fraglet
http://www.melevsreef.com/pics/1103/topdown_mcap.jpg

Top/ angled shot of Milleopora
http://www.melevsreef.com/pics/1103/topdown_milli.jpg

Macro shot of Green Acropora
http://www.melevsreef.com/pics/1103/topdown_greenacro.jpg

Top down shot of Blue Acropora
http://www.melevsreef.com/pics/1103/topdown_blueacro.jpg

Marc

--
Personal Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/oanda/index.html
Business Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com
Marine Hobbyist: http://www.melevsreef.com

[Terry]

"Marc Levenson" > wrote in message
...
> I built a special topdown photo box for Travis (TS on ReefCentral.com)
today.
> I'd post a picture of it, but he already has it! :D Anyway, it is similar
to a
> specimen box like the LFS use to hang a fish on the front of the tank.
>
> However, all the walls are made of black acrylic, with only the base being
clear
> acrylic. I'm looking forward to Travis' new shots from above, as there is
no
> light reflection and you can bet he'll blow us away with some superior
macros.
>
> This is what a coral looks like from above, through the box. I tested it
with
> my Fuji S602Z today. You can see the left and bottom walls of acrylic in
this
> shot.
>
> [ These are big images, give them time to download ]
>
> http://www.melevsreef.com/pics/1103/topdown_box.jpg
>
> Electric Blue Maxima
> http://www.melevsreef.com/pics/1103/topdown_maxima.jpg
>
> Macro of a branch of Acropora sp.
> http://www.melevsreef.com/pics/1103/topdown_acrofrag.jpg
>
> Top down shot of Montipora capricornis fraglet
> http://www.melevsreef.com/pics/1103/topdown_mcap.jpg
>
> Top/ angled shot of Milleopora
> http://www.melevsreef.com/pics/1103/topdown_milli.jpg
>
> Macro shot of Green Acropora
> http://www.melevsreef.com/pics/1103/topdown_greenacro.jpg
>
> Top down shot of Blue Acropora
> http://www.melevsreef.com/pics/1103/topdown_blueacro.jpg
>
> Marc
>
> --
> Personal Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/oanda/index.html
> Business Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com
> Marine Hobbyist: http://www.melevsreef.com
>
>

Marc,
Your new group of photos taken with your 'magic box' are very good. Thanks
for sharing. I also like the way you identify the major subject in each pic
you post. For those of us that save them to our HD's it makes them easy to
ID month or years from now.
I also look forward to seeing many more examples on your website.
Thanks again,
Terry

[Doug]

I will give you some credit... you can take some awesome pictures, but I
know that most, if not all, of the credit goes to the manufacturer of the
camera.

I wonder what kind of camera Tif ever bought? I'll give you a hint... the
Canon EOS 10D. I have taken quite a few pictures for the county coroner's
office. Maybe I should start taking pictures of "Ryan's" tank too ;).


DaTroll

"Marc Levenson" > wrote in message
...
I built a special topdown photo box for Travis (TS on ReefCentral.com)
today.
I'd post a picture of it, but he already has it! :D Anyway, it is similar
to a
specimen box like the LFS use to hang a fish on the front of the tank.

However, all the walls are made of black acrylic, with only the base being
clear
acrylic. I'm looking forward to Travis' new shots from above, as there is
no
light reflection and you can bet he'll blow us away with some superior
macros.

This is what a coral looks like from above, through the box. I tested it
with
my Fuji S602Z today. You can see the left and bottom walls of acrylic in
this
shot.

[ These are big images, give them time to download ]

http://www.melevsreef.com/pics/1103/topdown_box.jpg

Electric Blue Maxima
http://www.melevsreef.com/pics/1103/topdown_maxima.jpg

Macro of a branch of Acropora sp.
http://www.melevsreef.com/pics/1103/topdown_acrofrag.jpg

Top down shot of Montipora capricornis fraglet
http://www.melevsreef.com/pics/1103/topdown_mcap.jpg

Top/ angled shot of Milleopora
http://www.melevsreef.com/pics/1103/topdown_milli.jpg

Macro shot of Green Acropora
http://www.melevsreef.com/pics/1103/topdown_greenacro.jpg

Top down shot of Blue Acropora
http://www.melevsreef.com/pics/1103/topdown_blueacro.jpg

Marc

--
Personal Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/oanda/index.html
Business Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com
Marine Hobbyist: http://www.melevsreef.com

[Acrylics]

Marc,
Try gluing a magnifying lens to the bottom either by silicone on the perimeter
or by UV cured glue. If the top remains clear and dry - it'll float too :)

James

[Happy'Cam'per]

What do you call a Troll with a spade in its head?...............DOUG !!!!!
:):)







"Doug" > wrote in message
news:2jWrb.13695$62.12750@lakeread04...
> I will give you some credit... you can take some awesome pictures, but I
> know that most, if not all, of the credit goes to the manufacturer of the
> camera.
>
> I wonder what kind of camera Tif ever bought? I'll give you a hint... the
> Canon EOS 10D. I have taken quite a few pictures for the county coroner's
> office. Maybe I should start taking pictures of "Ryan's" tank too ;).
>
>
> DaTroll
>
> "Marc Levenson" > wrote in message
> ...
> I built a special topdown photo box for Travis (TS on ReefCentral.com)
> today.
> I'd post a picture of it, but he already has it! :D Anyway, it is similar
> to a
> specimen box like the LFS use to hang a fish on the front of the tank.
>
> However, all the walls are made of black acrylic, with only the base being
> clear
> acrylic. I'm looking forward to Travis' new shots from above, as there is
> no
> light reflection and you can bet he'll blow us away with some superior
> macros.
>
> This is what a coral looks like from above, through the box. I tested it
> with
> my Fuji S602Z today. You can see the left and bottom walls of acrylic in
> this
> shot.
>
> [ These are big images, give them time to download ]
>
> http://www.melevsreef.com/pics/1103/topdown_box.jpg
>
> Electric Blue Maxima
> http://www.melevsreef.com/pics/1103/topdown_maxima.jpg
>
> Macro of a branch of Acropora sp.
> http://www.melevsreef.com/pics/1103/topdown_acrofrag.jpg
>
> Top down shot of Montipora capricornis fraglet
> http://www.melevsreef.com/pics/1103/topdown_mcap.jpg
>
> Top/ angled shot of Milleopora
> http://www.melevsreef.com/pics/1103/topdown_milli.jpg
>
> Macro shot of Green Acropora
> http://www.melevsreef.com/pics/1103/topdown_greenacro.jpg
>
> Top down shot of Blue Acropora
> http://www.melevsreef.com/pics/1103/topdown_blueacro.jpg
>
> Marc
>
> --
> Personal Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/oanda/index.html
> Business Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com
> Marine Hobbyist: http://www.melevsreef.com
>
>
>

[Marc Levenson]

Hey James, thanks for the idea. I may try that some time, just to see what kind
of distortion I might be dealing with.

Marc


Acrylics wrote:

> Marc,
> Try gluing a magnifying lens to the bottom either by silicone on the perimeter
> or by UV cured glue. If the top remains clear and dry - it'll float too :)
>
> James

--
Personal Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/oanda/index.html
Business Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com
Marine Hobbyist: http://www.melevsreef.com

[Acrylics]

Back in the day ;) we did a lot of these for public aquariums' touch tanks so
you could get a close look at starfish, etc... Works fairly well, though it
will obviously mess with focal lengths for photographic puposes.

James

[Marc Levenson]

Terry wrote:

> Marc,
> Your new group of photos taken with your 'magic box' are very good. Thanks
> for sharing. I also like the way you identify the major subject in each pic
> you post. For those of us that save them to our HD's it makes them easy to
> ID month or years from now.
> I also look forward to seeing many more examples on your website.
> Thanks again,
> Terry

You are very welcome. Be sure to take some time to check out this page for a
bunch of ID's and descriptions. Just click on the small image to see more
detail.

http://www.melevsreef.com/id/

Marc


--
Personal Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/oanda/index.html
Business Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com
Marine Hobbyist: http://www.melevsreef.com