Actinic photos and rebel t3i

[Metalsniper]

So I found myself with a rebel t3i after Christmas and I'm trying to figure out how to best take photos.
I've gotten pretty good under normal lighting but when I cut down to only royal blues to go for that super actinic look my photos end up looking purple. I tried doing a custom white balance but it killed all the color but green essentially. I'm doing low Iso with a relatively small f stop and 2 second timer.

So this is a normal shot of our little frag rack

This is how it turns out with auto white balance on the actinics

And this is how it turns out when I try to do a custom white balance

 

[that0neguy1126]

I found the best way to take shots with he actinics (LED's especially) was to over expose, but it sounds like you are already doing that with the 2sec shutter speed. Is the 1st picture with the actinics on?

 

[Metalsniper]

I'll give it a shot and adjust the actual exposure, what I meant is that I have a count down so I'm not touching the camera when the photo is taken which isn't really relevant to the rest of what I gave. That's something that I can test when I get home tonight though, thanks.

 

[djkms]

hmmmm. I have a Rebel t3i as well and taking actinic shots have been a breeze for me. I do shoot with both the royal blue and blues on though (AI SOL LED's).

For example:

This is a rainbow bubble tip shot under actinic. Under normal light it looks just like a RBTA with a bit of green and orange. I did do some post processing in lightroom but only to sharpen up the image a bit, deepen the blacks and lower the exposure. I dont believe I messed with white balance at all with the shot. If you have the option try shooting with blues and royal blues.

Here is the image Exif info if you are interested:

EXIF IFD0

Camera Make = Canon
Camera Model = Canon EOS REBEL T3i
X-Resolution = 240/1 ===> 240
Y-Resolution = 240/1 ===> 240
X/Y-Resolution Unit = inch (2)
Software / Firmware Version = Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3.4
Last Modified Date/Time = 2011:11:09 22:06:19
Y/Cb/Cr Positioning (Subsampling) = centered / center of pixel array (1)

EXIF Sub IFD

Exposure Time (1 / Shutter Speed) = 1/10 second ===> 0.1 second
Lens F-Number / F-Stop = 13/1 ===> ƒ/13
Exposure Program = manual control (1)
ISO Speed Ratings = 400
Unknown tag, Tagnum 0x8830 = data ===> 2
Unknown tag, Tagnum 0x8832 = data ===> 400
EXIF Version = 0230
Original Date/Time = 2011:11:09 22:17:41
Digitization Date/Time = 2011:11:09 22:17:41
Components Configuration = 0x01,0x02,0x03,0x00 / YCbCr
Shutter Speed Value (APEX) = 13301/4004
Shutter Speed (Exposure Time) = 1/10 second
Aperture Value (APEX) = 20197/2729
Aperture = ƒ/13
Exposure Bias (EV) = 0/1 ===> 0
Max Aperture Value (APEX) = 18325/3649 ===> 5.02
Max Aperture = ƒ/5.7
Distance to Subject = 13/50 m
Metering Mode = pattern / multi-segment (5)
Flash = Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode
Focal Length = 55/1 mm ===> 55 mm
Original Subsecond Time = 45
Digitized Subsecond Time = 45
FlashPix Version = 0100
Colour Space = 65535
Focal Plane X-Resolution = 1036800/181 ===> 5728.18
Focal Plane Y-Resolution = 691200/119 ===> 5808.4
Focal Plane X/Y-Resolution Unit = inch (2)
Custom Rendered = normal process (0)
Exposure Mode = manual exposure (1)
White Balance = auto (0)
Scene Capture Type = standard (0)
Unknown tag, Tagnum 0xa431 = data ===> 072023007044
Unknown tag, Tagnum 0xa432 = data ===> 18/1,55/1,0/0,0/0
Unknown tag, Tagnum 0xa434 = data ===> EF-S18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS II
Unknown tag, Tagnum 0xa435 = data ===> 00000380c5

 

[Ghosty]

Beautiful shot DJ! I have a T2i (almost same camera), but haven't bought my 100m macro yet, just have the kit lens. What lens do you use for your aquarium shots? Do you have a public online gallery, or Flikr account?

 

[djkms]

Beautiful shot DJ! I have a T2i (almost same camera), but haven't bought my 100m macro yet, just have the kit lens. What lens do you use for your aquarium shots? Do you have a public online gallery, or Flikr account?

I am just using the kit lens as well and also saving up for a good macro lens. I just got the camera not too long ago and havent set up a gallery yet. Still perfecting my technique! Thanks for the compliment