Tank of the Month. New idea!

[Rickyrooz]

Does Reef Lounge do a TANK OF THE MONTH like Reef Central where the winner writes up a nice article about their set up and pictures of the tank, inhabitants, and equipment?

[elvictre]

OK OK Ricky, you won...lol.

You are like the New England Patriots of photo taking. There is you and then everyone else. You have inspired me tough. I am getting the wife a Nikon D80 for Christmas. She loves to take pics of the kids and I can use it for my tank.

[Mike O'Brien]

Back in 02 they tried it. We still have the section under Rate My Tank. I think that due to our small size, things like that don't go too well.

[Rickyrooz]

Guess I better start promoting Reef Lounge!

[furman589]

yeah ricky cheats... his pics are always perfect

[GSELLERS1245]

cheater^^^....just kiddin, ricky you do have a sweet taste for photography, feel free to post up more full tank shots anytime

[Rickyrooz]

I look at many different reef tanks and get many cool ideas for shots. When I first started out I was not too great but now I hope I can compete with the best. The key is to be patient when taking pictures. I have stared at my tank for hours looking for the perfect shot. I delete the photos that are not sharp or are over exposed. It’s funny looking at some of the other reef tanks and seeing how touched up they are from Adobe Photo Shop. My Dad is a creative director for a marketing agency and he knows the ins and outs of photo shop and tells me how each photo was touched up. The colors of last months TOM were so over saturated it was impossible not to notice they were fake. If you look at the Blue Hippo Tang you’ll notice it’s the same color blue as the background. This is achieved through the blue saturation level on photo shop. I always thought the tanks looked beauty until I heard the photos were touched up. Now I do not have much respect for most of the Tank of the Month photos. I hope that one day I can have a tank of the month on www.Reefkeeping.com

http://www.rickysreef.com

[elvictre]

Good to know that Ricky. I always look at those tanks and think why can't I get that color. I didn't think people would waste the time touching up photos to make there tanks look nicer as opposed to spending that time working on the tank.

Quick question. Do you keep the lights on or off in the room when taking pics? My tank in built into the wall and it's hard to get a full tank shot.

[Rickyrooz]

I keep the lights off and I have two large windows behind me when I take pictures that give a lot of light reflection. So I cover up all the surrounding windows with a blanket when I take pictures. I usually don't cover the windows next to the tank unless I'm taking a shot from the side of the tank, then I usually have my relfection in the picture.