Week #9, Water Change #8... All is well

[Chad Hughes]

Well it's week #9 and all is well with the contest fish. Can't say that I have anyting new to report other than they are eating like pigs and growing like weeds. I got a few pointers from Eddie in regards to taking better pictures. From his suggestions and my fumbling through the on-line manual for my model camera, the resulting attachments were created. Have a great week!

Best wishes!

[Chad Hughes]

And some more...

[Chad Hughes]

And some more....

[Chad Hughes]

The End.

[kirkp]

Chad, lookin' good. They all seem very fat and consistent in size.

Kirk

[Eddie]

Super nice and healthy Chad! They look awesome!

When you mess with the shutter speed, the exposure is darker. You'll most likely have to adjust the brightness in whatever photo editor/viewer you have. The pictures look good though, you'll get it down bro!

Just in case nobody saw the thread, Chad wanted some tips on how to do macro shots with his Sony camera. Don't think I am criticizing his skills for
S & Gs. LOL


Take care brother,

Eddie

[Chad Hughes]

Chad, lookin' good. They all seem very fat and consistent in size.

Kirk

Thanks Kirk! Yes, they are all pretty much the same size with the exception of one. He's just a bit smaller than the rest, but his growth isn't stunted yet. I think he's just a bit of a slow grower.


Super nice and healthy Chad! They look awesome!

When you mess with the shutter speed, the exposure is darker. You'll most likely have to adjust the brightness in whatever photo editor/viewer you have. The pictures look good though, you'll get it down bro!

Just in case nobody saw the thread, Chad wanted some tips on how to do macro shots with his Sony camera. Don't think I am criticizing his skills for
S & Gs. LOL


Take care brother,

Eddie

Thanks Eddie! I'll continue to play with it. The light in the tank is pretty low right now due to overhead plant growth. I'll get it figured out. LOL! Thanks again for the help!

Best wishes!

[rickztahone]

love the 3rd picture on the forth reply, looks killer. the pictures look great btw. you might want to mess with your editor to bring out some of the natural color. also when shooting in shutter priority try to get as low as possible without getting the image blur. this balances out the shutter speed with the aperture. i'm not sure what camera you have but usually when you have it in one mode the camera will chose the other and sometimes it doesn't choose the right one. what you should do is just keep it in the shutter priority and mess with all the other settings while in that mode, i.e. white balance/metering/exposure (not sure if you can control exposure on yours). also, if your camera has a histogram then you should definitely use it, it is a great tool that most people do not know how to use. the pictures so far look great but you can get even greater pictures if you really start messing with all the settings. the worst that can happen is that you take pictures that you absolutely hate but there is a delete button for that ;). usually when you take so many shots you will find a few here and there that you really like. good luck with the pics and your discus are looking remarkable. btw, i put my plants in their pots already! yay! i will delay the co2 for now to give me time to research it further.

[rickztahone]

also, if you use a photo loader site like photobucket you can submit larger and true to size pictures that retain more quality than when you reduce the size to make them fit as a thumbnail. just fyi

[acroken]

Man Chad the tank is looking awesome! Everything about those guys is excellent. Nice camera work. It is funny that in this contest the biggest challenge in not raising the fish it is the photography. Well done. Thanks for the update.

Kenny

[Chad Hughes]

love the 3rd picture on the forth reply, looks killer. the pictures look great btw. you might want to mess with your editor to bring out some of the natural color. also when shooting in shutter priority try to get as low as possible without getting the image blur. this balances out the shutter speed with the aperture. i'm not sure what camera you have but usually when you have it in one mode the camera will chose the other and sometimes it doesn't choose the right one. what you should do is just keep it in the shutter priority and mess with all the other settings while in that mode, i.e. white balance/metering/exposure (not sure if you can control exposure on yours). also, if your camera has a histogram then you should definitely use it, it is a great tool that most people do not know how to use. the pictures so far look great but you can get even greater pictures if you really start messing with all the settings. the worst that can happen is that you take pictures that you absolutely hate but there is a delete button for that ;). usually when you take so many shots you will find a few here and there that you really like. good luck with the pics and your discus are looking remarkable. btw, i put my plants in their pots already! yay! i will delay the co2 for now to give me time to research it further.

Rick,

Here is a link to the camera that I am using. It's supposed to be a really good MACRO camera. Not so good for distance shots, but I'm not dealing with distance so not too worried about that. I hadn't considered an editor for the pics. So far all the shots have been raw shots downloaded from the camera straight to the site. I'll fiddle with the settings a bit. I'll be that will make a huge difference! Thanks for the tip!

It's funny that you pointed out that one shot (pic #3, reply #4). I just made that one my screen saver on my home computer. Naturally the one that I have at home is a 5 meg picture. Looks super nice!

Take your time on the CO2. Learn all you can. It's not too hard to deal with, but you have to be ready to take the plunge.


also, if you use a photo loader site like photobucket you can submit larger and true to size pictures that retain more quality than when you reduce the size to make them fit as a thumbnail. just fyi

Rick,

I thought about that. The biggest reason that I don;t use it is due to the fact that I can't see the pictures from sites like photobucket and such from my work computer. It's a government thing. LOL! I'm sure as the contest comes to a close I'll be employing such sites to really express the quality and detail of the fish for judging purposes. Thanks again for the great info!


Man Chad the tank is looking awesome! Everything about those guys is excellent. Nice camera work. It is funny that in this contest the biggest challenge in not raising the fish it is the photography. Well done. Thanks for the update.

Kenny

Thanks Kenny! It is funny how the photos are half the battle. I guess if we were all in one room, things would be a lot easier! LOL!

Best wishes!

[Scribbles]

Fabulous pictures Chad! Your discus look wonderful too, nice and fat and healthy. I also love your tank. Keep up the good work.

Chris

[Chad Hughes]

Fabulous pictures Chad! Your discus look wonderful too, nice and fat and healthy. I also love your tank. Keep up the good work.

Chris

Thanks Chris! These guys are super healthy and growing like weeds! I just bought (today) a trio of Albino Snow White from Kenny as well. Should be here next week. After my experience with these fish, I can't resist buying from Kenny! LOL!

Best wishes!

[Disgirl]

They look just great Chad! I sure like the looks of your tank too. The fish look so healthy and wonderful colors too. Good luck with the new ones coming. I have new angels coming Thurs. that will go in my "experiment tank" in a couple weeks. Be sure to post pics of the new ones for us to see,
Barb :)

[Chad Hughes]

They look just great Chad! I sure like the looks of your tank too. The fish look so healthy and wonderful colors too. Good luck with the new ones coming. I have new angels coming Thurs. that will go in my "experiment tank" in a couple weeks. Be sure to post pics of the new ones for us to see,
Barb :)

Thanks Barb! I appreciate the compliments. Good luck on your new babies in their new tank! I'm sure all will go well. I'll start another thread on my new albinos once they arrive. Have a good one!

Best wishes!

[David Rose]

Lookn' good Chad! Can't wait to watch your progress and success continue!

Best,
David

[Chad Hughes]

Thanks David! I really appreciate your support.

Best wishes!

[wgtaylor]

Can't say that I have anyting new to report other than they are eating like pigs and growing like weeds. I got a few pointers from Eddie in regards to taking better pictures.
Best wishes!

Hi Chad

Those discus look great ! You are doing a great job getting the best size out of them.
You know I appreciate seeing the shots of your planted tank as much as seeing the discus, it is looking great, beautiful. :)

Ya, I can see you took camera pointers from Eddie, he always posts at least 20 pictures each week.....ha ha, :D just kidding, :D the pictures look great. :)
Aquarium photography is one of the hardest to capture with a camera. You do good !

Look forward to your next post,
Bill

[Mr Wild]

A real pleasure to read and see the pics of your fish. Be proud they are lookin gooooood!

[Chad Hughes]

Hi Chad

Those discus look great ! You are doing a great job getting the best size out of them.
You know I appreciate seeing the shots of your planted tank as much as seeing the discus, it is looking great, beautiful. :)

Ya, I can see you took camera pointers from Eddie, he always posts at least 20 pictures each week.....ha ha, :D just kidding, :D the pictures look great. :)
Aquarium photography is one of the hardest to capture with a camera. You do good !

Look forward to your next post,
Bill

Bill,

Thank you for the compliments and I am happy to hear that you enjoy the planted tank as well. There's nothing better than beutiful discus in a planted tank IMO.

Yeah, Eddie has been a real sport in regards to camera tips. I know how to point an click. That's about the extent of it. You know what they say, practice makes perfect!

Thanks again Bill!

Best wishes!


A real pleasure to read and see the pics of your fish. Be proud they are lookin gooooood!

Hey Kath!

Thanks so much for the compliments! I am very proud of these jewels! Although I have several beautiful strains of discus, these are my favorite at the moment. LOL! Hopefully all is going well with you!

Best wishes!

[MostlyDiscus]

Well done Chad. All of your hard work is paying off. Thx for the pics my friend.


Ed

[Chad Hughes]

Thanks Ed!

I can't say that I have worked too hard. I did take a weekend to go to Las Vegas and a whole week to go lay on the beach in North Carolina. Come to think of it, I've been pretty lazy. LOL!

Thanks again for the kind words. Have a good one!

Best wishes!

[MostlyDiscus]

Whoa, Im at OBX atm for a week and am I freaking out? YES. You must have someone you really trust in Cali. This is going to be a tuff contest to judge. Good Luck...


Ed

[calihawker]

Great pictures Chad! They really look good in a planted tank. You're doing a fabulous job with those guys!:)

[Chad Hughes]

Whoa, Im at OBX atm for a week and am I freaking out? YES. You must have someone you really trust in Cali. This is going to be a tuff contest to judge. Good Luck...


Ed

Ed,

BREATHE! LOL! Just kidding. I know how you feel. The only thing that I rely on when I am away is an auto feeder. Sure wish I had someone to do more. LOL!

Best wishes!


Great pictures Chad! They really look good in a planted tank. You're doing a fabulous job with those guys!:)

Thanks Steve! I really appreciate the compliments! How's the travels going? Hopefully all is well with you and yours. Stay safe!

[snoopy65]

Not that my untrained eye really knows quality, as at this point I am a newbie and go on recommendation from others, but for what it is worth....I think those are absolutely gorgeous!

[Chad Hughes]

Not that my untrained eye really knows quality, as at this point I am a newbie and go on recommendation from others, but for what it is worth....I think those are absolutely gorgeous!

Thanks Snoopy!

These guys are super high quality. Forrest and Kenny get the credit there. Couldn't have had such fantastic specimens without their help! I'm glad you enjoyed the shots.

Best wishes!

[Armandi_Fishcarer]

Chad, some fine pic's indeed. I get trigger happy with my camera when it comes down to my fishies & still learning bro. :p The fish are looking outstanding as well as the tank itself with the plants,sub etc... it shows other hobbyists other ways to grow-out some monster Discus. Lov'Leee! :D

Regards
Ahmed ;)

[Chad Hughes]

Chad, some fine pic's indeed. I get trigger happy with my camera when it comes down to my fishies & still learning bro. :p The fish are looking outstanding as well as the tank itself with the plants,sub etc... it shows other hobbyists other ways to grow-out some monster Discus. Lov'Leee! :D

Regards
Ahmed ;)

Thanks for the compliments Ahmed! I really appreciate that. I find that the more pictures I snap, the better they selection of decent, postable pictures I get. LOL! Whatever works I guess, right?

Best wishes!

[GrillMaster]

Looking great Chad! :)

Sounds like the problem I have. Take a 100 pics to get a couple of decent ones... ;) :D :D

[Chad Hughes]

Thanks Mark!

he photo skills are improving! Tanks again to some tips from Eddie. I'm not a big instruction manual reader. LOL!

Best wishes!

[David Rose]

Hmmm, if you can read lips Chad, I think a few of those beauties said they want to vacation in Harrisburg given you're working them hard. ;)

Doing great Chad...congrats!
David

[Chad Hughes]

Hmmm, if you can read lips Chad, I think a few of those beauties said they want to vacation in Harrisburg given you're working them hard. ;)

Doing great Chad...congrats!
David

LOL! I bet David! The weather will have to get warmer first. These guys just don't like vacationing in cold weather. They are now spoiled by the warm San Diego weather! LOL!

Best wishes!

[MRQuad]

they are gorgeous bud!

[Chad Hughes]

they are gorgeous bud!

Thanks Marvin! ;)