Posted by John Tobias on October 25, 2012 at 2:14 PM
Recently I attempted to photograph fish in a 150 gal salt water tank. Had lots of trouble with distortion. Used a 100mm macro lens, live view, and mostly camera on tripod. Some flash sone w/o flash. Looking for suggestions on how to improve, or articles about photographing fish in aquariums.
Have posted one of my better shots.
Thank you for any help you can provided.
Posted by Mark Stahlke on October 25, 2012 at 2:56 PM
Many years ago, in the 35mm film days, I tried shooting fish in an aquarium with only modest success. Here are some of the things I learned.
Use a high ISO (or fast film) for fast shutter speeds.
The glass has to be immaculate on both sides.
Run a polishing filter like a diatom filter to get the water crystal clear before shooting.
Turn off filters and airstones.
Turn off the room lights and throw a dark sheet or something over the tank and camera to eliminate reflections. A polarizer will help too but you'll lose shutter speed.
It's easier to use a small aperture than focus on moving fish but there's that shutter speed problem again.
Be patient and let the fish move into position.
Back then I was shooting film so the quality of the light was important. It's much easier to correct the white balance with digital.
I hope that helps.
Posted by Mark Stahlke on October 25, 2012 at 3:33 PM
One more thing:
Feed the fish live food, like good quality brine shrimp, for a few days to get them in peak condition. It makes a difference.
More memories are kicking in. Bow front tanks have a lot more distortion than flat front tanks. Even flat front tanks have some distortion because the weight of the water column bends the glass slightly. That's why big tanks always have one or two center braces. With any style of tank you'll get more distortion if you're shooting at an angle to the glass.
Mark makes good points. I've had the best luck when using flash, but off-camera and well the side. For directional light use one, and for uniform light use two. Best luck at containing glass reflections is to use a lens hood, then press the hood right up tight against the glass.
Posted by John Tobias on October 26, 2012 at 12:19 AM
Mark and Hank, thank you both for your suggestions. I will try again soon and will let you know how it works out.
John Tobias
Posted by Kent Staubus on October 28, 2012 at 2:16 PM
I wear black gloves, black face mask. If you can press lens right against the glass and use a black rubber lens hood that helps even more. The black lens hood cuts out glare/reflections and the rubber aspect insulates the camera from vibrations.
I suggest you go to the UK forum and look up John Robinson's salamander images. He gives a good description of how he gets those images using small hand-made aquariums. If these are your own fish you have that option.
Discussion
6 repliesHave posted one of my better shots.
Thank you for any help you can provided.
Use a high ISO (or fast film) for fast shutter speeds.
The glass has to be immaculate on both sides.
Run a polishing filter like a diatom filter to get the water crystal clear before shooting.
Turn off filters and airstones.
Turn off the room lights and throw a dark sheet or something over the tank and camera to eliminate reflections. A polarizer will help too but you'll lose shutter speed.
It's easier to use a small aperture than focus on moving fish but there's that shutter speed problem again.
Be patient and let the fish move into position.
Back then I was shooting film so the quality of the light was important. It's much easier to correct the white balance with digital.
I hope that helps.
Feed the fish live food, like good quality brine shrimp, for a few days to get them in peak condition. It makes a difference.
More memories are kicking in. Bow front tanks have a lot more distortion than flat front tanks. Even flat front tanks have some distortion because the weight of the water column bends the glass slightly. That's why big tanks always have one or two center braces. With any style of tank you'll get more distortion if you're shooting at an angle to the glass.
John Tobias
Kent in SD