# Aquarium Photography



## shrtmann (Feb 15, 2009)

So as Ive seen that many people have quite the knack for aquarium photography I figured I'd start a thread to put all the tips in one spot. 

I myself am absolutely terrible at getting my little gafers pose for the camera. Everything turns blurry or even just the colouring just doesn't look right. So tell me please. What are your secrets?


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## Darkblade48 (Jan 28, 2008)

Patience is usually the key. That and a camera with a decent macro function (if you are using a point and shoot) or a decent macro lens (if you are using an SLR).


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## Riceburner (Mar 14, 2008)

Lots of practice and good equipment....especially lighting. 

....I think....but what do I know.














I use a DSLR with a macro lens as well as a few primes. I mostly get away with one flash, but sometimes use multiple. Having the light in the right place is crucial. Usually above to some degree is best, but if overhead, it's best to have some fill below and to the side.


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## kaegunim (Jan 15, 2010)

In terms of geting your fish to pose- the secret is to always be ready to get a photo taken when they do pose. Leave the camera near the tank. When you are sitting watching your fish, have the camera in hand (an powered up) ready to go. In general, the more time spent waiting for "the right" shot, the better the image you end up with.

There are some technical challenges associated with shooting an aquarium scene. 

Foremost is the problem of lighting and glare.

In order to reduce reflections you want the exterior of the tank (where your camera is going to be) to be as dark as possible. Turn off the lights (save for the ones over your tank) and shut the blinds. This will reduce the reflections your camera captures off the glass. 

If you are bringing your camera into close proximity of the glass (which is likely if you want to get reasonable shots of your fauna) introduces lighting of your equiment from the aquarium lighting. If you see a ghostly image of your camera even after turning off the lights - this is why.

You can reduce this phenomenon by shooting at oblique angles, but this increses your film/ccd plane to subject distance, which is of course undesirable. An alternate solution is to make yourself a shooting blind by cutting a circle big enough to slip your lens through out of a sheet of black cardboard. (The only problem is that you look silly when using it, and it is a little awkward...)

As I have implied, light on your side of the glass is bad for shooting. Firing a flashgun, whether head-on or at an oblique angle, at a piece of glass (read: your aquarium) or any reflective surface anywhere near the line of sight of your lens is a recipe for getting glare. If you have a remote flash (a real remote - either IR or corded, not one that is controlled by a pulse from the on-camera flash, as we want to get away from any reflections), then you can get around this by either placing the flash on another face of the aquarium, or by placing it far enough to the side and shielding it (shield the flash's lens with a tube made of black construction paper so no light escapes to the side (towards your camera).

The second problem is scale. Unless you have a monstrously big tank, most of your subjects are going to be pretty small. And pretty small means macro photography. (A frame with a tiny spec in the middle "look there he is, right there" is almost never a very good image)

A macro lens for any SLR is expensive. Very expensive. They are also not zoom lenses, so you are stuck at one focal length, which is not so popular these days. But if you can, then do! 

You can get an extension tube, which will give you macro at a reasonable price, but at the expense of having to use all manual settings (it is possible with most, but not all of the consumer level SLRs). It also cuts your lens speed in half, which is fine if you have an f/2, whcih becomes f/2.8, however if your lens is an f/4 to begin with, you end up with an f/5.6, which is getting pretty slow for shooting your aquarium. Personally I have ordered one, and will try it out with my 50mm f/1.4 - so long as you have at least a f/2 or f/2.8 lens it should be fine though....

If you are using a point and shoot camera with a decent macro setting (much cheaper than getting a macro lens, and does nearly as good a job - if you can get the focus right ^o^) then turn off the flash. Set the camera to macro mode and start trying to focus from a reasonable distance, and keep inching closer untill it can't focus - this will give you an idea of how close you can get.

If your tank is dimly lit then your photos of moving subjects will suffer from motion blur (characterized by blur of the subject in motion against a relatively sharp background) - if this happens to you, just cosy a desk light up to the side of the tank adjacent to where you are shooting. If this is not enough to get you faster than 1/15 sec exposures, then you will probably also want to brace yourself or use a tripod to reduce blur due to camera motion (characterized by blur everywhere). At anything slower than 1/30 sec you will have to be patient and get your fish when they are staying relatively still. Even so you will probably get some motion blur - just keep shooting! It will work out eventually!

One thing you will notice is that shooting macro your depth of field (the "thickness" of the image that is in focus) is quite shallow. Even stopped down (at a very small aperature) you don't get much depth of field. If your tank is dimly lit, then the camera will select a larger aperature to let in more light - the problem here is that this further decreases your depth of field. Shooting in macro mode at the widest aperatures (most point and shoots have a maximum aperature of roughly f/3.5) your depth of field is going to be a few cm at best! This can be considered a good thing, as a nicely blurred out background and foreground really focuses your attention on the subject.

Now that you have worked out your lighting, take a second to check what white balancing options are offered by your camera. Point and shoot cameras do not always offer a custom white balance setting, but do often offer an aquarium setting! Select this and see if your colours are at least relatively true to life.

Try taking a few photos now - camera braced against a chair or tripod, and white balance set. Try to get a feel for where the fish has to be in your tank to be close enough to get a good picture of it. Then it becomes a waiting game~ 

A major drawback of the point and shoot is the focus, which tends to be automatic only, and much slower than for an SLR. To get around this, stake out a prime photo location in your tank, and pre-focus. By half depressing the trigger while aimed at a nearby landmark, the camera will be primed to take the picture once your fish comes onto the scene. If you can predict where the subject is likely to be, you can make some good images this way.

Feeding is a great way to get them where you want them - the problem is that these images, while easier to get and technically good are generally much less dramatic than less orchestrated shots. That said, if you have shy fish, then feeding time is a great time to get practice taking their photos!

Enjoy


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## shrtmann (Feb 15, 2009)

nice feedback, thanks everyone who replied so far. Im sure Im not the only one out there who has wondered how some of you's get such great pictures


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## Zebrapl3co (Mar 29, 2006)

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## gucci17 (Oct 11, 2007)

Thanks for the tips! Taking pics of my fish drive me nuts! You guys make it seem so easy.


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