A very long way from Guppyman, but I am getting better

[talloulou]

I have been having a horrible time trying to photograph my fish. I use a Sony Cybershot. I was blaming the camera but as of late I've gotten a little better with some okay shots. So I guess it wasn't the camera. Hopefully I will improve more in the future. Guppyman's shots are amazing.....better than alot of shots I've seen in mags and books, IMO. Anyway here are my latest shots that I am quite proud of. Just don't look at Guppymans before looking at mine, LOL!

 

[An t-iasg]

Yes, Guppyman's pictures are amazing! Yours are nice too. What kind of Sony do you have? I have the DSC-F717. When I do get a good fish picture, I don't know why, or what I did, because I think I'm doing the same thing when I get a bad pic. So it's kind of surprising when I get a halfway decent pic! I guess it's time to read the instruction manual again!

Your pictures are very nice! They are all in focus and the white balance and color look good. You got a nice close-up of the cory's barbels! That's a nice sharp shot.

 

[talloulou]

Thanks An t- iasg!

I checked out your gallery and you have some nice shots yourself.

My sony cybershot is a DSC-P92. My shots started getting a little better when I stopped using my zoom feature. When I was zooming in the shots were always extremely blurry. And it also seems to help if I make sure there are no bright lights/sunlight getting in the room when I try to take the shot. As far as my camera settings....I know I need flash but which type of flash seems to come down to luck. I have three kinds of flash settings available and I usually play around and use all three. I don't have any real grasp of which type of flash is the "best" for photographing the fish. I have tried taking notes but no flash setting stands out as "the one" that gets the best shots.

 

[Toirtis]

They are great shots....and do realise that when pros do it, they usually have special photo tanks, top-end cameras, and choose backgrounds specific to each shot/fish....so shots like yours are pretty impressive considering you are not a pro.

 

[talloulou]

 

[Jchillin]

Pics look great Talloulou...it took me quite a while before I was able to take a pic wihout it looking blurry, washed out and either too dark or too light.

Keep up the good work.

 

[QTOFFER]

I especially like the third pic - the one of the bigger severum. The markings around the mouth and eyes are in such sharp focus - as are the rays in the fins.

Check out the gallery of Verse914. Simply amazing! Most of his pics were taken with a Sony Cybershot.

My biggest problem is avoiding the reflection of the flash on the fish' scales that results in a washed out image.

 

[krap101]

well.. i have a sony cybershot too. if i were to get another camra id get something with a bigger optical zoom, because digital zoom makes it all blurry. good camra for just like, people pics

 

[tetrin]

QTOFFER, i had stumbled upon verse914's gallery a few weeks back. and the pics were jaw-dropping.
i almost thought he paid the fishes to become his models...

 

[Guppyman]

Photo Skills

Hi. I know that people like to say that it's the photographer's skills and NOT the equipment that yield great results. Not true. My shots were pretty awful while using a point and shoot. The move to the 10D enabled great improvement, overnight. Also, most people don't realize that I might invest many hours and hundreds of images to get one pic. AND, I can pick apart ANY of my photos that you think are so great. Most have major flaws. But, I have learned from my mistakes and am getting ready to enter a new phase of aquatic photography. I think you will see a major improvement in all my photos, going forward. Your pics are fine. Practice makes perfect. I appreciate all of your kind words. - Frank/Guppyman®

 

[fishyrican]

Very nice pictures. I also like the third one the best. I try to take pictures of my fish, but I am used to using a Maxxum 35mm, so I have to get used to my wife's digi cam. Right now, mine are wonderful pictures of animated blurs. Nothing like yours. Good job!