What's the hardest fish you've tried to photograph?

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redfisher1139

Aquarium Advice Freak
Joined
Dec 12, 2010
Messages
298
Location
Orlando, FL
Mine is my Bloodfin Tetras. They spook at the autofocus light, but I finally got a few good ones tonight!!!

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Like this?

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It took 47 out-of-focus shots before I got this one! Just keep following them and shooting, at some point the shot will happen!!
 
He is pretty. Keep at it. Just spend a lot of time in front of the tank (I pull up a chair, as my photo sessions are around 250-300 shots.). Don't try to review the pictures until you are done and they are in the computer, just snap away as fast as your flash can recharge!!
 
My God.

I'm a professional photographer. I know my way around a camera. But these fish are, (a) fast, and (b) I can't say I've ever tried taking pictures through glass before. I also think I don't have the right focal length for a lens to do the job.

This is going to take more serious work on a day when it's sunny and I can open all the windows, turn on all the lights, and turn my shutter speed up really fast. These guys are quick! :) I have newfound respect for anyone who can get a sharp photo of their fish! :)

I also now slightly regret the bowfront tank. Focusing, even manually, through the curve is pretty tricky!
 
The biggest problem I have is definitely the flash. To catch any of my fish clearly, I need a fast shutter speed and a lot of light. Trying to get that light using the flash usually creates ugly shadows that I hate. I know I should invest in some good aquarium lighting for plants, but I may need to do it just to take pictures!
 
My God.

I'm a professional photographer. I know my way around a camera. But these fish are, (a) fast, and (b) I can't say I've ever tried taking pictures through glass before. I also think I don't have the right focal length for a lens to do the job.

This is going to take more serious work on a day when it's sunny and I can open all the windows, turn on all the lights, and turn my shutter speed up really fast. These guys are quick! :) I have newfound respect for anyone who can get a sharp photo of their fish! :)

I also now slightly regret the bowfront tank. Focusing, even manually, through the curve is pretty tricky!

I'm not a professional photographer, but I am taking a photography class right now. The one problem with having all that external light is that it will be reflected by the glass in the picture. I recently tried the same thing and all you can see are the reflected images in the glass. I really think the light has to come from up above. In fact, the best pictures I've been able to take required me shutting all the curtains, dimming the inside external lights and using no flash. The key for me is the aperture setting.
This just happens to be one example.

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The biggest problem I have is definitely the flash. To catch any of my fish clearly, I need a fast shutter speed and a lot of light. Trying to get that light using the flash usually creates ugly shadows that I hate. I know I should invest in some good aquarium lighting for plants, but I may need to do it just to take pictures!


Use better over-tank lighting and turn your ISO all the way down.
 
I'm not a professional photographer, but I am taking a photography class right now. The one problem with having all that external light is that it will be reflected by the glass in the picture. I recently tried the same thing and all you can see are the reflected images in the glass. I really think the light has to come from up above. In fact, the best pictures I've been able to take required me shutting all the curtains, dimming the inside external lights and using no flash. The key for me is the aperture setting.
This just happens to be one example.

32890-albums1223-picture8843.jpg

I tend to not ever use my flash, and all of our lights are bendable, for lack of a better word, so I point them away from the tank, but they still provide ambient lighting that helps.

My aperture has been low, but I'm pretty sure a high shutter speed is definitely helpful when you have quick fish if you want the images sharp. :)

Unfortunately, our in-tank lighting isn't so good at the moment, but we're ordering a better lighting rig this weekend, so hopefully next week things will be better :)

Also, ISO down won't really do anything except reduce the lighting in the photo, if you bump it up, it will increase the brightness of your photo, but with the gain of graininess. However, depending on your camera, the grain might not show up for quite a bit. I tend to always shoot around 200 ISO as a buffer. But that's when I'm dealing with portraiture :)
 
I was justing posting the same info for elysekuf. We must have bumped heads as we were typing :). When you say turn the ISO all the way down you mean to say "100"? I'm thinking you would want a more light sensitive ISO like 400 or 800.
 
hah! I'm glad I refreshed before I clicked submit! I almost responded again and we would have been going in circles :D hehe
 
I use something closer to 30 or 40 ISO. Then again my lights are T5HO and the last picture in my first post is what things look like in my tank at that ISO. A lower ISO in my experience lets you take nicer shots of fish because there's less chance of graininess due to a small aperture, additionally there's less glare and less blurring when the fish move. But I'm not photographer, so that's the extent of my knowledge.
 
I use something closer to 30 or 40 ISO. Then again my lights are T5HO and the last picture in my first post is what things look like in my tank at that ISO. A lower ISO in my experience lets you take nicer shots of fish because there's less chance of graininess due to a small aperture, additionally there's less glare and less blurring when the fish move. But I'm not photographer, so that's the extent of my knowledge.


You are correct that it's better to keep your ISO low and try to balance your aperture and your shutter speed first. Your aperture controls how much light is let in and your shutter for how long. Generally, you want a higher shutter speed if you can because they will result in sharper images. You want a lower/wider aperture if you're photographing people / pets, etc. because then your depth of field is lower, meaning that you're likely only really focusing sharply on one feature (with people, you want to try to set that on their eyes, for example). However, with large groups and/or landscape, you want to have a higher/smaller aperture because that will allow you to have multiple sharp focal points. (And of course, opening your aperture is the easiest, and should be the first thing you do when you try to increase exposure, in my opinion. But watch for the clarity of your image, because after lighting, sharpness is the most important thing.)

However, if your exposure isn't right even when your shutter speed and aperture is where you know is optimal for your shot, you can increase the the ISO, which will come at a cost of grain, however, where grain becomes visible depends on your camera (for me it's around 800-900 before you can even tell). ISO doesn't really affect clarity of the photo all that much unless you're starting to get grainy from going too high.

Definitely, the better lighting you have, the easier this whole process will be. :)

And sorry for hijacking, redfisher! But as OhNeil said, having your camera set up properly is important, so maybe this will help someone else get a killer photo to add to this thread, too. :)
 
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