Aquarium photography with Canon gear

<p>There are some very interesting aquariums in a nearby hotel lobby. I'd like to try my luck photographing them. But how? I've a Canon 50D and 50mm 1.8, 28-135mm, 70-300mm lenses. I'm looking for a reference to the technique for shooting some of the beautiful specimens in the tanks.</p>

<p>The fact have you have a Canon camera as opposed to some other brand will not make a difference. One thing you can do is to a screw on lens flare device against the glass to prevent flare and reflections from the glass.</p>

<p>here is how my favorite fish photographer does it: <a href="http://www.cichlid.org/forums/blog.php?b=13">http://www.cichlid.org/forums/blog.php?b=13</a></p>

<p>I don't think he can have the same setup in the hotel lobby (big tanks). It will depend on the amount of light you have to work with. I would use the 50 1.8 (for the record I hate the 28-135) at F2, live view and push the ISO up to get you fast shutter speed, the faster the better. You have a tripod with you? If you have ample light, reduce the ISO and maintain the shutter speed that will yield you a blur free picture. I would not use flash for obvious reason. Good luck v/r Buffdr</p>

<p>Surely, the answer is obvious: a fisheye!</p>

<p>Seriously, if you can get into the aquaria areas when there are no crowds, a fast lens held right up to the glass may work out. Flash is not a good idea since you don't want to scare the animals. Sometimes, if the glass itself is shaded so there aren't reflections, you can avoid the close contact with the glass. Look carefully for reflections before you shoot. If you have help, they could hold a black cloth behind you to help kill the reflections.<br>

Of course, you can't use an on-camera flash straight-on from any distance without it bouncing right back into your lens, even if you wanted to use flash.</p><div></div>

<p>Mo Devlin (whom John Page referred to) is certainly a great aquarium photographer. He uses a high tech approach: throw oodles of light on the tank and use low ISO and small aperture to capture the image. </p>

<p>I do lots of aquarium photography myself, and I have good success with a low tech approach - Canon Rebel T1i on ISO 1600 in P-mode with 17-85IS, shoot plenty of images, select the best 5% or so, and fix those up in PS. For show fish I occasionally use a 420ex and ST-2E. For fish details I might use a 100/2.8 macro.</p>

<p>You can see lots of my work on www.fmueller.com, as well as www.ohiocichlid.com (I am the photographer and webmaster of the Ohio Cichlid Association).</p>

<p><img src="http://www.fmueller.com/aquaristic/240G/full-tank-Jan09.jpg" alt="" width="1800" height="450" /></p>

 

<p>I would recommend flash to accommodate for an appropriate shutter speed if you don't want the fish to come out blurry, and a small aperture to make sure you get the entire specimen in focus - due to the assumed small size of your subject. You may have to use trial and error to figure out an angle of approach in order to not get reflections if using an on camera flash.</p>

<p>Frank, that's a very nice tank. Makes me want to take the time to get back into the hobby. </p>

<p>Holy smokes, that is a great Frontosa tank.</p>

<p>More proof, in case anyone needed it, that the most important aspect of good photography is good subject matter!</p>

<p>Marvin: In the situation that you describe, it's a numbers game. You take 100 pictures and in one of them the planets line up and you get an interesting-looking fish, in focus, in a nice pose, and without too much background junk to distract the eye. I usually shoot macro for fish shots so that a fish can be the dominant subject in the frame, and since you don't have a macro lens, I suggest either an extension ring (the small one...16mm, I think) or a close-up lens (fits on the front of your 70-300mm zoom) so that you can focus closer. Pick a scene to shoot where fish seem to be or go and the background looks good. Use manual exposure, shoot RAW for maximum exposure latitude, and take test shots to dial in the right exposure with the histogram. Lighting can be a challenge--1/60sec, f/4, ISO 1600 is a reasonable starting point--so IS in the lens to reduce camera shake (or, better, a tripod) is a big help. Then, leaving exposure fixed (for the scene--you may need to adjust it for another part of the tank), just keep shooting until the hotel management shoos you away.</p>

<p>Here's an example (acrylic aquarium, 180mm lens, f/3.5, 1/40 sec, ISO 1600, tripod).</p>

<p><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/129/344689202_9c0cac1692.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="333" /></p>

<p> </p>

<p>The choice of gear also depends on whether you want an image of an aquarium (full tank shot) or an image of a fish inside that aquarium. For full tank shots, the position of flash units and lights so as not to cause reflections is so difficult that it's probably impossible in a hotel lobby. Cranking up the ISO will likely be your only option. For shots of fish, flash can be used with good success, but if you have only one flash unit, you probably still need to crank up the ISO. Folks like Mo Devlin use three large flash units plus studio lights!</p>

<p>A few more of my shots with a 420ex and ISO1600:</p>

<p><img src="http://www.ohiocichlid.com/wp-content/gallery/extravaganza09/113-Show-Firemouth.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="533" /></p>

<p><img src="http://www.fmueller.com/wp-content/gallery/helianthus/helianthus-5.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="533" /></p>

<p><img src="http://www.ohiocichlid.com/wp-content/gallery/extravaganza09/100-Show-BoS.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="533" /></p>

<p>Oh, and if you need more good subject matter, this is where you will find it ;-)</p>

<p>http://www.ohiocichlid.com/oca-extravaganza/</p>

<p><img src="http://www.ohiocichlid.com/images/extravaganza10-450.jpg" alt="" width="450" height="450" /><br>

This is a shot from last year's show:<br>

<img src="http://www.ohiocichlid.com/wp-content/gallery/extravaganza09/409-Show-setup.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="533" /></p>

 

<p>Use a polarizer filter to minimize reflections - best to use off-camera flash - use HIGH ISO and fast lens (not a fisheye, it scares the fish...) - shutter speed is key since fish move that is why a flash would be best, if possible.</p>

50mm f1.8 is the best bet.

 

http://d6d2h4gfvy8t8.cloudfront.net/8345298-md.jpg

<p>A quick and easy technique I use is to simply hold the camera with the lens flush up against the glass. This should block out light from outside the tank, eliminating most if not all reflections off of the glass. Of course, this does limit your composition options, as it forces you to keep your camera perpendicular to the glass. However, you can still move the camera up and down, as well as left to right as needed. The picture below was taken with this technique.</p><div></div>

<p>My first attempt. 10-22mm lens, P mode, no flash, lens pressed against glass. <a href="http://www.photo.net/photo/10883263">http://www.photo.net/photo/10883263</a></p><div></div>

<p>I like the fish, but sometimes the aquarium vegetation does not look very good. It looks like that is the case here. You may want to try to just get the fish without the vegetation if it takes away from the picture.</p>