Shooting through a glass tank

[christin_buehrer]

<p>Are there any good tips on shooting through glass that will eliminate glare? Im going to be shooting custom salt water aquariums so flash wont be an issue because of the lighting needed for the corals.</p>

<p>Thanks <br>

Christin </p>

[daniel_jones7]

<p>Put your lens right against the glass...I would suggest getting a rubber hood for your lens, this will reduce/eliminate the vibrations from the filter and pumps on the glass.</p>

[blockphoto]

<p>Glass can be annoying depending on the environment, but it behaves predictably, at least...glare happens when a light source bounces off the glass surface of the tank and reflects directly into your lens (and reflection happens when light bounces off of other things and then bounces off of the glass into your lens). If you don't use direct flash and the tanks are illuminated internally, the problems will derive from other external light sources (room lights, windows, doorways, etc) which could create reflection and glare. Figure out what shots you need, and if there's glare, get rid of the light sources (block the windows/doors, turn off the lights/unscrew bulbs), adjust your shot, or move the tank to compensate. If you're having problems with reflection off the glass, a polarizer filter could help too. This also assumes there won't be anything moving in the tanks so you can make long exposures from a tripod...if you have to stop motion as well, you'll have to supplement the light in the tank from the top or using big soft sources angled to prevent problems.</p>

<p>Good luck,<br>

sb</p>

[James G. Dainis]

If the light inside the tank is brighter than the light (room light) outside the tank, the glass wouldn't "see" anything to reflect..

[hal_b]

<p>You can certainly light the aquarium through the glass, in necessary, as long as the glass is scratch-free. Make sure the angle of incidence doesn't bounce the light back into the lens, and you can flash to your heart's content.</p>

[LenMarriott]

<p>Christin, Here's a sample using the technique described by Daniel. I could have successfully used flash with this technique but the ambient lighting was bright enough and of better quality than what I would have got from direct flash. Taken at one of the tanks at Cabela's sporting goods store in Dundee, MI. Best, LM.</p><div></div>

[tommyinca]

<p>If the light inside is brighter then the light outside, outside light reflrctions are "less" detectable but it is still there. Use of rubber hood is still a good idea, IMHO. If you use a flash, good idea to detach it from the shoe so you could angle it to minimize refelection.</p>

[daniel_jones7]

<p>and if you detach the flash you can angle it above the water level to add the appearance of "daylight"</p>

[gateway]

<p>No flash as you mentioned, end of lens or filter-parallel to the glass on the aquarium. With slow shutter speeds, you can position/point at one spot-waiting for the fish to stop or cross that spot. Hope this helps.</p>

[greg_peterson3]

<p>Shot through plexiglass. Big rubber lens shade pressed against the window. (The Lear Jet from which I was shooting had optically corrected plex windows.)</p><div></div>

[tony_leinster]

<p>And just be sure the glass is as clean as possible, fingerprints and smears can really spoil a shot just as they can on the lens itself, just imagine the tank is now a part of the optical system!</p>