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Taking photos.

Put as much light as you can as you tank is big spread it out a bit very close to the front and close to the back as well.

Set the camera at the highest resolution as poss (if you don't know how to do that ask some one who can). By doing it this way when it is resized to about 90+ it worth looking at.

Take many shots at these angles approx 15d to the side and 15d looking down.

Don't worry about the flash at the very top as this can be cropped out.

Other than removing all objects heaters etc give the glass a very good cleaning inside at least twice. Also the outside I use pure metho spirits and kitchen paper. Don't forget to clean the glass top as well.

Do it at night with all the light off this will eliminate a lot of glare.

To make sure the water is perfectly clear don't feed them the day, of the night you intend to take the photos.

Have the computer set up and running and check as you go along just in case.

I have Adobe Elements and can do a fantastic job.

I wish I had known all the above when I first started it would have saved a lot of problems

If you have MS XP here is possibly the best "Resizer" to use. It is very simple and quick.

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/default.mspx

This Camera site should be able to assist you with any of your camera queries.
http://www.steves-digicams.com/

Keith

Last edited by keithgh at 20-Oct-2004 23:31

Near enough is not good enough, therefore good enough is not near enough, and only your best will do.
I VOTE DO YOU if not WHY NOT?
VOTE NOW VOTE NOW

Apprently it was recently lost I thought I had all the info but only the link.

So lets start it up again

Keith

Last edited by keithgh at 21-Oct-2004 00:31

Near enough is not good enough, therefore good enough is not near enough, and only your best will do.
I VOTE DO YOU if not WHY NOT?
VOTE NOW VOTE NOW

im far from a pro,and have taken sum good ones but mostly they were unclear from my fish not willing to pose 4 me,i was getting disheartend untill i just red all the above,the camera i use is a sony cybershot 5.0 megapixels-dsc-p10,is this ok.it does all sorts of things, but for the pro,to the normall user like me i dont use half the stuff,but i was really cheap from a closing down sale,and i needed a digy camera so i grabed it.

Last edited by hokese at 03-Jan-2006 01:21

I have a canon powershot s2 IS , its fairly new to the canon range , it retails for about £350-400 and has a super macro, special light settings and can go to iso 400, which in an averagely illuminated tank is plenty. If the macros abilities are in doubt i have taken a picture of an aphid in perfect focus with all features visible,and have taken pictures of a discus eye that totally fills the frame through glass (obviously) and in low light conditions.

It shares many of the features of the extortionately expensive canon EOS range, processes in raw image format if desired , has interchangeable lenses ( apparently you can use eos lenses on it) and shoots video too. It also has some of the same software as the eos, plus the telephoto is 10x optical and has digital too, which means i can take pictures of the moon, full frame and in focus. The flash speed is completely adjustable too. When this site is working properly ill show you some pictures ive taken of my fish with it, including a lenthwise photostitch of one of my tanks

Not bad for a 10th of the price of a top range eos.

ps- should people really be using powerful flashes to take pictures of living fish? methinks not! Photoshock can kill fish ya know!

Last edited by longhairedgit at 27-Aug-2005 03:47

Double post.

Key features to remember when photographing fish are:

[1] shutter speed needs to be fairly quick to eliminate camera shake and/or blurred fish movements, particularly if photographing fast-swimming species;

[2] aperture needs to be set to a narrow setting, because this increases depth of field (i.e., the region within which objects are in focus).

However, since shrinking the aperture as in [2] reduces light hitting the film (or CCD chip), then some form of compensation is needed to avoid the shutter speed plummeting through the floor if you're using a camera in automatic mode. Which usually means a flashgun.

Then, you've all the fun and games of attaching the flash to the camera in such a way that the flash doesn't bounce off the back glass. If you have access to one, a coiled 'telephone cable' type connector, allowing you to position the flash over the water on the end of a clip-on arm, so that the flash actually illuminates downwards into the aquarium water, is the ideal setup. But, if you haven't got one of those cables, then an angle flash bracket that puts some distance between the camera and the flashgun is the next best thing. Especially if it allows you to tilt the flashgun so that the light doesn't bounce straight back into the lens off the glass.

Usually, with film cameras, flashguns suynchronise with the shutter at either 1/60 second or 1/125 second, depending upon model and manufacturer. These speeds are fast enough to avoid camera shake and blurred moving fish. If you have a spare £2,000 burning a hole in your pocket, however, the Olympus OM-4Ti with F280 dedicated flashgun combination has a shutter that syncs with the flash at a whopping 1/2000 second - almost fast enough to freeze a bullet in flight! Needless to say, I want one

Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

I use an Olympus OM30 SLR with T20 flahsgun attached to a tall angle bracket so I can point the flash to avoid 'flash bounce'. I also use a 70-120mm zoom lens and extension tubes (ranging from 12mm to 36mm) which allow excellent quality closeups without having to get close enough to the aquarium to spook any nervous fish.

My settings: ISO 200 film in the camera body, aperture set to smallest possible (which on my 710-210mm lens is f22), set shutter speed to 1/60 second (because that's the fastest speed that syncs with the flash), and use full manual mode. Take a look at my photo album and see some of the results - this is a link to some of my latest shots:

http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/forums/Photo%20Booth/53917.html

Oh, and if you can, try and make sure the glass is clean beforehand, as a camera magnifies the presence of ANY dirt or algae on the glass enormously!

Learning to angle a flash on an angle bracket to provide illumination without that 'nuclear bomb flare' effect on the back glass of a relatively bare aquarium is the biggest challenge if you're a manual photographer. If you're using a digital camera, with a flash in fixed position in the camera body, then you're effectively stuffed. Although it's hideously expensive, a digital SLR with accessories is probably the way to go in the future, but then most people here would probably prefer to spend their spare £3,000 or so on a brand new reef aquarium


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

I have a Fujifilm MX-1200. What do you all recommend?

max

guppymax

What brand and model of camera do you have.

This site should have your camera and a forum that will be able to assist you.

Another thing do you have an instruction book? If so it should be able to tell you how to adjust the settings.

This Camera site should be able to assist you with any of your camera queries.
http://www.steves-digicams.com/

Keith

Near enough is not good enough, therefore good enough is not near enough, and only your best will do.
I VOTE DO YOU if not WHY NOT?
VOTE NOW VOTE NOW

you can get cameras which are not slr or the more expensive d-slr which have settings for different conditions. usually you will see a flower (macro mode), a running person (sports mode), a night scene (darkness mode), etc. you can find digi cams which have these presets which will automatically adjust your apertures and shutter speeds (where applicable) and let you take better pics of your fish

---

"That's the trouble with political jokes in this country... they get elected!" -- Dave Lippman

The fish are gone or the picture is blurry when I photograph my fish. Do any of the digital cameras except the SLR(expensive) cameras have really fast shutter speed? Would it be better to use a 35mm SLR(not digital and scan the film)?

max

I have a video camera which takes pictures and last night I took a picture of one of my fish wiht it that was sick. This morning it died. I really need to no how to get pics of it. I have atleast one picture of most of my fish I ever had. Except I took lots of pictures of fish that have died with my grandpas digital camera. Then someone broke into his factory and stole eall the computers and stuff. He also stole the camera with my pictures. My grandpa haden't given me the pictures yet.

Here are my tried and proven suggestions:

1. Put camera on a tripod;
2. Use a shutter release so as to not shake the camera;
3. Place the lens directly on the aquarium, but do not move it around on set-up so as to not scratch the tank;
4. Wear dark clothing and stand directly behind the camera to reduce possible glare;
5. Don't use a flash;
6. Take 10 gazillion pictures and hope a few are useable.

I invite you to check out, and hopefully enjoy, my work at www.bobtography.com. Have fun!

I'm with Bensaf's advice, though one thing to take into account is that with high ISO settings you can get a lot of background noise, which can make your photos look rather grainy. In the end it is all a matter of balancing: higher ISO if you want to capture moving objects, lower iso with longer shutter times if you want to get overall sharper photos. I would always put the camera onto a solid object and never shoot with the camera in my hands, in general the last is always a waste of time. Also, when you finally find your fish in that pefect spot, take as many photos as you can, then you have a better chance of finding that one good shot in there.

I'm another who prefers to never use a flash. I find the pics are more natural looking without it.

For tank shots - all the lights out except those in the tank. Set the ISO as high as possible, this will give you a greater range of speed. The higher the speed the sharper the image. Blurry photos occur when the shutter speed is too slow and registers handshake, or movement in the tanks as a blur.
For tanks with a lot of light up top exposure can be an issue. The camera automatically sets the exposure based on the light at the center resulting in the top being over exposed and glary. Play with camera, you can trick the exposure ! Aim the camera at the brightest part of the tank and half press the shutter so the camera sets the shutter speed, then without releasing the button move the camers to the place you want to photograph and fully depress the button to take the photo. This may result in the pic being a little dark but you can play around setting the exposure in less bright parts of the tank until you get a light setting you like.
Try to hide all equipment, if you can't hide it, remove temporarily where possible.
When you get the photo you like crop out everything except the contents of the tank, this includes hood, stand etc. See all those great tank pictures you find on the net ? Do you ever get to see Amano's wallpaper of container of fishfood ? Nope , never.


For Fish -
Use the macro function. Be very patient Use the highest speed possible (again the hisghest ISO setting will give a faster speed)to prevent blur. Try to aim a little ahead of the fish so if it moves it moves into the frame. Don't worry about trying to position the fish into the center of the frame, remember you can crop out the unwanted parts of the photo. Take hundreds and if you're lucky you'll get a few keepers.Keep the camera near by at all times, the magic momemnt may present itself when you least expect it.

Keith has given one truly wonderful piece of advice - have the computer cranked up and ready to roll, so when the memeory is full you can quickly download and then get out shooting again.

---

Some days you're the pigeon and some days you're the statue.

Remember that age and treachery will always triumph over youth and ability.

Going by some information I had gotten from the old thread, which was very helpful, I'll try to remember all that I read.
First and foremost the best time to take pictures is at night. Turn off all lights except for the light in the tank. Most cameras have what's called a Macro function, this function is for close-ups and most cameras have it. It is best identified by a flower icon, better known as "flower power". This is your best option for nice clear photos. Another important note is that you DO NOT need a flash. True that you can crop it out but from my experience you get better photos without and it's less work later on. The one big problem I have had is blurry pics, caused by an unsteady hand. This can be remedied by use of a tripod or if one is not available, use a small table or a stack of books, Any stable surface will do. So now your all set up and ready to take pics, however one big problem I would say all of us have, is that fish are not exactly photogenic. Be patient and a little psychic, your fish will probably not pose for you, so be ready when they decide to do it on their own. Also keep in mind, even professional photographers say it is very difficult to take pics of fish and aquariums. I would say that out of every 20 pics I take, maybe 1 or 2 are keepers. Hope i've helped more than i've confused.

Last edited by Jessnick at 23-Oct-2004 11:11

and if you don't use a flash, attach the camera to a tripod. As the shutter speed will be longer without flash... if it isn't on a sturdy surface/tripod the picture will come out blurry.

especially do this when using a digital camera.

Very good suggesstions Keith although I have had alot of success without using a flash. Plus it saves you the time of having to crop it out of the pic. Just another little tid bit for everyone to consider.

The sony cybershot can take some really nice clear pictures, its by no means a bad little camera. 4 meg is fine and 5 meg is better, you shouldnt have any problems with clarity as long as the lens is of reasonable size and made of good quality glass , the competancy of the chip and firmware is important too, this is why a lot of the canon powershot range are good for relatively cheap cameras. You can have all the megapixels in the world, but if the chip doesnt percieve the image properly as it processes it, and the glass and the lens isnt of good quality the pictures will be blurry or grainy no matter what you do. Hunt for the quality of the lens first, and dont be impressed by over the top meg resolutions, it may have the stats but it might not have the image capture quality. No-one really needs more than 8 meg unless theyre into proffesional photgraphy, and for most peoples purposes 4-5 meg is just fine. Look for the low end of iso performance too not just the high range. Those crystal clear shots that proffesionals get are from slow speeds, and very steady hands, often less than 50 iso. If you want to take quality shots of fish in particular make sure the macro performs well, zooming in on a tiny fish never bodes well for quality, but using the widest angle you can or macro modes and getting in really close will give you far superior results. If you want to be taking fish , ask to test a camera out, check that the autofocus is both fast and accurate and preferably has settings for focal spot points or evaluative modes. Its no good using a macro if the glass throws the autofocus off.

Youll notice that a lot of the pics in the forums taken by those with newer canons and fuji cameras are much clearer than the shots people have submitted with far grander cameras with higher resolutions, and this is no fluke. Some models have a good cohesion between the main working elements, the lens , the chip, the res, and the firmware.

Dont be impressed by funky cameras with tiny lenses and high resolutions- theyre tourist cameras designed to take holiday snaps and make sales because of the high res badge to people who know nothing about cameras.The newer models have autofocusing so good that you never really have to switch to manual unless youre going for a particularly artsy shot. Theres a little affordable gem in almost every range of cameras, and its not always the most technologically compact or smart looking, and it doesnt always have the biggest res, but it will kill bigger cameras in the range for performance. Fuji's can be great at percieving rich colour, and canons are great for accurate focal distances and shot versatility. You can pick up a good compact camera for around £120 , so try some out before you spend money on something that may lack the quality for the money.My old powershot a400 performs better at iso 100 in low light conditions and no movement blur than my girlfriends much more expensive fuji does at iso 400. The powershot S2 Is I had as its replacement performs better than most cameras of twice to three times the price, as it does sharing some internal components with the EOS range. Why pay £1000 for an eos d when the IS does pretty much the same job at £350, besides which the price you pay for a camera at some point has to be sensibly weighed against your ability as a photographer. Why pay £1000 -£4000 for a top of the range nikon or canon when you dont have the ability yet? Its like driving a ferrari at 5 miles per hour.

Having said that, id love an eos mark 2...

Good wildlife photography, and even captive animal photgraphy is about knowing as much about the subject as the camera. Most pics i post here are pretty clear- thats because theyre taken at 100 iso or less. If you crank it up to 400 iso youll get nothing but grain, and half the beauty of fish photography is the detail. You dont have to crank the iso up to get a quality picture, although having the camera set to the highest res it has is advantageous.

The real secret to it , as any wildlife photographer knows (take note of the lessons taught by people such as franz lanting and ilk) the real secret is not only to know the animals behaviour intimately, but to not act like a predator. If you stealthily stalk your fish round the tank you will be spotted and avoided. If you spend time in a position that will allow you to take pictures, but do absolutely nothing, they will eventually assume that if you were going to kill them youd have done it by now , and they start to forget your there. Feeding times can be hard times to take pictures because the activity may be frenetic, and the damn fish never stay still.

Its no coincidence that people often say they take their best shots casually ie " oh it was just a snapshot " because its literal truth. Fish are much better caught relaxed and unsuspecting of the situation, you act casual, so will they. The other factor for fish is the camera itself. Having a bright silver camera nver helps for one, try covering it with black felt or similar. The lens itself is always a problem. It either looks like an eye to the fish, or it shows their reflection, and fish will shy away from it. The only way round this is to make the room you are in so dark, and the tank so bright that they cant really see beyond the glass ( its also coincidentally the best lighting arrangement for clear picture), or as is my personal preference simply leave the camera in position right up against the glass on a tripod so that the fish get used to it.

The other trick in a wildlife photographers repetoire is obviousness. Some animals , including fish will freak if stalked , Youre a 5 -6 foot human being and your trying to look invisible to a 1 inch fish who has better eyesight than you do and is far more sensitive to movement. Thats just plain silly. Stand there for a bit as you would normally at full height or whatever you would normally do , and then whip out that camera and take the shot.

You have to give fish a break for a few days too, especially if you are using flash, or have a camera that has a bright focusing beam , they just dont like it and will learn to avoid it. If you can turn the focusing beam off and still take good pics do so, and if you must use flash, dont do it often. Rather nicer than using a flash is to use a torch or better yet a white superbright led torch , keep it steady , dont wave it around too much and fish will eventually swim through the beam , and theres your shot. It doesnt bother them in the slightest.

A couple of things I must say are that for the sake of animal health and happiness. a) dont use flash in the dark. Are you trying to kill your fish by photoshock or what? Just cos it hasnt happened yet, doesnt mean that it wont, dont be silly! b) Especially if you are using flash make sure the tank is brightly lit, it will bring depth tand detail to the photo, and if your flash is adjustable crank it downas much as possible to retain as much of the original atmosphere as possible. If you use flash , make sure you keep the photosession short, to a couple of minutes. If you must use flash as most decent photgraphers will tell you, they are for enhancing definition on backlit subjects or increasing and changing the tonal qualities on poorly lit subjects,and reducing the risk of overexposure when dealing with both strongly lit and highly contrasting natural shades, not for shooting in the dark, The results you get from shooting in the dark with a flash are usually bloody awful, in almost any situation. Most peoples cameras will be calibrated to use flash in conditions where some light is already present.In fact if you want to improve those casual holiday snaps in bright sunlight- try using flash! If you have a remote flash its easy to avoid blanching the fish out. If however your flash is inbuit and either to the side of the camera (in which case choose a portrait shooting position) or on the top, you will have to be slightly above the fish shooting down, and practically touching the glass ,this will ensure that you dont get glare either directly from the lateral side of the fish itself, the glass in front of you, or the glass on the back panel of the tank. Basically you need to avoid the " using flash in a mirror " effect. If you are shooting that close to a fish however, say using a supermacro function for example, its possible the flash might miss the fish altogether, and if this is happening try diffusing the light by simply placing a thin piece of tracing paper or toilet tissue over the flashbulb, just be careful not to blow the glass by letting it get overheated.

Lastly this is the bit where you get to be a bit cunning and show off how well you know your fish. Try to take pictures at the precise point when you see a fish is aboout to change its mind on which direction its going to go. Im not kidding! This, while sounding difficult is actually really easy once you get your eye in! Most fish will repeat a behaviour concerning movement at least a dozen times in a few minutes, this goes double for shoaling fish. Watch them do as they normally do for a while and then get ready for your shot.Set the focal length on something nearby the spot you expect to get a photo so that the autofocus can get there quicker when the fish arrives, and if you have a manual setting , measure up, and use it. Then when the fish arrives and when you sense hes about to change direction , take the shot. Behaviourally it is very difficult to change its mind to do anything more complex than change direction, when it was about to do that even if your camera is bothering it, and that moment of indecision in the fish seems pretty fast, but it will actually take a second or longer. Remember your netting skills? A second is time enough in a reasonably well lit tank to take an exposure at 100 iso. Youve cracked it!

Hope this helps you take better pictures, and have happy fish!



no flash using led light, 100iso.

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a245/longhairedgit/flametetrafp.jpg


Taken using flash on lowest setting demonstrating the slightly from above technique

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a245/longhairedgit/IMG_6499.jpg

supemacro, no flash iso 100

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a245/longhairedgit/IMG_6404.jpg

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a245/longhairedgit/IMG_6271.jpg

standard macro, low flash iso 100,

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a245/longhairedgit/IMG_6551.jpg

no flash iso 100 supermacro -these guys are 2mm across.

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a245/longhairedgit/IMG_4572.jpg

standard shooting,av ( light priority )mode, no flash, no macro, 100 iso using the "where you goin technique" For proof of camera speed, see the blurred boesmanii in the background?

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a245/longhairedgit/smallrainbowagain.jpg

HOKESE Wrote:
mostly they were unclear from my fish not willing to pose 4 me...to the normall user like me i dont use half the stuff,but i was really cheap from a closing down sale,and i needed a digy camera so i grabed it.

Hokese, You dont need all the fancy stuff to take good shots. After doing an underwater photography course some years ago, I found that the key to taking good shots of your fish is looking up. If you take the shot from an angle below the fish you will find that they have more shape and look more lifelike. You do have to though, predict what they are going to do next as it does take a few seconds for the camera to take the shot.

It is also best to not use a flash as the light will reflect poorly and you will not get a photo with accurate colours. You are best to use the tank light, if not point a torch at whatever you are wishing to photograph. Again dont do this straight on, put it on an angle around 90 degrees from where you are.

Hope this helps!
Shell

hi all...new to the forum (have been reading for long though) and its my opening post
I have a cannon S60. Works pretty fine if the features are well understood and praticed .. It has a good macro mode and one quick shutter mode. I have tested it by taking photographs of a moving ceiling fan and beleive me i could see the three blades without the slightest of the blur...
The price ranges 350 to 400$ and i think its worth the deal.
Prefer going without the flash in the dark room and it really gave me some good quality pics.