Photographing aquariums?

[dhess]

Jujst wondering if any people here have any tips for photographing aquariums using the kit lens 18-70.

I have a very well lit (300W of 10,000K metal halides) reef aquarium which I haven't had much luck photographing.

I have tried shooting on shutter priority mode to be able to catch the fish which are very dificult subjects. The pics just don't look right.

I have had a little more success with corals, using a longer exposure and a tripod.

What settings would you recomend?

What would be the best lens to use?

[sirhc55]

dhess - my suggestions are a waterproof housing and full scuba gear - you probably will have guesed by now that I have no idea - just my way of saying welcome to the forum  BTW I am sure others will have a much more sensible idea

[dhess]

Funny you should say that, since I have actually considered that.

It is such a pain to get the glass clean enough (inside and out). BTW how much are underwtaer enclosures for the D70.

I remember someone telling me that they are serious $$$.

[Geoff]

Funny you should say that, since I have actually considered that.

It is such a pain to get the glass clean enough (inside and out). BTW how much are underwtaer enclosures for the D70.

I remember someone telling me that they are serious $$$.

The man u need to ask is member hlop But yes, serious $$.

[kipper]

Don't think the kit lense is fast enough, unless you have a lot of ambient light from above. When I was shooting an aquarium in France, I was using my 50mm F/1.4 handheld. Which wasn't too bad, probably had 1/3 to 1/4 of the shots as keepers, the rest were too out of focus. The place prohibited the use of flash, not that I'm sure it would of done any good as it would of most likely bounced off the glass/perspex. Mostly I was shooting at around 1.4-1.8 but I should of probably stuck around the 2.x mark as I found that a lot of the shots didn't have enough DOF. The glass/perspex I think also played havoc with focusing - the focus assist light kept coming on and I think at times the camera was trying to focus on the glass. Not 100% sure on that though. I think I read something about aquariums, think they said the best way to capture anything is when there is a lot of ambient light coming in from above.

[SoCal Steve]

It would seem like this would be a good place to try a circular polarizing filter to help minimize the reflections from the glass, rotating front half of the filter until the reflections are at their lowest.

This would however aggrevate the amount of light available. I don't know just how much a polarizer reduces the light, but I'm guessing it's about 1 stop.

I applaud the effort, though, and look forward to seeing some pictures from this project. Welcome.

[kipper]

Depends on the circumstances. The aquarium that I went to, the area around me was pitch black bar the odd floor lights and the aquariums very well illuminated. So there was hardly any reflections off the glass.

[dhess]

Thanks for the replies.

I have a Super HMC circular polarising filter on order.

If i have the time I might get around to taking some shots this weekend.

[kipper]

If you plan on doing it yourself, then try and set it up like I said. Go for illumination from above. Try to minimize any light sources from the front where you're shooting from as this will create reflections off the glass.

[dhess]

Illumination is from above with metal halide lighting.

If I shoot at night I can make the area as dark as I like as the aquarium is in my apartment.

I think one of the main problems may be the poor clarity of the glass.

It would probably be much easier to photograph an acrylic aquarium.

[kipper]

Don't you have one of those window wipers on the inside with a magnet?

[sheepie]

Hi dhess...
I've had some limited success with using my SB800 in remote mode to allow for a different angle for the light from the angle of the lens. Using the kit lens and this approach, was able to get the following:



Check the following thread for more...
http://forum.d70users.com/viewtopic.php?t=2119&start=0&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=fish

[Hlop]

I have some aquarium photos but they aren't on the web yet. Shot 'em with kit lens and SB800. Will turn them to jpeg today and put to my site

One of cheapest underwater housings costs about A$390. Have a look to http://www.ewa-marine.com

[kipper]

Sheepie, did you shoot the speedlight throught the right hand side glass?
Doesn't look front on.

[the foto fanatic]

I think sheepie may be on the right track (speaking as one who has no experience in this area!).
I think I'd mount the SB800 above the tank looking down, and then trigger remotely.

[stubbsy]

dhess

Are you a member of the MASA forum moved to here as well? I have a friend who keeps telling me he's referring people from there to here. I think finno is one of the ones who's on both forums. They're the people to give advice since they have marine tanks and D70s and no doubt have looked into this very problem.

[dhess]

I sure am.

But was actually told of d70users forum by someone at S2000international forums.

There is some limikted aquarium photography info on MASA

[bimborocks]

lol, i'm a masa user as well. i guess there are a few of us with good taste in cameras I am also following this post closly as i can get ok shots but not really good ones.

looks like i might have to invest in a decent flash and possibly a macro lense

[Hlop]

As promised, few photos from Sydney Aquarium are here http://hlop.net/gallery/Aquarium

Unfortunately, thick dirty glass and too much water don't leave many chances

[Spooky]

You can use the flash I find. Just get very close to the glass so the reflection bounces back into the room and the lens is too close to the glass to cop any of the bounce back.

Although the tank appears well lit to the eye I find the camera struggles to pick up enough light and the shutter speed is therefore slow. With the coral and other inverts that is fine. But with most fish it is very difficult to get infocus shots between the fish movement creating blur and the problems focusing through the glass in the available light.

[dhess]

Some nice pics there Hlop.

Spooky, are you the same Spooky off MASA?

[Spooky]

Yes, that's me.

[Mal]

Not sure how helpful this is because it is film (TV) based info. In the past when we have filmed at the Sydney Aquarium or other Aquarium's we have had to used black fabric to block any refections from ambient light. The main light source is always from above and key lights are from the side. I know that the setup time for these shots is almost triple normal setup times.