Any hints on aquarium photography?

[kes]

I've just got a new DC (5.25 mega pixel) and I'm desperate to take loads of pics of the fish!

The pictures I'm taking are pretty clear, but they all make the water look green, unless I put the flash on and then I get a big white light in the middle!.. Any suggestions?
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/silverjoineekes/PICT0330-1.jpg

BTW, that's not a worm on my cichlid.. it's a piece of fluff on my lens - LOL!

[crackatinny]

Good post, been gonna ask just the same, look at me in the DEC POTM, I thought they was at least OK, But no votes:14:

But that pic of yours there, I can't see the prob, looks good to me

[kes]

Thank you!

I wonder what the best background is to really show off your fish though? I have a brown background in that pic - the fish like it cos I guess it feels like a secure mudbank, but I just think they'd look wicked against a blue or something but I don't want to upset them....

[Abbeys_Mom]

If you want to use the flash, angle the camera up or down so the flash reflection doesn't show up in the picture. If you can, take your pics during the brightest hours of the day (so you don't need the flash). If you can to get pictures of a specific fish, I find dropping some pellets in near the front of the tank works. The closer they are to the glass, the better the pic.

As far as the colour goes, some cameras have colour settings to accent a colour more then the others. You can set it to accent green when outside, so trees look nice, or red for people so you get a natural skin tone etc. Set it towards the blue or red, to less the green.

I have also discovered recently that for smaller fish, the macro setting work well. Manual focus (if your camera has it) can also help when you have a camera that keeps focusing on the glass.

[kes]

Great tips Abbeys mom!! Thank you! :19:

[kes]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/silverjoineekes/fishnew001.jpg

I know this is dark but I love the way my Sajicas look!

How do I post pics as thumbnails too so that they don't make the thread huge?

[jman]

i love that last pic it would be my pic of the month if you put it on there!

[kes]

Really??? You just made my day!! :luxlove:

[jman]

LOL--LOL--LOL

you made mine with that picture it's so peaceful and tight because of the motion that it shown in the picture! by me loving art it only makes me love it more--i wish i can start taking pics and posting so you guys can get a wonderful look at my fish.

[kes]

I'm fairly new to wet pets (I have plenty of fluffy and feathery ones!) and drive my boyfriend mad by just sitting in front of the tank for hours!.. It's so much much better than the telly.

Now I've got a digital camera I'm even worse!

You seem to like that pic for the same reasons I did..it has a real fluid movement to it so even if it's not the best quality, it's captured the smoothness of the pair of fishes moving in opposite directions..I may even enter it for next month heh heh...

Here's my feathery one, Mocksie. He never looks his best in photos cos he's all ruffled and angry as he doesn't trust the metal object in my hand! I thought his colours looked good though..
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/silverjoineekes/fishes028.jpg

[jman]

haha my wife thinks the same of me when i sit especially in front of the arowana just because of the way he swims.

cool what kind of camara and how much does it cost i am inspired i can't wait any longer i gotta take some pics.

[Abbeys_Mom]

You can put up thumbnails by attaching the picture to the post. There are rules about size that are listed when the window comes up. Most art programs will allow you to resize, compress (by saving as .JPG) and usually crop too.

[Abbeys_Mom]

What kind of fish are those? Your sig says rams, but they don't look like rams.

[jman]

where i don't know what you're talling about?

[Abbeys_Mom]

where i don't know what you're talling about?
I was asking Kes, but I looked around and they are T-bar cichlids. I had never seen them before.

[blue fin]

What kind of camera do you have? SLR or point and shoot. The limitations of the camera will decide which method you should use to take good pictures, although I'd say you're doing quite well already. Flash is the best way to illuminate your fish but if you don't have an SLR it would require some creative thinking to come up with a way to use flash in any way other that in the way Abbey's mom has suggested. I have a Nikon D200 and I use a flash that I hold in my left hand while I hold the camera in my right, in this way I can shoot with the camera directly facing the tank but have the flash held at an angle to avoid the " big white spot" in my pictures. The best way would be to have a camera similar to mine with one or two professional strobes on the top of the tank with a custom softbox that would allow me to just hold the camera and shoot at will, then the light will be " white " or equal to sunlight at all times. The other thing you can do is shoot with available light and use the color manipulation available in photoshop and other programs to " take out the green" Let me know if you have any specific questions in this area. I managed a custom photo lab for 7 years and shot weddings for 15.

Your pictures are already beautiful, Mastering light will help you acheive even better pictures and with less editingkeep playing with the camera, the best part of digital is you can play for the cost of batteries....modify your technique until you find the best combination for you.

435...

[jman]

that was cool!

[Lady Hobbs]

Kes, you need to click on your photo, SAVE IT TO YOUR OWN COMPUTER, and from there, upload it to this site so the photo will be in thumbnail size and not slow down naviagtion for those with slow dial-ups.

Your photos are awesome!

[kes]

I've clicked on the attachment thingy (the paper clip) and uploaded photos as jpegs, but I can't seem to put it into the message? D'oh.. Am I being really blonde?

BTW.. Blue fin... that picture is amaaaazing!

[jeffs99dime]

blue fin was a professional photographer. look at some of his pics. they're awesome! he would be the first person i would ask about taking pictures. your pics are very nice by the way! --jeff

[blue fin]

Thanks Jeff, I assume you are also giving Kudo's to Kes, as she does deserve it.

Kes, what you need to do is hit the paperclip, browse and upload the picture, then close the upload and hit the paperclip again, when you do that hit "add pictures" and it will be posted : )

Happy posting...

[jeffs99dime]

Thanks Jeff, I assume you are also giving Kudo's to Kes, as she does deserve it.

Kes, what you need to do is hit the paperclip, browse and upload the picture, then close the upload and hit the paperclip again, when you do that hit "add pictures" and it will be posted : )

Happy posting...

yeah. i was giving kudos to kes as well.

[kes]

442

Yay! Gottit.. here's me! :19:

[jman]

nice job mate!!!!!

[jeffs99dime]

442

Yay! Gottit.. here's me! :19:

post this pic in the chatterbox forum under "mugshots" that i started. have any more pics of yourself?

[blue fin]

Kes, Nice pic!

[kes]

LOL! I was looking at mugshots the other day.. can't believe how many genders I'd got wrong..:11: - It's really cool to put faces to all the names!

I will submit this to that thread :ezpi_wink1:

[minabird]

Kes-

Here's a link to aquahobby.com that gives pointers on photographing fish and tanks using a film camera, but some of the pointers about using the flash are still applicable to digital cameras. The ISO speeds in film cameras may also be mimicked in digital cameras if you have an action setting or by adjusting the shutter speed on the camera.

16Jan- Just noticed I forgot to include the hyperlink. oops. sorry....

http://www.aquahobby.com/articles/e_photo.php

[jeffs99dime]

LOL! I was looking at mugshots the other day.. can't believe how many genders I'd got wrong..:11: - It's really cool to put faces to all the names!

I will submit this to that thread :ezpi_wink1:

cool. submit as many as you want to!

[Lady Hobbs]

kes, I have already stolen your picture here and was about to post you asking if we could have it for the Members Photo profile.

BTW......I think your photos are beautiful.

[kes]

Thanks for that, Hobbs!

Just like to say, you're all such a friendly bunch here. It's a pleasure to have cyber-met you! I've browsed a couple of fish forums in the past and have unfortunately found them really unapproachable and 'unforgiving' of newbies..

You lot are ace! thumbs2:

[Drumachine09]

You lot are ace! thumbs2:

I have no idea what that means, but Thanks anyway!:ezpi_wink1:

[blue fin]

Maybe short for Aces.... it's a british slang for great " the best " Kes correct me if I'm wrong please...

[kes]

Yep - what Blue fin says.. Do you not say ace in America? What about wicked? Skill?.. Lol.. I'll have to you geezers some good old English slang! :hmm3grin2orange:

[Incredulous_Ed]

Thank you!

I wonder what the best background is to really show off your fish though? I have a brown background in that pic - the fish like it cos I guess it feels like a secure mudbank, but I just think they'd look wicked against a blue or something but I don't want to upset them....
I think black is the best background for showing off the colors of the the fish

[jeffs99dime]

Yep - what Blue fin says.. Do you not say ace in America? What about wicked? Skill?.. Lol.. I'll have to you geezers some good old English slang! :hmm3grin2orange:

sure. we say ace but, not used in that context. not that i'm aware of anyway. we say things like- "ace. you can be my wingman anytime." "bs. you can be mine!" "that's right- ace, (teeth chomp) man!" lol :hmm3grin2orange:
or "do you have the ace of spades"
i like your version better though kes! --jeff

[blue fin]

Jeff... you're too much....lol

[nicefix]

I've just got a new DC (5.25 mega pixel) and I'm desperate to take loads of pics of the fish!

The pictures I'm taking are pretty clear, but they all make the water look green, unless I put the flash on and then I get a big white light in the middle!.. Any suggestions?
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/silverjoineekes/PICT0330-1.jpg

BTW, that's not a worm on my cichlid.. it's a piece of fluff on my lens - LOL!

Not sure if anyone has answered this for you (I didn't feel like reading all the posts) but the reason you're getting a green hue is probably because of the white balance setting. Specificaly if you have a flourescent light in your tank. Most digital cameras have a white balance setting with presets for flourescent, tungsten, day light, cloudy, etc. If you shoot with auto or day light while lighting with flourescent, then you'll get a green hue or with tungsten you'll get orange. Set it for the specific light and you'll get more accurate color.

Hope that helps.

[cocoa_pleco]

lol, thread from january!

[nicefix]

lol, thread from january!


Well, I feel like an idiot. I completely forgot that I came across this thread while searching for information on planted tanks.

You see, I'm no expert on aquariums, so when I see someone asking for help with something that I am "photography" then I jump at the opportunity.

Thanks for the heads up, I'll go crawl back in my hole now.:14:

[nanaglen2001]

No way Nicefix, just stay where you are, outside your hole.

Threads about Fish fotography is always of interest. And you are right. About the white balance setting.

[Froglips]

I'd really like to train my fish to stay still and smile when I bring out the camera!

[cocoa_pleco]

lol, ive done that too, reply to something from a long time ago.

I cant get some pics of my fish too. the corys and the firefish are hard to get

[wijnands]

WB issues can easily be fixed in post processing. If it bothers you place a white object in the tank and use that to calibrate.