Schistura Mehnerti

[stephane.savard]

Hi everyone, this will mark my very first picture I share with you all! thumbs2:

I've been practicing with my camera and the aquarium every few days for the past week and quickly found out that it was a lot harder than I thought. The three toughest parts are (a) taking a picture without flash, (b) controlling depth of field, and (c) shooting acceptable pictures WITH flash!

Here is one of the earlier pictures I took of one of the two Red-tailed Sand Loaches that live in my tank (without flash). I wonder why *this* loach happens to have a common name that includes red-tailed when so many of the Schistura genus have red tails!

http://sites.google.com/site/photolightbox/_/rsrc/1231982082208/fishkeeping/NIKOND901748.jpg

Next I need to try and get some better pictures using flash, it's been a bit of a struggle, never quite got the hang of using flash effectively.

Enjoy!

[sandy_n]

Nice shot!

[Sharon]

Very nice!!!thumbs2:

[Brookfish]

Thats a very nice pic Stephane, can you trigger your flash remotely
off camera, or has your camera got a fixed flash? if you place your
flash/speedlight above the fish and trigger it remotely it eliminates
shadows and gives a more natural look.
That's a great shot with no flash though, nice job!!

[stephane.savard]

Thanks all!

Actually, yesterday I was taking a picture of an amano shrimp using my camera's flash to trigger (via commander mode) two remote flashes; an SB-800 (TTL) and an older model SB-28 (manual mode). The SB-28 was fired at lower intensity just to try and bring out the shadows caused by the SB-800.

I haven't really worked with those pictures yet, but I got a half-decent shot by firing them roughly from above and to each the side (the camera and SB-800 were setup on seperate tripods, and the SB-28 was hand-held remotely attached to an SU-4). I haven't yet tried firing the flashes from directly above however, the flashes are always firing through the front glass pointing down towards the fish or shrimp.

So far, mostly hit and miss :) but I'm learning as I go along!

[Brookfish]

What camera do you have? sounds like a Nikon, it's great fun
playing with lighting, perfecting it is another matter like you say, lol

[Northernguy]

That is a very nice pic!:22:

[stephane.savard]

Yup, been using Nikon for years, though I'm no expert! Currently using a D90; great little camera for the price, and a Sigma f/2.8 105mm macro. Great little lens for the price as well!

The loach was taken at about 1/40th of a second, f/2.8, ISO 400 (tripod mounted). When using flash I usually stop down the lens and then use ISO 200; increases the quality quite a bit, or rather it would if I could get the lighting right!

Here's another picture I took.

http://sites.google.com/site/photolightbox/_/rsrc/1231982092037/fishkeeping/NIKOND901843.jpg

I knew I wanted some Siamese Algae Eaters, so I bought six of them about two weeks ago. Both for their algae eating abaility and the fact that I really like the species. I went to three stores looking for Siamensis, and each one had two to three tanks full of "Siamese Algae Eaters". Most were either mislabeled as Siamensis or correctly labeled as fake algae eaters / flying foxes. Finally found one little tank labeled Blackline Flying Fox. They appear to hit all the right criteria to be Siamensis. In any case, I like 'em a lot! they were about 1.5" when I got them and already they are getting bigger (mostly more rounded)

Enjoy again :)

[Brookfish]

Thats another very nice pic, congrats on the new pick up's!!

[troy]

Excellent pictures!thumbs2: