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(PIC) Fish are hard to shoot...

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2k3taco

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I had to B&W the background because I couldn't get the yellow out of the water. This is a crop.

After about 30 tries this is the only decent picture.

ISO 400
5.6
 
When I get stuck for things to shoot, I always turn to my aquarium. I have gotten some really good shots using the my flash (Sigma EF500). The beauty of using the flash is that you can set your ISO at 100 and still crank up the shutter speed for really good imaging. With the flash, you have to make sure that the back of the tank is not in the image or you will get the flare off the glass. I was quite surprised at the quality of the images - even when taken through the glass. I used to try them without the flash and with very mixed results. Then I said, what the heck, try the flash and I was very impressed. Sorry I don't have any images to post - I do not have this capability yet and I am at work and the images are at home.

Sean
2k3taco said:


I had to B&W the background because I couldn't get the yellow out
of the water. This is a crop.

After about 30 tries this is the only decent picture.

ISO 400
5.6
Click to expand...
 
Nice shot. It doesn't even look like the fish is in water! I had to look at it a couple times to make sure it was a real fish :)
 
2k3taco said:


I had to B&W the background because I couldn't get the yellow out
of the water. This is a crop.

After about 30 tries this is the only decent picture.

ISO 400
5.6
Click to expand...
If you haven't yet, I would try manual focus rather than auto focus and see if that helps at all.

I have found that tree fish are much easier to shoot than water fish. The problem is that tree fish are also easier for our local Osprey population to catch, so I never seem to shoot them alone. ;-)

 
I've actually had a fair amount of luck shooting my aquarium... most of my shots i've taken in complete manual mode, and used a flash.. the only real problems with doing this is, 1) you cant point directly at the glass cause of reflections, and 2) fishes dont stand still, the buggers:)


2k3taco said:


I had to B&W the background because I couldn't get the yellow out
of the water. This is a crop.

After about 30 tries this is the only decent picture.

ISO 400
5.6
Click to expand...
--
PJR
 
Nice bala shark - he looks a bit young, ie long and thin. I have one who is 2 yrs old, about 8" long and much more blockier in the head/body. VERY hyper fish. Make sure you always have the tank covered. Mine jumped out - went about three feet in the air, bounced off the wall behind the tank and landed on the floor. Scooped him up, dropped him back in and away he went

Yes, the key is to shoot at an angle to the glass. One of my favourite models is my pl#co. He's about 12" long and lies on the bottom a lot so he is easy to capture - on camera that is!!

Cheers,

Sean
pjr.cc said:

2k3taco said:


I had to B&W the background because I couldn't get the yellow out
of the water. This is a crop.

After about 30 tries this is the only decent picture.

ISO 400
5.6
Click to expand...
--
PJR
Click to expand...
 
You got that right. I used my 50mm 1.8 lens to get these few shots from my fish tank.

ISO 200, 1/50 sec. f2.0



ISO 200, 1/60 sec. f2.2



--
Former Kodak 280 user.
Current Olympus d-40 owner
Panasonic FZ10 owner/user/keeper
Canon Rebel newbie
 
Yes, that guy is only about 4 months old so far.. he's a very excitable little fish... he's going to need to be moved to a bigger tank once he grows, altho, he's good friends with a siamese fighting fish that i have in the tank (the siamese fish seems to get allong quite well with the other fish) so im not sure if they'll miss each other;)

Actually, i had problems with some swordtail fish jumping out of my tank and learnt my lesson then (its amazing how small a hole they can actually jump through)

One of the problems i had with shooting at an angle to the tank was that my fish tend to want to hang around me when i go near the tank, so i kept having to move to accomodate their movements.. all of my shots have been at 200 or 400 iso, and at close range you can get away with smaller appatures and quicker shutter speeds too..

These shots were also the first time i had problems with the distance between the flash and the lens, its hard to describe, but when the fish were under a log, the shadow of the log would completely cover the fish at the wrong angle... usually without me realising it!
sdawe said:
Yes, the key is to shoot at an angle to the glass. One of my
favourite models is my pl#co. He's about 12" long and lies on the
bottom a lot so he is easy to capture - on camera that is!!

Cheers,

Sean
pjr.cc said:

2k3taco said:


I had to B&W the background because I couldn't get the yellow out
of the water. This is a crop.

After about 30 tries this is the only decent picture.

ISO 400
5.6
Click to expand...
--
PJR
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
--
PJR - my gallery: http://home.pjr.cc/gallery
 
let I try to post also one



I did this with the internal flash.....

I notished also that using the flash will give more good prictures.

I am gonna buy soon a flash and are thinking about the PZ-5000 AF sunpack. So far as I understand here on the forum a lot of poeple used it and are happy

I couldn't fnd the manufactor website to look at the specs but I have time.
 
discuw:

Nice shot!

I have the Sigma EF500 DG Super flash. I've had it for about a month and really like it. I still haven't mastered all its capabilities but I'm learning.

Sean
 
Hello Sean,

Thanks..

I am also looking at this sigma flash :) it's a little bit expenciver then the sunpack. I know the sigma has a tilt and swifel flash.

regards Walter
--
Drebel / 50mm f1.8 Mk II, Sigma 70mm-300mm APO MS II and Kit lens
 
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