On shooting angles .....

[Len]

Ok, I'm bored, so here's a tip

When shooting without flash, it's best to shoot with the lens as parellel to the tank as possible. Light defracts more and more through glass/acrylic with increasing angles; shooting at extreme angels usually results in underexposure (lack of contrast, saturation, and fine details), not to mention significantly altering perception/proportions.

When shooting with on-camera flash, you have little choice by to shoot at an angle to avoid flash bounce. If your camera accepts external flash (through a hotshoe or flash sync terminal), it can dramatically improve your results. Align your camera parallel to the subject/glass, and handhold or mount the external flash at an angle.

 

[Anonymous]

More tips:

* Increasing the ISO setting on your camera will allow you to catch fast fish better, but will add a lot of grain to your photos.

* If you're in the market for a camera, look for one with a burst mode. My minolta dimage 7i lets me rattle off dozens of shots (at a pretty high resolution) at less than quarter-second intervals

* Try playing with the white balance on your camera to deal with various Kelvin temps of tank lighting

* I always try to avoid using the flash if at all possible. I've found that it captures the image pretty well, but makes the whole thing appear flat and uninteresting. I'll post some examples over the next few days if anyone's interested in seeing various techniques.

* For shooting stationary objects (corals, anemones, etc.) a tripod really helps. For shooting fish, either ditch the tripod or loosen it up so that it moves every direction freely. I haven't tried it, but I bet a monopod would work even better (Drat I really need to get that monopod).

* Another I haven't tried yet, but I bet will work...for shooting skittish fish, set up the camera and tripod, and use a bulb release to capture the shot so that you don't have to have your whole big body positioned in front of the tank and moving around a lot.

* Shoot at the highest resolution you can and take shots of as much of your tank as you can, then crop the image in your digital editing software to get the frame you want. Lots easier than trying to get that lightning-fast fish perfectly filling the frame.


Got to head for home, I'll post more as I think of them if ppl are interested.


-John

 

[Anonymous]

ppl are interested! Keep 'em coming, guys. I haven't spent much time here before, but I've just learned more in the past hour than I have in a long time...

8)

HD