Yo Len

[Anonymous]

Hey Len, was looking back at some of the backgrounds and the calendar images and whatnot, and would like your opinion. IMO, there's a palpable difference between most images we see on RDO (no offense everyone, I think we'd all agree though, and I'm certainly including myself in this group!) and yours (and a couple others'). Yours always appear so much more...professional I guess.

So I'd like your opinions about photography in the tank...what do you think are some of the real keys? Is it high quality camera? High end lenses? Good flash? Huge file size (i.e. image resolution)? Pure luck?"

[/sunshine up Len's butt]

 

[Len]

Hey John.

Sorry for the delayed response. I've been preoccupied mostly with AAOLM publication lately (January issue is around the corner ).

Thanks for the compliment! I definitely give my equipment a good deal of credit for my photo qualities. I honestly don't know what the key is to taking good aquarium photography. More then anything, I guess, is patience. When I photograph my aquarium subjects, it's usually a couple hours of waiting, trying, failing, and trying again.

I've also been trying to master post-process methods and am still learning as I go. I know some people regard photoshop as "cheap," but one has to keep in mind that Ansel Adams was as much a post processor as he was a photographer For most wallpapers, I'll spend in excess of a hour per image to process it, sometimes pixel by pixel. It's a lot of attention to detail; all the fine points adds up to a more polished finished product. I'll post some before and after shots soon to show you what a huge difference my PP can make (once we're done with the next AAOLM issue). If i forget, remind me.

Simple tips include:
1) Always using a tripod. Aquarium lighting, even 400W halides, is dismally insufficient for handheld photography.
2) If you can work with an off-camera flash, it's recommended. Dual flash is even better to even out the exposure and prevent harsh shadows (though I admit I sometimes like these hard contrasts). Shooting through glass is really a PITA to work with
3) I always shoot with the film plane as parallel to the glass as possible and with no ambient light other then that of the aquarium.
4) Experiment if you have digital It's one of digital's strong suits, so no reason letting it go to waste. Vary the composition, angle (esp. important since you're shooting through glass and light is dynamic), bracket the exposure, etc. For every one shot I take that I deem good, I discard at least several dozen. I really think I'd suck as a photog if I was limited to film since I would be a lot more hestitant to experiment and bracket as I do with digital.

I don't think I'm good so much as I am persistent and patient.

FWIW, I do some graphical work for income so that plays a big part in rendering "professional" end results. I've always loved art and design