Taking Great Fish Photos (How To)

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

Great thread. Thanks for sharing.

 

[FishHobby99]

Hi all,

There have been many great threads here with some excellent tips, having scanned most of them, I have learned lots of great things. Hopefully those with 'the knowledge' will post back with their tips to share.

I am no 'pro' but have taken enough photos of my fish to fill a small truck. One thing you can be sure of, for every great pic you see on here, there are likely to be ten more in the recycle bin.

From my own experience, I can give the following tips:

In General
Turn off the lights in the room when taking photos of fish or whole aquariums. Same goes for televisions and blinds(if it is daytime). They will reflect off the glass and it can be hard to eliminate them because you will be moving around the tank.

When taking photos of the whole tank, you should definitely switch off the room lights and use a tripod if you have one. If not a tall table to rest the camera on will do just as good. A great tip is to use the '10 second delay' you get with most cameras, this will eliminate camera shake as you press the shutter.

Feed the fish beforehand, not while taking the pictures. Then the fish will be out and about looking for more food, but wont look as though they are gasping at the surface.

If your tank is planted like mine, you can turn off the filter with great caution for a few moments allowing the plants to stop swaying or bending in the flow. Do not forget to switch it back on immediately otherwise you will have great pics of dead fish.


Quality
Always, always, always use the highest possible quality setting on a digital camera. If you are taking pics at home there is no reason for taking pics with low quality as you can just download them to the pc and start shooting again, the fish aren't going anywhere!

If you have used a conventional film camera, you may be aware that there are different types of film available, with different ISO numbers. This refers to the sensitivity of the film to light. What this means for the fish photographer is that a film with a high ISO rating can take photos 'faster' than film with a low ISO, especially under aquarium lighting conditions.
The downside of this is that higher ISO (faster) films appear more grainy than lower (slower) ISO ratings.
Digital cameras often have the digital equivalent of an ISO rating which can be switched through menus. When shooting fish, an ISO rating of 400 lets you take pictures faster, capturing the fish without movement. Check the camera manual for details. Of course Digital ISO has the same disadvantages as film ie. grainier pics.

Macro Mode
Use the cameras 'Macro' mode if available. This allows you to take pics of close objects with sharp focus by using a very large aperture. It appears as a 'flower' symbol on most cameras, the landscape mode is opposite, it uses a small aperture to get huge areas of distant objects or scenery in focus at the same time. This is usually shown up as a 'mountain' symbol.

Flash
If you are using flash, angle the camera sideways or down wards so the flash does not reflect straight back into the camera. Its OK if it is visible around the edges as you can trim this out later. Don't angle it up wards as it may reflect off the water surface. The lights in the hood may cause the exposure to be set incorrectly also.

Zoom
If your camera has optical zoom, use it very sparingly. It decreases the 'depth of field' which basically means that the fish needs to be pretty much exactly in one spot to be in focus. If you zoom out and use the highest possible quality setting you can then move in closer with the camera to get the fish in focus. You can then trim out all the extra detail leaving a nice web sized photo of a perfectly in focus fish. You wont get the perfect professional look by having the background out of focus, but at least you will be able to see the fish clearly.

Digital zoom is not worth bothering with. You can get the same result and often much better using the editing software on the PC.

Focus
Try to focus on one spot in the tank, say a leaf of a plant or a particular stone. You can then lock the focus on most cams by pressing down the shutter button half way. You can then use this reference distance to shoot a perfectly in focus fish with a little patience. If the fish is 3" in front of the leaf/stone/wood, you simply move the camera back 3" from where you originally locked the focus.
This takes a little time and practice but will become second nature after a while.

If your camera has continuous auto focus, you can use this also. This tracks the object in the center of the viewfinder and tries to keep it in focus as it moves.
It can be slow, especially in aquarium light but is easier to use than the method above.

Some cameras have a continuous shooting mode. This is perfect for fish photography, it takes continuous pictures one after another so you should get one great shot with a little luck.

White Balance
Check the cameras white balance setting. Aquarium fluorescent lights have a limited spectrum of light and cameras sometimes mis-read this, this gives photos a green or sometimes orange cast.
A lot of modern cameras will change the white balance automatically to give more accurate colours but some may be better than others at calculating the type of light source. The human eye does a much better job of this than any camera which is why 'what you see' is not 'what you get'.
If your camera allows it, you can set the white balance manually through the menus, some may even have two or three 'fluorescent' settings so you can experiment. The icon for fluorescent lighting is usually a fluorescent tube with 'light beams' coming off it. Check the manual of the camera for details


If you now feel that you are ready to take the plunge and get serious about taking digital photos or are just looking up the technical terms I have used, you can't do better than this website which has a free full course on all aspects of Digital Photography, you can visit it here at http://www.shortcourses.com/.

One last thing, before you delete that photo where the fish turned and is now about as visible as a sideways sheet of paper, have a good look all around the rest of the pic. You never know when that elusive catfish or snail has decide to take a closer look at what the commotion is about, some of my best pics of fish are as a result of accidental exposure!

Thats about it for now, will post more when my hands recover!

Ken

Love this old post!

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

Love this old post!

Although now that we've read it, we have no excuses...

 

[FishHobby99]

There are those among us who have perpetual excuses.
Sad.

 

[FishHobby99]

Hi all,

There have been many great threads here with some excellent tips, having scanned most of them, I have learned lots of great things. Hopefully those with 'the knowledge' will post back with their tips to share.

I am no 'pro' but have taken enough photos of my fish to fill a small truck. One thing you can be sure of, for every great pic you see on here, there are likely to be ten more in the recycle bin.

From my own experience, I can give the following tips:

In General
Turn off the lights in the room when taking photos of fish or whole aquariums. Same goes for televisions and blinds(if it is daytime). They will reflect off the glass and it can be hard to eliminate them because you will be moving around the tank.

When taking photos of the whole tank, you should definitely switch off the room lights and use a tripod if you have one. If not a tall table to rest the camera on will do just as good. A great tip is to use the '10 second delay' you get with most cameras, this will eliminate camera shake as you press the shutter.

Feed the fish beforehand, not while taking the pictures. Then the fish will be out and about looking for more food, but wont look as though they are gasping at the surface.

If your tank is planted like mine, you can turn off the filter with great caution for a few moments allowing the plants to stop swaying or bending in the flow. Do not forget to switch it back on immediately otherwise you will have great pics of dead fish.


Quality
Always, always, always use the highest possible quality setting on a digital camera. If you are taking pics at home there is no reason for taking pics with low quality as you can just download them to the pc and start shooting again, the fish aren't going anywhere!

If you have used a conventional film camera, you may be aware that there are different types of film available, with different ISO numbers. This refers to the sensitivity of the film to light. What this means for the fish photographer is that a film with a high ISO rating can take photos 'faster' than film with a low ISO, especially under aquarium lighting conditions.
The downside of this is that higher ISO (faster) films appear more grainy than lower (slower) ISO ratings.
Digital cameras often have the digital equivalent of an ISO rating which can be switched through menus. When shooting fish, an ISO rating of 400 lets you take pictures faster, capturing the fish without movement. Check the camera manual for details. Of course Digital ISO has the same disadvantages as film ie. grainier pics.

Macro Mode
Use the cameras 'Macro' mode if available. This allows you to take pics of close objects with sharp focus by using a very large aperture. It appears as a 'flower' symbol on most cameras, the landscape mode is opposite, it uses a small aperture to get huge areas of distant objects or scenery in focus at the same time. This is usually shown up as a 'mountain' symbol.

Flash
If you are using flash, angle the camera sideways or down wards so the flash does not reflect straight back into the camera. Its OK if it is visible around the edges as you can trim this out later. Don't angle it up wards as it may reflect off the water surface. The lights in the hood may cause the exposure to be set incorrectly also.

Zoom
If your camera has optical zoom, use it very sparingly. It decreases the 'depth of field' which basically means that the fish needs to be pretty much exactly in one spot to be in focus. If you zoom out and use the highest possible quality setting you can then move in closer with the camera to get the fish in focus. You can then trim out all the extra detail leaving a nice web sized photo of a perfectly in focus fish. You wont get the perfect professional look by having the background out of focus, but at least you will be able to see the fish clearly.

Digital zoom is not worth bothering with. You can get the same result and often much better using the editing software on the PC.

Focus
Try to focus on one spot in the tank, say a leaf of a plant or a particular stone. You can then lock the focus on most cams by pressing down the shutter button half way. You can then use this reference distance to shoot a perfectly in focus fish with a little patience. If the fish is 3" in front of the leaf/stone/wood, you simply move the camera back 3" from where you originally locked the focus.
This takes a little time and practice but will become second nature after a while.

If your camera has continuous auto focus, you can use this also. This tracks the object in the center of the viewfinder and tries to keep it in focus as it moves.
It can be slow, especially in aquarium light but is easier to use than the method above.

Some cameras have a continuous shooting mode. This is perfect for fish photography, it takes continuous pictures one after another so you should get one great shot with a little luck.

White Balance
Check the cameras white balance setting. Aquarium fluorescent lights have a limited spectrum of light and cameras sometimes mis-read this, this gives photos a green or sometimes orange cast.
A lot of modern cameras will change the white balance automatically to give more accurate colours but some may be better than others at calculating the type of light source. The human eye does a much better job of this than any camera which is why 'what you see' is not 'what you get'.
If your camera allows it, you can set the white balance manually through the menus, some may even have two or three 'fluorescent' settings so you can experiment. The icon for fluorescent lighting is usually a fluorescent tube with 'light beams' coming off it. Check the manual of the camera for details


If you now feel that you are ready to take the plunge and get serious about taking digital photos or are just looking up the technical terms I have used, you can't do better than this website which has a free full course on all aspects of Digital Photography, you can visit it here at http://www.shortcourses.com/.

One last thing, before you delete that photo where the fish turned and is now about as visible as a sideways sheet of paper, have a good look all around the rest of the pic. You never know when that elusive catfish or snail has decide to take a closer look at what the commotion is about, some of my best pics of fish are as a result of accidental exposure!

Thats about it for now, will post more when my hands recover!

Ken

What camera do you have? Haven‘t used my digital Canon Rebel XT in years, but want better pics than what I’m getting from the iPad. Also the axotles tank has very low light. Willing to get another lens.

Your photos are outstanding!

 

[Colin_T]

What camera do you have?

I currently have a Nikon Coolpix 8 Megapixel point and shoot (happy snap) digital camera. And a Pentax K100D super digital SLR camera. They both give good pictures but the Pentax (SLR) gives more good pictures because I can focus manually and set the shutter speed and other things. The Nikon is auto focus, auto everything and the computer in it doesn't always focus on what I want it to focus on.

I have used other point and shoot digital cameras and my first was a Fuji FinePix 3 megapixel and it gave beautiful pictures. I have used a Panasonic digital SLR and it wasn't that good, most likely a dodgy camera. And most other digital cameras I have used were great for outdoors but not good for fish. Although they all gave reasonable fish pictures, they just struggled to give great fish pictures all the time.

---------
Use a flash when photographing fish in aquariums. Have the camera slightly above the target and aim it towards their face. Angle the camera a bit too, to stop the camera flash bouncing back on the lens and making a big white patch in the picture. Then click away to your heart's content and check the pictures on your computer. Delete the rubbish, recharge the camera batteries, format the memory card after every shoot, and take more pictures.

 

[FishHobby99]

I currently have a Nikon Coolpix 8 Megapixel point and shoot (happy snap) digital camera. And a Pentax K100D super digital SLR camera. They both give good pictures but the Pentax (SLR) gives more good pictures because I can focus manually and set the shutter speed and other things. The Nikon is auto focus, auto everything and the computer in it doesn't always focus on what I want it to focus on.

I have used other point and shoot digital cameras and my first was a Fuji FinePix 3 megapixel and it gave beautiful pictures. I have used a Panasonic digital SLR and it wasn't that good, most likely a dodgy camera. And most other digital cameras I have used were great for outdoors but not good for fish. Although they all gave reasonable fish pictures, they just struggled to give great fish pictures all the time.

---------
Use a flash when photographing fish in aquariums. Have the camera slightly above the target and aim it towards their face. Angle the camera a bit too, to stop the camera flash bouncing back on the lens and making a big white patch in the picture. Then click away to your heart's content and check the pictures on your computer. Delete the rubbish, recharge the camera batteries, format the memory card after every shoot, and take more pictures.

Very useful. Thanks. But I heard flashes scared fish & axotles. I used my Canon EOS Rebel XT digital for years photographing my pet parrots & have sold hundreds of pics to bird magazines. They & the dogs & cats don’t mind the flash, but I’m hearing the fish & axies will.

 

[Colin_T]

Fish are fine as long as their tank light is on and has been on for a while before you take pictures. Have the room lights on too and open the curtains. the brighter the tank, the less noticeable the flash.

Basically don't take pictures of fish when their tank lights are off, except if you are trying to identify velvet disease.

 

[FishHobby99]

With this one, I zoomed in and locked the focus on the driftwood behind the fish, as he moved toward me, I moved the camera back to keep him in focus. I didnt use any flash and the photo was slightly blurred as a result. Sharpening up has made it more clear at the expense of quality.

One very important thing to note from this pic is that the monitor I used to resize and clean up the pic was set incorrectly, it was too dull and was not very sharp. As you can see the photo looks a bit washed out as a result. You should check your photos on another monitor if at all possible to see how they compare.


Ken

Stunning!

 

[FishHobby99]

finding some great old threads with pro photos. Those by Ye Olde
Irish Tank Guy are awesome!

 

[FishHobby99]

The following two posts show the difference in shooting a whole tank with flash and then a few seconds later without. The difference is quite remarkable I think!
Note how the flash has ruined the first pic by bouncing off the glass. This may also upset the camaras exposure setting, giving you dark pictures with a bright 'starburst'.

Dang, Dude, you’re good!

 

[Ellie11]

Colin T. Someone told me you posted simple photo instructions, but I can’t find them. Can you please point me in the right direction, if it’s not too much trouble. I need to know the shutter speed & ISO. I know about cleaning the glass & avoiding refections. Thanks