Working on my tank / fish picture taking abilities

[MuddyWaters]

We had Sumer Tiwari at our club's last meeting talking about fish photography. He writes articles for Amazonas magazine and usually takes the pictures for his articles. He takes the fish out of their regular tank and puts them in a tank specifically for the pictures. He adds lights from the side and above in addition to the light on the camera. He uses a professional camera and takes tons of shots to get the right one for the article (he said about 500 usually). There are a lot of things that he looks for, and he showed us pictures that I thought were great but he pointed out issues with- so it is all relative to what you're trying to achieve, I guess.

He did say to focus on the eye ball- there were a lot of other tips too, but with all that prep etc. I didn't take a ton of notes because I use my phone camera and shoot in the tank they're in. He did say that for any pics he does just for himself or most of his social media he just uses his phone camera- it's just the magazine ones that have to be more pristine.

 

[Colin_T]

Most professional wildlife photographers crop pictures. They use a high resolution (24MB) and take a decent picture then crop the part they want.

 

[Colin_T]

We had Sumer Tiwari at our club's last meeting talking about fish photography. He writes articles for Amazonas magazine and usually takes the pictures for his articles. He takes the fish out of their regular tank and puts them in a tank specifically for the pictures. He adds lights from the side and above in addition to the light on the camera. He uses a professional camera and takes tons of shots to get the right one for the article (he said about 500 usually). There are a lot of things that he looks for, and he showed us pictures that I thought were great but he pointed out issues with- so it is all relative to what you're trying to achieve, I guess.

A lot of fish photographers do that. Gerald Allen used to carry a small photographic tank with him and put fish in that after he caught them. The tank was only about 10 inches long x 4 inches wide x 8 inches high. They use small narrow tanks so the fish has to stay in the area and can't really change the depth of field by moving to the front or back of the tank.

Some of the ANGFA guys had 2 foot tanks set up specifically for fish photography. They had camera flashes in front of the tank but on each side angled down a bit. The camera was set up directly in front of the tank and when the fish was in the right spot, they press the button. The double flash from the sides means lots of light on the fish but no glare off the glass.

 

[MuddyWaters]

We had Sumer Tiwari at our club's last meeting talking about fish photography. He writes articles for Amazonas magazine and usually takes the pictures for his articles. He takes the fish out of their regular tank and puts them in a tank specifically for the pictures. He adds lights from the side and above in addition to the light on the camera. He uses a professional camera and takes tons of shots to get the right one for the article (he said about 500 usually). There are a lot of things that he looks for, and he showed us pictures that I thought were great but he pointed out issues with- so it is all relative to what you're trying to achieve, I guess.

He did say to focus on the eye ball- there were a lot of other tips too, but with all that prep etc. I didn't take a ton of notes because I use my phone camera and shoot in the tank they're in. He did say that for any pics he does just for himself or most of his social media he just uses his phone camera- it's just the magazine ones that have to be more pristine.

btw- here is a site with some of Sumer's really nice pictures. He has backgrounds you can download for free, etc. You can see the results of all the extra work he puts into his photography. Amazing.

 

[Markiep]

So, I don’t have any skills in this area, looking for tips from some of those that are great at taking pictures… I’m forced to use my cell phone… it’s a newer one, so it should be capable of taking tolerable pictures…
Some of my challenges are lighting, ( I have good lighting, but most tanks are heavily planted with terrestrial plants, shading my tanks ), several have tannin stained water, and lots of water movement…
I think I fight the small screen, for viewing, and end up over zooming, and over “cropping” and make a picture that looks ok on my cell sized screen, but by the time it get to my computer screen, they don’t look as nice…
I think I do ok on tank pictures… I’ve been practicing on this one, as it’s close to where I drink my morning caffeine… I moved a plant yesterday, to get the rootball out of the foreground, I like the lighting effect that the plant ring in the floating plants, gives me on the Anubis… now I think if I tamed the wild air line in the foreground, it would look good???View attachment 351526

Now getting good fish pictures, has for the most part evaded me… I think lighting would help… I’ve noticed if I use the flashlight on my phone ( I’ve been inspecting a cave for Pleco mating activity ), that I can make individual fishes colors pop, but how to get that light without reflection on the front glass…
Any of you photographers, willing to give away any of your secrets, including filters, and lighting???

If you can, rest your phone on something sturdy so it doesn't shake, also if you use the flash, stand at a slight angle to the glass, that way you won't get a reflection, the next is, before taking the pic have a look for any relection on your glass ie a tv or windows or lamps, lastly I take photo's at night so there's no light coming through a window, it might sound a lot but it takes seconds and it could be that you get the shot of a lifetime. Having looked at your pic you're not doing bad.
Good luck.

 

[Jinx_]

@Jinx_ those are some really nice pics you've taken. You said those are from an iPhone correct? Are you using any specific settings?

Thank you! Yeah, I use my iPhone 15, no specific settings. Only portrait mode for my beardies pic, we were in a park and wanted to try the mode out in better lighting

 

[Magnum Man]

Just spent over an hour trimming, and clipping dead leaves over my South American tetra tank, Hillstream tank, and my medium Cichlid tank… that opened up a few “sunbeams” to get through, would help with pictures In those tanks, But no trimming needed in the African tank, so no help with pictures of those “Fantastic’s”

 

[connorlindeman]

Some photos and videos shot on Iphone 13 with macro mode on:

 

[Ceez]

Some photos and videos shot on Iphone 13 with macro mode on:
View attachment 351794View attachment 351795View attachment 351796View attachment 351797View attachment 351798View attachment 351799View attachment 351800

Idk, I think iPhones take much better pics than android. I've always had android phones, Samsung specifically but I see more pics like yours (absolutely gorgeous btw) than I've seen with Android. It may just be a me issue as well i would totally not discount that

These pics are excellent Connor

 

[connorlindeman]

Idk, I think iPhones take much better pics than android. I've always had android phones, Samsung specifically but I see more pics like yours (absolutely gorgeous btw) than I've seen with Android. It may just be a me issue as well i would totally not discount that

These pics are excellent Connor

Thanks Ceez. Macro mode is my go to for aquarium photography. Captures all the details. Samsung must have an equivalent, no?

 

[Ceez]

Thanks Ceez. Macro mode is my go to for aquarium photography. Captures all the details. Samsung must have an equivalent, no?

ive watched a few videos like this and it helps sometimes but not always. The Fold 5 does not have a macro mode. The above video references what you can do to work around that and optimize your pics like a macro mode.

These are my options on the fold 5. Normal pics are 12mp but you can toggle into 50mp. 50mp in video mode is amazing but my pics all look better in 12. Haven't spent a ton of time learning photography or how to use my phones camera as well as I could I admit but I have tried a few things suggested by the experts in the videos. I don't have time for pics, I have water changes to do!

 

[connorlindeman]

ive watched a few videos like this and it helps sometimes but not always. The Fold 5 does not have a macro mode. The above video references what you can do to work around that and optimize your pics like a macro mode.



View attachment 351838View attachment 351839


These are my options on the fold 5. Normal pics are 12mp but you can toggle into 50mp. 50mp in video mode is amazing but my pics all look better in 12. Haven't spent a ton of time learning photography or how to use my phones camera as well as I could I admit but I have tried a few things suggested by the experts in the videos. I don't have time for pics, I have water changes to do!

lol at that last sentence.
I sometimes find that taking a 4k video and finding the best frames works best. Especially for fish.

 

[Ceez]

This 1st pic is 12mp at about 4" away zoomed in slightly. The detail is ok

This 2nd pic is 50mp at the same range and is much better. Oddly enough the 50mp looks better than the 12mp in this case as it's usually the other way around.