Shooting Aquarium photos

[KJ_North]

I am heading off to Ripley's Aquarium tomorrow and wonder if anyone had any tips before i head there? I am taking just my one lens (RF50mm F1.8 STM) as its the best lens i have for low light conditions which is what i expect to encounter. Anyways any tips would be appreciated.

​

 

[smoke665]

Anyways any tips would be appreciated.

Reflections off the glass can be problematic. Get close to the glass, and use a cover. It makes you look suspicious, but I'll throw a jacket over my head/camera to block reflections. Also, move around to find the right angle.

 

[wfooshee]

What comes to mind for me, having seen several of these large aquariums, is that there is not as much light as you'd wish for, so large apertures, and probably high ISO to keep shutter speed quick enough to not blur the motion. As for reflections, a circular polarizer could help that, but will cost you a stop or two, so don't worry about it unless it's severe and you can't get close enough to the glass.

 

[Hardus Nameous]

Sometimes I'll try to use a flexible rubber lens hood against the glass.

 

[KJ_North]

Reflections off the glass can be problematic. Get close to the glass, and use a cover. It makes you look suspicious, but I'll throw a jacket over my head/camera to block reflections. Also, move around to find the right angle.

Appreciate the tip. I can only imagine the reflections to deal with. I do have a lens hood which will help a bit with overhead lights etc.

 

[KJ_North]

Sometimes I'll try to use a flexible rubber lens hood against the glass.

I only have the hard plastic hood but will try to get up to the glass when able to.

 

[Woolsocks]

Anyone see the resemblance of this subject matter to shooting through a airliner window? Except thank goodness there are not two planes of glass in your way. Bring window cleaner in a rucksack and some paper towel. Any idea how many children will touch that glass in an hour. Smudge hell. Also you won't notice those smudges until you take a picture close to the glass.

When I was short for time. I went to home depot and bought a sheet of pink board (insulation). I used a shar knife and made a square and used a hot glue gun (or super glue/gorilla glue) to make a square with two holes for the camera. Then the next day after it dried and I went to the show I simply took out the square and slid it onto my lens and pressed it against the glass after I cleaned it with the glass cleaner.

Everyone kept asking me how I got such good shots...

 

[pixmedic]

are you talking about shooting things in the water? or people in front of the aquariums?
if you are shooting in front of the glass, bounce a flash. it will keep reflections down as well as any colors coming from colored lights in the ceiling. this shot is from the tampa aquarium. it was a tough shoot because the hallways all have blue and purple lights mounted in the ceiling. not particularly awesome for a white wedding dress.


wedding by pixmedic, on Flickr

 

[KJ_North]

Talking about shooting the fish etc, and flash and tripods are not allowed.

 

[Woolsocks]

Talking about shooting the fish etc, and flash and tripods are not allowed.

Can you rent it for a birthday party ? Like for a swimming pool.

 

[KJ_North]

Can you rent it for a birthday party ? Like for a swimming pool.

LOL

 

[KJ_North]

Well just got back from the Aquarium.

Lighting was all over the place, pitch dark, then some light, then too much then not enough again. I shoot in manual and was keeping speed usually between 1/250-1/500 some as slow as 1/160 and the odd quicker at 1/640. But man ISO was all over the place and with it dark most the time so difficult to get things where you prefer etc. SO... i just fired and fired about 1,500 shots (Obviously many duplicates).

Aperture wise i used F/1.8 mostly as light was so low. I tried in some areas to increase where i could to get more of a depth of field etc but often at the sacrifice of ISO. Just basically shot different ways and will see what i got once i go through them.

Then add in that the fish are moving all over the place trying to grab a focus before they turn another direction etc was challenging. One minute heading straight at you then they turn left, right, up down etc LOL i was all over the place.

Lastly add in that i was using a fixed 50mm focal length that also added to the complexity of trying to shoot them.

Anyways it was fun, will post some shots in a few days once i sort through them and tweak a few in Elements.

 

[snowbear]

Sometimes you just have to decide which you want to risk: reduced DOF, motion blur, or noisy darks.

 

[KJ_North]

Here's a couple pics lots more to sort through.

 

[Woolsocks]

wELL looks good to me. I mean i've never been in an aquarium and this looks amazing. Do you have any video?