To Flash or Not to Flash
This is probably the most difficult decision when trying to photograph your fish. If you decide to use the flash, your fish may be washed out or you may get the dreaded flash back, seeing only a white spot where the fish was supposed to be. On the other hand, not using the flash often results in a blur since fish rarely remain motionless long enough to get the perfect photo. So, should you use it or not? Well, it depends on the situation. For full aquarium photos, using a flash usually results in a photo that has many shadows and generally creates an unrealistic photograph of the tank. I almost never use a flash on my full aquarium photos and have found that doing so creates a more realistic representation of the aquarium.
When taking photos of fish though, I generally find that using the flash is necessary. With the exception of reef lighting, the majority of aquarium lighting is not strong enough to get good photos of our fish, especially the fast movers. Macro mode typically disables the flash. It does so because at close range the flash will typically be overpowering and will wash out the subject. Sports mode will typically either place the flash in auto or disable it. Whichever mode you are using, make sure that you enable the flash. Most cameras have a button to change the flash setting, if you are not sure where that button is, consult the manual, as it will be different for every brand. When shooting with the flash the most important thing to remember is to always take the photo at a slight downward angle. Taking a photo straight on will result in undesirable flashback on the glass. Be careful though to not use too much of an angle, doing so can distort the image and change the shape of your fish. The larger the tank, the more susceptible it is to this distortion.
Other Options to Change
There are other settings that can be adjusted to make your photos better or worse. One of those settings is the ISO setting. Simply put, the ISO number indicates how sensitive the sensor is to light. The higher the number, the less light is needed to create the photo. However, using a higher ISO number will result in a photo with less detail. Typically photos with a high ISO will have a grainy look to them while photos with a low ISO will not. For the most part, letting the camera decide will give you the quality you need for the photo. Another setting that can be altered is the white balance. This setting is used to tell the camera how to recreate the colors that it is recording in the photo. Common settings on cameras are automatic white balance, tungsten, fluorescent, and daylight. Some cameras will also have a custom white balance option. For the most part, auto white balance will be the best setting. If you are finding that the colors in your photos are not coming out accurate, play with the white balance until you find a setting that works better. The fluorescent setting is also a good setting to use, especially if shooting a saltwater tank. Custom white balance uses a white surface under your current lighting to determine how to build the rest of the color spectrum. If you have the option, using it will provide you with the most accurate color reproduction. Many cameras have different auto-focus settings as well that can help you to better achieve a focus on your subject. If your camera has manual focus, that is also quite useful, but can take a little time to get use to.
Dealing with the Bow Front
Probably the most difficult tanks to photograph are bow front and curved glass tanks. These tanks have curved glass that makes for a unique viewing experience. Unfortunately, the curve in the glass makes it nearly impossible to photograph with out distortion. When light passes from the water to the curved glass and into the air, it is refracted (or bent) at an angle that increases as you move out from the crest of the bow. This refraction is then amplified as the light passes through the camera lens and onto the sensor. The result is that the subject looks unrealistic. In order to minimize this effect it is important to be as close to the glass as possible. It is also important to be pointed directly at the crest of the bow. Any angle that you have through the glass is going to magnify the distortion even more. Full tank shots are quite difficult and will definitely show the distortion.
Presenting Your Work
So, you’ve taken several thousand pictures and are ready to show your fish to the world. Depending on how you want to publish your photos will effect how you alter them. If you would like to post them on the web, such as for a forum community to see, then you will want to consider cropping and resizing your photos. Unedited photos from your camera are usually fairly large and can take a while for people to download, especially if they are on dialup. Most cameras come with software to crop and resize photos and make it fairly simple. A good size to stay within is 800 pixels in either direction. This is big enough to be pleasantly viewable but still small enough to be downloaded at a reasonable rate. Upload them to a web server and then they are ready to show to the world! On the other hand, if you want to print your photos, you will not want to resize your photo. Also, if possible, to get the best quality photo do not crop it. The smaller the photo is cropped, the less quality and the smaller your printed version will be.
Some Final Thoughts
I hope that this article will help you to improve your photography, next time we are going to look at some more advanced photography, specifically working with Digital SLR cameras. The most important piece of advice I can give though, is this: Have Fun! If you are not having fun while taking photos, then it will not go nearly as well for you. If you start to get stressed out, stop, take a break and just watch your fish. Then pick up the camera and try again. With that in mind, remember that with a digital camera, there is no cost difference for you whether you take ten photos or a thousand, so be sure to take as many as you can! The more you take, the better you will get and the more photos you will have turn out the way you want. So clean the tank, grab that camera, and start snapping!
