Many of you have been impressed by some of the photos shot by other members on MFK or APF, and this little article will tell you how to take shots such as those, some people here might get overwhelmed by the thought of trying to take great shots, but its easier than youd think. I think the more people are educated on how to correctly capture aquarium fish the more competitive the Potms here will be.
FAQ-
Q- What kind of camera setup do I need to take such excellent pictures?
A- Any camera will take great pictures, for avid photographers who want the most possible control over their pictures: the choice of camera is a Digital Single Lens Reflex or (DSLR) camera. P&S or point and shoot work too, but it will be more difficult to take some shots with them, because you cannot control things such as ISO (light sensitivity), Shutter speed, or Aperture (F-stop).
Q- I would love to take great shots but I cannot afford a setup for many thousands or dollars, what can I do?
A- A typical amateur setup I will discuss here can be purchased from $700-900 USD, for some people that money is simply forgoing another aquarium or fish, to be able to take great shots of what they already have.
Q- I have a Good DSLR system but I still not take great shots of my fish.
A- Having a DSLR setup does not make you a great photographer. There is a large learning curve for people coming straight from P&S cameras. There is a lot of information you MUST know before youll be able to take great pictures, so photography is first about the photo takers skill and knowledge and secondly about equipment, Ill do my best here to explain what must be known if you want to take great photos.
Q- I would like to know more about photography, where I can I go to find more information?
A- the internet is filled with websites dedicated to help people learn what to do and how, but if your less in to reading what just anyone has to say, and rather find out what published photography authors think, I know from experience that all bookstores carry a large amount of books dedicated to general photography, some even for specific camera models and how to get to know them better.
Buying gear-
You cant know everything about photography without experimenting with your own camera, optimal gear for aquatic photography consists of 3 main things.
1.- A Camera body. Anyone will work, and they are all different with different capabilitys. for the most part new users do not need to look anywhere further than entry level bodies, these are the most reasonably priced and easiest to learn on. A typical entry level body can be found used from as little as $200 and can go to around $500. They go up to around $8000 for pro bodies, which are capable of good performance at high ISO, or a fast FPS or Frames per second burst shooting photography.
2.- a Lens. Lenses come in many different sizes and focal lengths. All are made for a purpose. Whether it is a 12-24mm for wide angle landscape photography or a 600mm telephoto for fast action sports or wildlife photography. They are all priced differently according to quality of the make, a high end 400mm will go for around $8,000 a low end 400mm will go for around $100-300. Why the price difference? Lenses are built with different glass components, some of which are high end for optimal sharpness and clarity and some of cheaper. The biggest factor in price is the Aperture or F-Stop of a lens, such as an f/4.0 or f/2.8 lens. The higher the number (the lower the aperture) and the lower the number (the higher the aperture). Some lenses also come in variable aperture or maximum aperture that changes with the focal length of the Zoom lens.
A lens with a high F-Stop of 2.8 is highly price and wanted because they are a faster lens and they have more ability to pick up light coming through the lens, making photography in all ways easier and more capable for different situations, such as low light or fast action.
Lenses come in either a Zoom lens or a Prime lens, Zooms can change their focal length such as a 18-70mm or 70-300mm and primes are a fixed focal length lens such as a 50mm or 85mm. Some people prefer zooms and other swear by the prime lens, you cant go wrong with either.
The optimal lens for aquatic photography shooting is the Macro Lens, these are fixed focal length (prime) lenses with a magnification ratio of 1:1. Other lenses such as Standard zooms 18-70, 24-70, 28-70- can be used as well but they IME arent as good for these shots. The best Focal length for aquatic photography is a anywhere from 60mm-100mm. These will run anywhere from $200-1000, depending on aperture and AF (Auto Focus) capability. The 2 lenses I have used for most of my fish photography have either been a Tokina 100mm which I got for $300 or a Nikkor 60mm AF-S which I got for $480.
3.- Flash- Most cameras now come with an already installed or inboard flash, for aquatic photography you will need a stronger flash. These overhead speedlights run anywhere from $100-500. In the past I have used the Nikon series speedlights, the SB400, SB600 and SB800 flashes. I got them from $100-340 each. Many aquatic photographers prefer having more than on flash being fired wirlessly by the camera. I have done fine with just one SB600 or SB800 mounted in the cameras hot shoe. People like remotely rigging the flash above the aquarium and firing down for the effect of light they get and the backround will be blacked out completely so no unsightly backround junk can be seen. With correct use of aperture, shutter, ISO and flash settings you can do this by shooting the flash in the hot shoe.
You also will definitely want to invest in a Photoshop system for the computer. I Use Corel Painshop Pro Photo, many people like CS3 or CS4 photoshops aswell, your pictures will not be perfect out of the camera, and any person who enjoys photography uses a PS system, learn to use it correctly and your set.
All these items can be purchased Online through a reliable company such as BHphoto or Adorama Photo. If you are looking to save some cash on buying used you can looking into a website like KEH.com. I would steer clear of ebay because there are many scammers around sites like those, I havent had any bad experience in years of use, but I know many people who hate ebay because of experiences there.
So now youve bought your camera and are ready to learn how to use it for aquatic photography.
The Dials on the right side of the camera near the button to activate the shutter-control your aperture and your shutter, these will all be different for the different camera models and lenses being used. Aperture, Shutter and ISO are all used to manipulate the light around you or in a setting and they all work together. You should venture into the manual mode and play around with each of these to see how they work in a specific amount of light, and work with the White balance or WB for certain types of light. The aperture is the hole and amount of light let in by the lens for a certain shot, this will also control the depth of field (DOF) and amount of Bokeh for shots. The higher the aperture (lower number) the more light is being let in for the shot.
The shutter controls how fast the shutter will move at any shot and how much light is allowed to hit the sensor at any time. A 1/30 sec shutter is a slower shutter and a 1/2000 shutter is a much faster shutter speed.
ISO control how light sensitive the sensor is to any surrounding light, I use this only after Ive used the shutter and aperture controls. If possible you will almost always want to be shooting with the lowest ISO possible to control the amount of noise or grain that the camera picks up. The higher the ISO the more ugly noise or grain.
For the most part of aquatic shooting you will want to use a lower aperture around f/7-11, for the detail picked up and the large DOF, the shutter is up to you, anywhere from 1/80-1/200 works for me. The ISO should be at the lowest setting and the flash setup should be optimized for the shooting you are doing. I shoot my flash at the lower power so I dont flush out the ugly backround and only get the details of the fish. You will know automatically your flash setting are to high when you see the backround in the LCD display, being this is somewhat difficult to control in an aquarium under 24 width, you will want to try to take the shots of the fish when the are closer to the front of the glass, you wont loose any clarity from them being deeper in the aquarium, they will be lit up better, and the backround will be black out as long as your settings are correct.
Having everything correct when shooting is difficult and I will take practice for a long time to take great shots. Also remember that the shooters who post shots here take many many shots to get one good one.
Thanks for reading.
FAQ-
Q- What kind of camera setup do I need to take such excellent pictures?
A- Any camera will take great pictures, for avid photographers who want the most possible control over their pictures: the choice of camera is a Digital Single Lens Reflex or (DSLR) camera. P&S or point and shoot work too, but it will be more difficult to take some shots with them, because you cannot control things such as ISO (light sensitivity), Shutter speed, or Aperture (F-stop).
Q- I would love to take great shots but I cannot afford a setup for many thousands or dollars, what can I do?
A- A typical amateur setup I will discuss here can be purchased from $700-900 USD, for some people that money is simply forgoing another aquarium or fish, to be able to take great shots of what they already have.
Q- I have a Good DSLR system but I still not take great shots of my fish.
A- Having a DSLR setup does not make you a great photographer. There is a large learning curve for people coming straight from P&S cameras. There is a lot of information you MUST know before youll be able to take great pictures, so photography is first about the photo takers skill and knowledge and secondly about equipment, Ill do my best here to explain what must be known if you want to take great photos.
Q- I would like to know more about photography, where I can I go to find more information?
A- the internet is filled with websites dedicated to help people learn what to do and how, but if your less in to reading what just anyone has to say, and rather find out what published photography authors think, I know from experience that all bookstores carry a large amount of books dedicated to general photography, some even for specific camera models and how to get to know them better.
Buying gear-
You cant know everything about photography without experimenting with your own camera, optimal gear for aquatic photography consists of 3 main things.
1.- A Camera body. Anyone will work, and they are all different with different capabilitys. for the most part new users do not need to look anywhere further than entry level bodies, these are the most reasonably priced and easiest to learn on. A typical entry level body can be found used from as little as $200 and can go to around $500. They go up to around $8000 for pro bodies, which are capable of good performance at high ISO, or a fast FPS or Frames per second burst shooting photography.
2.- a Lens. Lenses come in many different sizes and focal lengths. All are made for a purpose. Whether it is a 12-24mm for wide angle landscape photography or a 600mm telephoto for fast action sports or wildlife photography. They are all priced differently according to quality of the make, a high end 400mm will go for around $8,000 a low end 400mm will go for around $100-300. Why the price difference? Lenses are built with different glass components, some of which are high end for optimal sharpness and clarity and some of cheaper. The biggest factor in price is the Aperture or F-Stop of a lens, such as an f/4.0 or f/2.8 lens. The higher the number (the lower the aperture) and the lower the number (the higher the aperture). Some lenses also come in variable aperture or maximum aperture that changes with the focal length of the Zoom lens.
A lens with a high F-Stop of 2.8 is highly price and wanted because they are a faster lens and they have more ability to pick up light coming through the lens, making photography in all ways easier and more capable for different situations, such as low light or fast action.
Lenses come in either a Zoom lens or a Prime lens, Zooms can change their focal length such as a 18-70mm or 70-300mm and primes are a fixed focal length lens such as a 50mm or 85mm. Some people prefer zooms and other swear by the prime lens, you cant go wrong with either.
The optimal lens for aquatic photography shooting is the Macro Lens, these are fixed focal length (prime) lenses with a magnification ratio of 1:1. Other lenses such as Standard zooms 18-70, 24-70, 28-70- can be used as well but they IME arent as good for these shots. The best Focal length for aquatic photography is a anywhere from 60mm-100mm. These will run anywhere from $200-1000, depending on aperture and AF (Auto Focus) capability. The 2 lenses I have used for most of my fish photography have either been a Tokina 100mm which I got for $300 or a Nikkor 60mm AF-S which I got for $480.
3.- Flash- Most cameras now come with an already installed or inboard flash, for aquatic photography you will need a stronger flash. These overhead speedlights run anywhere from $100-500. In the past I have used the Nikon series speedlights, the SB400, SB600 and SB800 flashes. I got them from $100-340 each. Many aquatic photographers prefer having more than on flash being fired wirlessly by the camera. I have done fine with just one SB600 or SB800 mounted in the cameras hot shoe. People like remotely rigging the flash above the aquarium and firing down for the effect of light they get and the backround will be blacked out completely so no unsightly backround junk can be seen. With correct use of aperture, shutter, ISO and flash settings you can do this by shooting the flash in the hot shoe.
You also will definitely want to invest in a Photoshop system for the computer. I Use Corel Painshop Pro Photo, many people like CS3 or CS4 photoshops aswell, your pictures will not be perfect out of the camera, and any person who enjoys photography uses a PS system, learn to use it correctly and your set.
All these items can be purchased Online through a reliable company such as BHphoto or Adorama Photo. If you are looking to save some cash on buying used you can looking into a website like KEH.com. I would steer clear of ebay because there are many scammers around sites like those, I havent had any bad experience in years of use, but I know many people who hate ebay because of experiences there.
So now youve bought your camera and are ready to learn how to use it for aquatic photography.
The Dials on the right side of the camera near the button to activate the shutter-control your aperture and your shutter, these will all be different for the different camera models and lenses being used. Aperture, Shutter and ISO are all used to manipulate the light around you or in a setting and they all work together. You should venture into the manual mode and play around with each of these to see how they work in a specific amount of light, and work with the White balance or WB for certain types of light. The aperture is the hole and amount of light let in by the lens for a certain shot, this will also control the depth of field (DOF) and amount of Bokeh for shots. The higher the aperture (lower number) the more light is being let in for the shot.
The shutter controls how fast the shutter will move at any shot and how much light is allowed to hit the sensor at any time. A 1/30 sec shutter is a slower shutter and a 1/2000 shutter is a much faster shutter speed.
ISO control how light sensitive the sensor is to any surrounding light, I use this only after Ive used the shutter and aperture controls. If possible you will almost always want to be shooting with the lowest ISO possible to control the amount of noise or grain that the camera picks up. The higher the ISO the more ugly noise or grain.
For the most part of aquatic shooting you will want to use a lower aperture around f/7-11, for the detail picked up and the large DOF, the shutter is up to you, anywhere from 1/80-1/200 works for me. The ISO should be at the lowest setting and the flash setup should be optimized for the shooting you are doing. I shoot my flash at the lower power so I dont flush out the ugly backround and only get the details of the fish. You will know automatically your flash setting are to high when you see the backround in the LCD display, being this is somewhat difficult to control in an aquarium under 24 width, you will want to try to take the shots of the fish when the are closer to the front of the glass, you wont loose any clarity from them being deeper in the aquarium, they will be lit up better, and the backround will be black out as long as your settings are correct.
Having everything correct when shooting is difficult and I will take practice for a long time to take great shots. Also remember that the shooters who post shots here take many many shots to get one good one.
Thanks for reading.
