I recently shot a bunch of photos of the P. zonatus. What I would like to do is put some of this in context. To start I shot a total of 120 photographs over a period of about an hour. I shoot a lot of photos of the zonatus. Primarily because he's easy to photograph and gives me an opportunity to experiment.
As I mentioned before, I put a lot of stock in observing the fish and being able to either predict their behavior or how to get them to respond to different stimuli. I know that the zonatus will respond initially to the flash over his tank.
Here's the shot you get when you step back and shoot the entire tank:
Here he is getting a close up peak at the flash.:
This was the final shot shot:
I told everyone I would get the fish to do a headstand. All I did was tape the lens cap of the camera to the bottom underneath the tank. He worried over that thing for a good twenty minutes. I probably have twenty shots of this alone.
I try to keep my flash batteries charged, And I use an additional battery in the flash that assures a quick recycle. It really pays off. There's nothing worse than loosing a great shot just because the flash isn't fully charged. In this last session I caught the zonatus in a yawning pose at least three times. I like the unusual shots...and I love shooting the fins.
IN order to get the fish to raise his fins i step back and wait until the fish stops moving back and forth and is close to the flash sweet spot. Then I simply raise my hand up and out toward the tank. He raises the fins almost on cue...I step back and take the shot. I rarely use the tripod...but plan on doing so when i get my new macro lens. I want to get some extreme close ups.
As I mentioned before, I put a lot of stock in observing the fish and being able to either predict their behavior or how to get them to respond to different stimuli. I know that the zonatus will respond initially to the flash over his tank.
Here's the shot you get when you step back and shoot the entire tank:
Here he is getting a close up peak at the flash.:
This was the final shot shot:
I told everyone I would get the fish to do a headstand. All I did was tape the lens cap of the camera to the bottom underneath the tank. He worried over that thing for a good twenty minutes. I probably have twenty shots of this alone.
I try to keep my flash batteries charged, And I use an additional battery in the flash that assures a quick recycle. It really pays off. There's nothing worse than loosing a great shot just because the flash isn't fully charged. In this last session I caught the zonatus in a yawning pose at least three times. I like the unusual shots...and I love shooting the fins.
IN order to get the fish to raise his fins i step back and wait until the fish stops moving back and forth and is close to the flash sweet spot. Then I simply raise my hand up and out toward the tank. He raises the fins almost on cue...I step back and take the shot. I rarely use the tripod...but plan on doing so when i get my new macro lens. I want to get some extreme close ups.
