This is one of my prized fish...Paratheraps zonatus. This bruiser is 14" long and VERY thick. He doesn't miss many meals.
I spend a lot of time in front of my tanks with a camera. Some never fail to disappoint. This is one of them. With most of the fish I have discovered that I can get them to move around the tank, and often assume desired "poses"...or something close to what I want. With this fish I was looking initially for a shot with all of his fins extended and a side view. If I stand right by the tank. all he dos is swim back and forth and bang on the glass. If I step back and shoot farther back, he must see me...but not well. With this he will swim back and forth...then freeze into the pose you see here...almost like clockwork. I have several shots like this, but this one was the best.
What a beautiful fish...
I use three Nikon SB-900 flash units on the tank. Two on top and one below. This photo will give you an idea of the light that it casts. As you can see, the flash with the dome is very diffused. The other to the right, fills in the back of the fish. From below, enough to give detail. I adjust these in either direction depending on results. All of these shots were taken at an ISO of 100, 1/350th @f32 If you know camera basics, you can appreciate the amount of light needed to illuminate the subject.
In this photo you can see the fill light from below the tank. It really does a nice job . I was going for the side-lighting in this photo. Once again...with the very high aperture I am able to capture the entire length of the fish in focus...rather than losing to a short DOF.
One other side shot taken from below. This was when he was swimming back and forth before settling.
Nice close up of the face.
I spend a lot of time in front of my tanks with a camera. Some never fail to disappoint. This is one of them. With most of the fish I have discovered that I can get them to move around the tank, and often assume desired "poses"...or something close to what I want. With this fish I was looking initially for a shot with all of his fins extended and a side view. If I stand right by the tank. all he dos is swim back and forth and bang on the glass. If I step back and shoot farther back, he must see me...but not well. With this he will swim back and forth...then freeze into the pose you see here...almost like clockwork. I have several shots like this, but this one was the best.
What a beautiful fish...
I use three Nikon SB-900 flash units on the tank. Two on top and one below. This photo will give you an idea of the light that it casts. As you can see, the flash with the dome is very diffused. The other to the right, fills in the back of the fish. From below, enough to give detail. I adjust these in either direction depending on results. All of these shots were taken at an ISO of 100, 1/350th @f32 If you know camera basics, you can appreciate the amount of light needed to illuminate the subject.
In this photo you can see the fill light from below the tank. It really does a nice job . I was going for the side-lighting in this photo. Once again...with the very high aperture I am able to capture the entire length of the fish in focus...rather than losing to a short DOF.
One other side shot taken from below. This was when he was swimming back and forth before settling.
Nice close up of the face.
