Category:Challenges
From ReefPedia
That darned glass
When I share my photos with other photographers, invariably, the first question they ask is, “How’d you do that through the glass?”
Well, it’s pretty easy, actually. There are a few issues to contend with, and once you know how, it’s a breeze. Glare
Nothing will ruin a photo of a beautiful aquarium quite like the reflection of a family member watching American Idol. The best solution to glare is to eliminate the source of it. Wait until no one is using the TV and turn it off. Cut all the lights in the room. If there’s sunlight coming through a window, block it. Black poster board is a simple solution. Sounds easy enough. But glare becomes a real problem in situations where you don’t have control over the lighting in the room, such as in a public aquarium, fish store, or restaurant display. In this case, your best bet is to get as close to the glass as possible. If you can, put the lens right up against the glass and let the camera block the light for you. The further back from the glass you edge, and the wider the shot (i.e., less zoom), the greater the chances you’ll pick up the glare.
Distortion
Good lenses don’t normally suffer from distortion because high-quality glass is used. Look through a cola bottle and you’ll see that the same quality of glass is certainly not used to make bottles as lenses. Guess what? It’s not usually used to make aquariums either. Most glass, however, is pretty good. The main thing to keep in mind is to always try to keep the camera perpendicular to the glass. In other words, shoot your subject straight-on. The sharper the angle of the camera to the tank, the more distortion you’ll see. A lot depends on the lens as well. I happen to have a nice, expensive 100mm macro lens that will simply not produce a good photo when used at an angle to the glass. Other owners of the same lens have confirmed the same finding. Frustrating at times, but it sure got me in the habit of shooting straight on.
Chromatic Aberration
This is another effect caused by poor glass – but sometimes, it’s the lens. If you take a photo and notice a very thin green or purplish outline along one or two edges of your subject, it’s probably chromatic aberration. I get it all the time when shooting Anthias for some reason. It’s caused by poor glass, whether that’s your lens, the aquarium, a cheap filter or diopter you’re using, or a combination of the above. It can be avoided in a similar fashion as distortion- shooting straight ahead. More importantly, research your camera well as some models have a reputation for producing chromatic aberration when not being shot through poor quality aquarium glass. Imagine how bad it gets when you use one of those cameras on an aquarium.
Flash reflection
When using flash, you have to be especially mindful of where the reflection will it. If at all possible, use your after-market flash off the camera using a special cord. This allows you much more flexibility, such as pointing the flash into the tank through the side while you photograph from the front. You can also raise the flash above the camera and angle the flash head up slightly. Careful not to then angle the whole rig down or you’ll have some pretty photos of big yellow reflections. What’s that, you can’t get rid of the reflection when using your camera’s built-in flash? See, I told you those things suck.
Autofocus Confusion
Autofocus works by picking out the closest thing the camera is pointed at. This can be an issue when the camera decides to focus on the glass rather than what’s inside it. The solution is to keep the glass clean.
The fish just won’t say “cheese.”
The fish get scared when you point the camera at them. Can you blame them? They’re used to the big thing (that would be you) dropping in food, but they’re not used to it pointing something at them (that would be the camera) and following them around the tank with it, stopping frequently to jump up and down, scream and yell.
Skittish fish definitely keep things interesting. When they’re not hiding they’re darting, and that ol’ light meter is probably telling you that you’re not allowed to have a shutter speed fast enough for a darting fish. So what do you do?
Get them used to the idea. It will take some terrible sacrifice, but you’re just going to have to suck it up and spend hours in front of your tank with the camera. Sooner or later, they’ll get used to it, and you’ll get some amazing photos from even your shyest fish.
Fish and invertebrates. They live together but they’re so darned different.
Photographing aquaria is, again, much like keeping them. Every day and every inhabitant brings new challenges- and opportunities to learn. Each requires a little bit of adjustment and a little bit of planning. Each requires you to ask yourself how you’re going to accomplish photographing the particular subject accurately. In other words, they require you to be a photographer.
The perfect example is fish versus corals.
Corals are quite predictable. And stationery, thank goodness. With a coral, you can cut the pumps, crank up the f-stop to get a nice big depth of field (shutter speed be damned), stick the camera on a tripod, adjust and compose in an extremely deliberate manner, and take your shot when you’re ready.
Fish, on the other hand, are almost constantly moving. Their behavior is unpredictable. You have to be ready when something happens, and you have to have the fastest shutter speed possible. You have to recognize, compose, and shoot in a fraction of a second.
And so it goes in aquarium photography. You’ll learn that shrimp are a challenge because they almost constantly move their long antennae extending outward from their body, requiring good depth-of-field yet a fast shutter. You’ll learn that hermit crabs move a lot more than you thought, and within seconds can go from a mundane spot to the most precarious and photogenic position. You’ll learn quite a bit about the animals in your care and their behavior simply by trying to photograph them. Enjoy it, but make note of what didn’t work and why so you can get the shot next time.
