Aquarium Photography

[equinom]

My pictures suck!  >
I have a regular 35mm, and tried taking pics

* tank light on, no room lights, no flash
        straight on
        at an angle
* tank light on, no room lights, flash
        straight on
        at an angle
* tank light off, room lights on, no flash
        straight on
        at an angle
* tank light off, room lights on, flash
        straight on
        at an angle

I had the film developed into both regular prints and then CD, with the hopes of posting it for suggestions.  
All of the pics are terrible!  Barnacles!!!   > > >

Outside of buying a digicam, what is a good way to take pictures of a tank?  

 

[Atlantic Fish]

thats a hard one,,, usually tank lights on, your cameras flash on the tank generally creates a large white spot, if you can use no flash, however by doing that you need to make sure there is enough light to get the pic to develop or adjust your f-stop to allow more light to hit the film if your using a manual camera. use a slower speed film which will allow more light to hit the actual film.  Its really a game of cat and mouse. Keep trying,,,what type of camera and film have you been using. I have a digital camera and I had to play with it for days to figure out how to even just get a half decent pic....good luck

 

[Backdraft Bagel]

Here I wrote up a quick article on photographing your aquarium. Maybe it's useful to you

http://watergardens.coolnessdojo.com/photographing.html

 

[equinom]

Hey Back, thanks for the article.  I nosed around on your site - those micro aquariums are wild!
I do believe I tried pretty much all of the items on your list - except the one about the digicam.  I just had CD made from the pics along with normal prints.
North Atlantic-you asked for the particulars:
Promise: No Laughing

Canon Sure Shot 35mm
film speed was 200 I heard that snicker, you promised!
Found out close ups (closer than3.5 ft) are not allowed... Barnacles!
Also found out that the ASA was at 400, while the film was 200....Barnacles!


With all the cash I have put out on these tanks, this is not the time to get a digicam.   Any other suggestions?  Not that I am going to send it in for TopTanks, but I'm sure if you guys could see it  - the suggestions would be "numerous"  

 

[Neon]

  Well i am not to famillure with that cammera but if at all possible set the flash to off.. If not put black electrical tape over the flash (It should cause the film to be exposed for longer Plus if its bright enough you should get an ok shot)

if you can set the exposer length set it to about 1 second and give that a try... (Hmm whats all i can think of.. i aint a pro just have taken a few pictures of aquariums before)

 

[Atlantic Fish]

Hey Equinom
Believe it or not, I have the same camera, actually I have 4 diffrent cameras, one of them being a 35mm automatic Cannon sure shot telemax. The problem with most automatic cameras is that you cant manualy adjust the exposure time, if you get a camera that you can do this with you need to put it on some thing steady, ie trypod, shelf. Because when you leave you shutter open to allow more light to hit the film, if you move at all or when the fish move, things blur.  I did that with my digital camera, and in some of my pics you can see how the fish blurred a little cause they moved.  So its really hard to get good pics, you need to make sure that your speeds are set the same ie 200 for 200 film.  400 speed exposes faster, thus you dont have to worry about wiggling or fish movt, the down side, you need lots of light. keep trying, you will eventually figure it out, it would prob work best with lots of light in or around your tank, with no flash from your camera, thus reducing the glare.

 

[buddah]

Hay
i was reading about your photography problems, i thought i could help i have been studing photograhy for two years now.
you should start but not haveing your flash on this will only cause hard light on the tank, so no flash. do not have any lights on in frount of the tank, but only at the back, if you can. This is cauld back lighting. now set your camera to a F stop of 16 and then use your through the lens metter to get the shutter speed right and you shoudl be good oh all so u should have the tank light on, but be about 2m form the tank. if u have any other problems just ask.  *thumbsup2*

 

[theSaj]

Hey there...

You said you have the images on disk?

Send me a few of the better one's and I will see if I can correct them and at least bring something out of them. No promises, but I'll try my best.

(I've salvaged some of my friend's wedding pics in the past.)

Email them to jason@snp.com

- Jason(theSaj)

 

[equinom]

The pics are awful fuzzy... but I'll try to get them to you tonight.  You have to promise not to:
* Laugh and point
* Print and use as dart board
* publish as what not to do to a tank
* any other activity that may harm my tender ego.
 (It's been injured a lot lately...by some "friends"...   :-[)  


Thanks for the offer - it is very generous of you!

 

[theSaj]

No prob...

As I said, no promises....

They may be too far gone for me to work with.  But, I've managed to save some photos (depends on the photo).

Was able to make a wedding cake's lettering legible.

Once took a completely black photo taken at night with a faint image of a friend's face, and made the face much more clear. (Also discovered there was a car and a house in the background of the photo.)

So will see what I can do...

Make sure images are 24bit color, good quality JPEGS should do alright.

Raw tiff even better...

 

[Backdraft Bagel]

*senses a disturbance in the force*

saj you a graphics peep?

 

[theSaj]

Nope,

I am an over-creative web developer and programmer, who, well, apparently has half-decent natural design tendencies.

Here are a few sites I've done.... (simple but effective)

www.porthaven.com

www.porthaven.com/thewell

 

[aspguru]

lol *laughingcryingsmiley*

 

[theSaj]

Yes, ASPGuru...

Did you come all the way to the thread to laugh & ridicule....???

I will just assume you are laughing at the above humor.  Cause otherwise I would have to assume that you were intending such as an insult.

( I do hope not, as I think such would be way out of line in a place like this. And if it is, I'd rather you just speak your mind. )

*thumbsupsmiley*)

 

[equinom]

theSaj,
I am getting an error message on your email... says invalid local user...
I have tried 2 different addresses - same message.
So where you at?

 

[colesea]

Okay, um, this is going to sound strange. I am in no way a photographic guru here, and have had the same disturbing problems as equinom in photographing my tank. But I too have been fiddling a bit here and there, so I hope this can be helpful *shrug*.

The best shot I've gotten so far was a broad daylight shot, no hood lamp, no flash, at an angle. I have the tank set next to a window, as well as have no backing on the tank, so the interior was lit by the sunlight comming into the window while the surrounding area remained relatively dark. Buddah suggested the backlighting, and I think that is what worked in my situation.

Also, the distance you stand back from the tank seems to be important. The closer I get to the tank, the blurrier they are. The farther away I stand, the sharper the image. Blurry can also come from trembling and shaking of the hands while trying to hold the camera still. The larger your appature (F-stop I think that is called) and the longer your shutter speed, the more camera movement is going to affect your picture and make it blurry. If you can, perhaps set your camera on a chair or table in front of your tank and use the camera timer for the shot (if you have a tripod that'll work too) instead of hand holding. If you don't have a timer, just be careful hitting the button so as not to disturb your focus.

Also, what makes great pictures is alot of the post production cropping and fitting. You can use the "old fashion" methods of enlargement, or as most people are doing now, use computers to touch up and enlarge. As you enlarge images, it is easier to "clean them up" so to speak.
~~Colesea

 

[Neon]

Hey Equinom
If you want you can send them my way I been doing design profesionally for about 2 years now and i could attempt to fix up the picture..
If you want me to give it a try
can you scan the picture in as big as possible (Dependong on how big you want the end picture.. 900 pixels in width would be fantastic but if you cant do that its kewl)

Anywho if you wanna let me try email them to benmichels@bigpond.com

 

[theSaj]

Addresses...

Either of the following addresses should work:

jason@porthaven.com

jason@snp.com

(note, depending on file size some accounts don't let you send or receive files if they are too large)

Try sending just a simple email first to ensure you've got the right address, then I will reply.  

 

[Backdraft Bagel]

Colsea - does your camera have autofocus or manual? If you're having trouble with close ups, it's probably because the range finder is focusing on the glass, rather than the contents of the aquarium. Use your "close up" setting and whatnot, that should help you out.