Aquarium Photographs

R.Youden · Apr 30, 2006

Hi everyone. One thing that I enjoy doing is taking photographs at Aquariums but I also find it very frustrating to get a good photo. One thing that I have found really helpful is the addition of a rubber lens hood on the Canon 300D which cancels out any reflection on the glass. I dont think this is the primary purpose of these lenses but it works really well. I have also tried taking some photos with my Sony P200 PandS and a couple of the results are shown below.

Does anyone else take a lot of photos at aquariums and how do you get on. Any sample photos and tips would be great.

simie · Apr 30, 2006

Here are a few that I took - I must admit that they are not very good but feel free to comment.

R.Youden · Apr 30, 2006

They look really cool. Where are they taken? It looks like Bristol Zoo in the UK to me but that would be really sad if I am right!

simie · Apr 30, 2006

R.Youden said:
They look really cool. Where are they taken? It looks like Bristol Zoo in the UK to me but that would be really sad if I am right!

Sorry but you are really sad because it was at Bristol Zoo.

Abstract · Apr 30, 2006

Getting the shot wasn't so difficult. She almost posed for me. However, getting into the water tank inconspicuously was a tad difficult.

R.Youden · Apr 30, 2006

simie said:
Sorry but you are really sad because it was at Bristol Zoo.

What is even worse is that I could probably give you that name of the seal depending upon when the photo was taken!

simie · Apr 30, 2006

Here is another one. The other photo was taken on 15/8/2005

thedude110 · Apr 30, 2006

Here's a horrid picture of a puffer fish from the Mystic Aquarium.

We did everything we could think of to make it puff. But, I guess the woman and I aren't that scary ...

R.Youden · Apr 30, 2006

thedude110 said:
Here's a horrid picture of a puffer fish from the Mystic Aquarium.

We did everything we could think of to make it puff. But, I guess the woman and I aren't that scary ...

View attachment 46149

This is the sort of photo that I wanted to see on here. I imagine that it was taken with a P&S which decided to autofocus but not on the fish! Still a great photo but if someone knows how to get these in focus it would make life so much better. Thanks.

thedude110 · Apr 30, 2006

You're welcome! It did indeed auto focus, but not on the fish.

We also got this great auto focus picture.

I think it was supposed to be a beluga whale surfacing.

Chip NoVaMac · Apr 30, 2006

R.Youden said:
Hi everyone. One thing that I enjoy doing is taking photographs at Aquariums but I also find it very frustrating to get a good photo. One thing that I have found really helpful is the addition of a rubber lens hood on the Canon 300D which cancels out any reflection on the glass. I dont think this is the primary purpose of these lenses but it works really well. I have also tried taking some photos with my Sony P200 PandS and a couple of the results are shown below.

Does anyone else take a lot of photos at aquariums and how do you get on. Any sample photos and tips would be great.

Thanks for a great thread.

Like the images you posted. Attached are a few of mine from SF last summer. Been meaning to get to the National Aquarium in Baltimore for years. Looks like a short road trip is in order.

I had forgotten about the flexibility of a rubber lenshood over the rigid one (no pun intended).

Chip NoVaMac · Apr 30, 2006

thedude110 said:
Here's a horrid picture of a puffer fish from the Mystic Aquarium.

Overall, what do you think of the place? Mystic is not far from my relatives place in CT, might want to stop by on my overdue visit.

erickkoch · Apr 30, 2006

Here's a pic of some Jellyfish I took a few years ago in Las Vegas. They were in a tank with "Blue Light" which made them glow. It doesn't come through very well in the picture (crappy point and shot camera) but they were mesmerizing, sort of like watching a living lava lamp.

thedude110 · Apr 30, 2006

Chip NoVaMac said:
Overall, what do you think of the place? Mystic is not far from my relatives place in CT, might want to stop by on my overdue visit.

I think it's a great, small aquarium. We spent about 4 hours wandering, staring at penguins and trying to not step on small children.

It really was a lot more fun than I've made it sound.

Chip NoVaMac · Apr 30, 2006

erickkoch said:
Here's a pic of some Jellyfish I took a few years ago in Las Vegas. They were in a tank with "Blue Light" which made them glow. It doesn't come through very well in the picture (crappy point and shot camera) but they were mesmerizing, sort of like watching a living lava lamp.

Love the possibilities I see in this image from a "crappy point and shot camera". Here is an example of what I mean. I posted the first image over on the Macro thread. The second image is the actual basis for the final image.

R.Youden · Apr 30, 2006

Chip NoVaMac said:
Thanks for a great thread.

Like the images you posted. Attached are a few of mine from SF last summer. Been meaning to get to the National Aquarium in Baltimore for years. Looks like a short road trip is in order.

I had forgotten about the flexibility of a rubber lenshood over the rigid one (no pun intended).

I love the third picture you posted. That would make a great desktop. Was that taken in Macro mode?

Chip NoVaMac · Apr 30, 2006

R.Youden said:
I love the third picture you posted. That would make a great desktop. Was that taken in Macro mode?

It was taken with the 17-40L Canon lens IIRC with the lens with the hard hood pressed against the glass. I assume that you mean the sepia toned one.

R.Youden · Apr 30, 2006

simie said:
Here is another one. The other photo was taken on 15/8/2005

That seal was Clara, she was a very old seal who unfortunately died last year. Probably only a week or so after you took that photo.

Clix Pix · Apr 30, 2006

Not exactly aquarium photos, but got these at the National Zoo in DC. I am going up to Baltimore one day next week and am hoping to have time enough to go through the aquarium there and do some shooting. I've heard that idea about using a rubber lens hood and it sounds like something to try.... A polarizing filter on the lens can also help in certain situations.

Both taken with Nikon D200 and Nikon 18-200mm VR lens

Abstract · May 1, 2006

erickkoch said:
Here's a pic of some Jellyfish I took a few years ago in Las Vegas. They were in a tank with "Blue Light" which made them glow. It doesn't come through very well in the picture (crappy point and shot camera) but they were mesmerizing, sort of like watching a living lava lamp.

Oh cool, I luuuurve jellyfish!

thedude110 said:
We also got this great auto focus picture.

I think it was supposed to be a beluga whale surfacing.

Did you actually get a shot of the whale......"surfaced"??

Blong · May 1, 2006

R.Youden said:
Does anyone else take a lot of photos at aquariums and how do you get on. Any sample photos and tips would be great.

Nice shots - I really like the second one with the lights in the background.

Even though I've only been to the aquarium once, I thought I might show some shots anyway. My shots are a bit different. All lensbaby shots. Looking through this thread, I think a recurring issue is focus - whether the autofocus locks on properly or not. The lensbaby is totally manual focus, so maybe trying to turn off autofocus might be one hot tip.

The attched shots are all taken at the Melbourne Aquarium. The sting rays came out that way due to 1600 ISO, however, 1600 isn't always that grainy, so I don't know what happened there.

The jellies are taken with a macro attachment at the front of the lensbaby.

thedude110 said:
I think it was supposed to be a beluga whale surfacing.

Chip NoVaMac said:
Like the images you posted. Attached are a few of mine from SF last summer. Been meaning to get to the National Aquarium in Baltimore for years. Looks like a short road trip is in order.

I like the first and last shots you posted best. I particularly like No. 2 - nice.

Cool.

Rob

Abstract · May 1, 2006

^^I like your shots the best.

I think most people who go to the aquarium just use a simple point and shoot, and so rely on autofocus for their shots. There are ways to get things in focus, but whatever. As long as you like them, they're good.

R.Youden · May 1, 2006

Blong said:
Nice shots - I really like the second one with the lights in the background.

Even though I've only been to the aquarium once, I thought I might show some shots anyway. My shots are a bit different. All lensbaby shots. Looking through this thread, I think a recurring issue is focus - whether the autofocus locks on properly or not. The lensbaby is totally manual focus, so maybe trying to turn off autofocus might be one hot tip.

The attched shots are all taken at the Melbourne Aquarium. The sting rays came out that way due to 1600 ISO, however, 1600 isn't always that grainy, so I don't know what happened there.

The jellies are taken with a macro attachment at the front of the lensbaby.

I like the first and last shots you posted best. I particularly like No. 2 - nice.

Cool.

Rob

I love your clown fish. Or as ever damn kid at aquariums says now "Look mummy Nemo, Nemo mummy look!"

Abstract · May 1, 2006

R.Youden said:
Or as ever damn kid at aquariums says now "Look mummy Nemo, Nemo mummy look!"

Wait a sec, I'm not a kid....

-hh · May 1, 2006

I took these at Monterey, CA Aquarium back in 2003. Based on my numbering code, these were digitized from 35mm film:

This one was maybe 4"-6" in diameter and a bit over a foot long.

This one was closer to a foot in diameter and 3'-4' long.

In both circumstances, credit goes to the Aquarium as much as (if not more) than the photographer: the tank was well-lit and the observer's room was dark, which made it very condusive to not needing flash and not having any background reflections on the glass between the camera and the water. As such, the aquarium's glass isn't obvious or visible.

-hh

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