The Fine Art of Fish Photography

[Carson Passey]

A few tips on capturing your latest L46 fry or that moment you want to have forever. Many of us are familiar with taking digital photos and even video but have difficulty capturing images when inside an aquarium.

First use a tripod. Because the light in a typical aquarium is low being dimmed by the glass, reflection of the water surface, or the lights, the aperture is usually wider and the shutter speed is slower. This means that even the slightest movement will make everything blurry. A tripod improves the quality of the image. This means that every little dot you camera can capture will be different. This makes a crisp image.

Next shut of the camera flash. The flash will cause reflection off the glass. Unless you have a flash attached to an umbrella, tripod and remote of course.

White balance the camera Nearly all digital cameras have a white balance. To white balance your camera, put a white object IN the aquarium, such as a white plastic lid from a yogurt or something similar. Point your camera at this and select the white balance. Read your camera's manual on white balance or search the menu for W.B. or something similar. This is the single most important step for making the image look real. After all, haven't we all looked at the red and blue highlights on a Zebra Pleco and thought: "I got to get this on film" only to find out the fish just didn't look the same in the photo. Although you can adjust colors later, it is a LOT easier and faster to get the colors correct.

Add Lighting Many times a digital camera just NEEDS more light. If you have ever worked on a television set, you will see that the lighting is much brighter than what we can naturally see. Television cameras capture light reflecting off an image. In order to view this light at proper levels for capturing, the subject needs to be well lit. Digital cameras have the same needs. If you are taking a few photos that you might possibly cherish for a lifetime, it is worth the few minutes to add an extra light source or two from above the tank for the photo.

ZOOM IN! The most interesting photos of zebras and others fish are often taken a lot closer than one would naturally stand to view the fish. Look at the quality images across the top of the web pages. They are close ups of the fish!

Snap five and push in Digital photos are simple to delete afterward, therefore, take about five of each fish/angle you want to capture and then ZOOM in more. Use the MACRO setting on your camera (this is often the image of a flower). Push in and take five more.

Framing It is all about the framing of an image. It is worthwhile to read a little about the art of framing an image. Read a few photography books or web sites. Maybe go to www.cybercollege.com and read the chapters about composition in the television production section. Generally, many images I have seen are common and uninteresting because they have excess around the subject. If the photographer would have zoomed in a little the images not only would have been a lot more interesting but even spectacular. A little cropping out the unnecessary makes the focus of an image stand out.

Applying a few tips and tricks can make your effort look like the work of a talented professional. I love it when someone asks, so who does your camera work. (Me! I boast with a grin....or I lie and tell them it was my wife if they don't like it...kidding......)

Take a few pictures you have on your computer and edit the color with a photo editor. Many times you can right-click on an image and select, "Edit".



Fix it in Post Production Nearly all of the photos you see in television, movies, print and the web are enhanced/doctored. This is the time to compensate/fix what is left over. Cropping the image to remove and unsightly heater in the back ground is an example. Adjusting the saturation of the photo and the hue slightly will sometimes turn a boring photo to a stunning image. We have a natural desire to see vivid colors and often images need to be enhanced slightly to do this.