# Sticky  Secret to Getting a good picture?



## kristian18f

I've been trying to get a picture of one of my betta's to post it and try to figure out if there is something wrong with his 'belly', anyway.... Is there some kind of secret (Other then buying a camera) to taking good pictures from outside of the fish tank?


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## AshleytheGreat

Whenever I use a tripod it helps. Too bad my camera sucks


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## kristian18f

Hmmm... The tripod that came with this camera kinda makes it tip over... Needless to say, I don't use it much... i'll see what I can do with a box or something though.


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## goodie

Get your room as dark as possible, leave just your tank light on and turn your flash OFF.


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## fishfreaks

I think everyone forgot sometimes it takes patience :-D


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## biskit

Get your lens as close to the glass as possible, even on the glass... then wait and wait and wait and.... Yes, patience is everything, and when you take photos take a lot! Out of 50 pics you might only get 5 nice ones :roll:


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## micstarz

hmmm... (ive never tried this before) maybe if you have some get a block of frozen food and press it against the aquarium glass. Then try to photo the fish you want ?


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## kristian18f

Ah, I'll try it with the lights off in my room, I knew about the flash.... I have taken several pics (luckily It's digital).

Must admit I don't know what your talking about with the block of food.

Thanks for the tips!


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## micstarz

haha srry I havent quite explained myself properly :chair: 

what i meant was that hopefully the fishies will come out to feed and you will have a wild time trying to picture the one you want :razz:


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## kristian18f

Oh, LOL, I had a mental image of me holding a chuck of frozen green beans up against the glass and trying to take a picture through them.


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## 2complicated

if you want a good one follow goodies steps and after that adjust the cameras shutter speed very to very slow and take the pic... and you need a tripod for this one


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## IloveCichlids

I would think that you want the shutter speed as fast as possible so the fish does not move mid shot and make the image blurry.


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## Guest

^^right. a fast shutter speed will result in a more clear picture.


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## awesome kid

if the shutter speed was slow then the image would likely be a blur when the fish moves


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## Jonno

if you are using a flash have the camera at an angle, this will stop the light reflecting!

- Jonno


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## lochness

kristian18f said:


> Oh, LOL, I had a mental image of me holding a chuck of frozen green beans up against the glass and trying to take a picture through them.



LOL :-D


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## Osiris

When I'm taking my photo's, Taking them from a angle not straight on is key. That way the flash is not bouncing back at you. Holding the "take picture button" half way so that it will focus as well, and to have macro on your camera as well(this is a flower looking button).

Clean the glass too! (i'm guilty as well of not cleaning the glass)

Average 1 in 6 photo's will only come out like you want it to, you can draw fish to the front by just your finger usually, making them think it's feeding time.


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## Georgia Peach

MalawianPro said:


> When I'm taking my photo's, Taking them from a angle not straight on is key. That way the flash is not bouncing back at you. Holding the "take picture button" half way so that it will focus as well, and to have macro on your camera as well(this is a flower looking button).
> 
> Clean the glass too! (i'm guilty as well of not cleaning the glass)
> 
> Average 1 in 6 photo's will only come out like you want it to, you can draw fish to the front by just your finger usually, making them think it's feeding time.


dang MP, I always thought you swam around in your tanks to get those awesome pics! :mrgreen:


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## Osiris

HEHE, not yet! But their is a waterproof case for my camera i plan to purchase for while we are scuba diving on our cruise later this year! 

I recently took a few pics, makes it look like the fish aren't even in the water!


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## awesome kid

when i get rich (just dreaming) im gonna get a tank so big i *can* swim in. that would be like, the most fun ever to have existed in the name of fun


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## DigiDan

why not buy a disposible underwater camera....


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## Ringo

that would work


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## Alin10123

awesome kid said:


> when i get rich (just dreaming) im gonna get a tank so big i *can* swim in. that would be like, the most fun ever to have existed in the name of fun


I'm picturing deuce bigalow male gigolo in the family aquarium place naked. lol


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## arcenciel

What does that macro button do anyway?


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## MDsaints

lol youll think im a loser but i met this guy who takes pics of fish in tanks for www.thatpetplace.com.. thier really nice.. what he does is leaves the flash on but justs tilts the camera down.. and its a beautiful shot


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## Ringo

Alright earlier today I was playing around with the camera trying to get some pictures of my plecos and banjo cats, and next to me was a magnfying glass. So I grabbed it and starting looking at the fish in the tank through the magnifying glass and it worked great to magnify the fish and made them crystal clear even 8 inches away from the front of the tank. 
So then I took a picture through the the magnifying glass and it took a great picture. now if I can just get the fish to stay still....

So try a taking a picture through a magnifying glass, worked good for me.


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## Buggy

I discovered that I could get good pics by turning off the hood light and most of the light in the room. Leave a lamp on so you can see what you are doing and take the pics from a downward angle. Use the camera flash and slow down the exposure speed. Here is a pic of my swordtails using this method.


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## spacemom

Can anyone clue me in as to how to let others see my fish and my tank? i just took a few (hundred, joke!) pictures and i wanted to share them with you guys...
I actually have read a lot of posts on here about "planted" aquariums and I wonder if mine is a joke, as I have just a few sprigs of water plants spread around each of my tanks...can someone tell me how to get my pics on here for some sort of "expert" opinion or something????

thanks,
Spacemom


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## duke33

*Pic*

Thanks for all the input. I'll have to try some of those tricks.Here's the best i can do.


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## flamingo

One hint: usually flash isn't right for most settings. I try to not use it whenever I can manage. Of course, it does help in some conditions and makes "editing and contorting" the pictures levels easier-which is something I love to do lol.

Of course, cleaning the glass is one of the best things you can do. Make sure you don't make irregular motions when cleaning it, going from the top to bottom only, otherwise it leaves streaks on the glass. If a picture is taken from the bottom, it really shows them off.

Macro, just switches the lenses to focus at a shorter distance. Can be the greatest feature of your camera, but it's also harder to get great shots out of. When you use this feature, you have to make sure lighting is perfect, and any movement sets off the photo.

Real two things are just starting off with a decent camera, and taking thousands of photos. I have about 20,000 photos on my computer, only about a thousand are "decent." Many are just for reference or similar stuff.


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## Kurtfr0

you would think people would just get video cameras by now lol.


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## Zinedane

Just get good lighting put the camera on "Macro" setting and don't use any flash. Then be patient and wait for the fish to Stop swimming and take a good clear shot! always worked for me even with my Canon Ixus 750 that doesnt take clear shots when theres no good lighting but right now i use a Sony Cybershot which takes Good Clear Pictures


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## Ghost Knife

Zinedane said:


> Just get good lighting put the camera on "Macro" setting and don't use any flash. Then be patient and wait for the fish to Stop swimming and take a good clear shot! always worked for me even with my Canon Ixus 750 that doesnt take clear shots when theres no good lighting but right now i use a Sony Cybershot which takes Good Clear Pictures


That's good advice for any object, animal, or person that has a lot of intricate colors. It is possible to nice clear shots of your fish, but you need a camera with a macro setting with at least 6 or 7 mega pixels.


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## ptl161

Thanks for all the input. I'll have to try some of those tricks


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## emc7

Clean glass, focus on a plant or rock and wait for the fish to come in front of it. I like flash, but you have to hold the camera at a angle to the glass, up or down or sideways. Fill your memory card, delete 99%, repeat.


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## Cam

*Try this*



Osiris said:


> HEHE, not yet! But their is a waterproof case for my camera i plan to purchase for while we are scuba diving on our cruise later this year!
> 
> I recently took a few pics, makes it look like the fish aren't even in the water!


Osiris, I want you to take a picture inside your tank looking out and post a new thread on it. Use this waterproof camera to take some shots. I think that would be cool to see a "fish prospective" looking out the front of the tank into the room. This would be so cool if you could do this. Thanks!


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## emc7

perspective, not what the fish predict the stock market will do. lol.

Yes, it would be neat. I always wanted to submerge a doll house under a dome, like the people were the fish's pets.


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## Cam

emc7 said:


> perspective, not what the fish predict the stock market will do. lol.
> 
> Yes, it would be neat. I always wanted to submerge a doll house under a dome, like the people were the fish's pets.


Now that my friend, is a new one haha.

Yeah, Firefox's auto spell-check slaughtered that word "Perspective" pretty bad.


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## whitemore55

Do not worry. I think your fish is scared. 

They have not this type of experienced so you are not able to shot picture. Be patient.


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