# Photographing Fish and Aquarium



## maxpayne_lhp (Jan 19, 2005)

Hmm.. Hello!
Anyone has ever tried photographing our beloved fish? The photos should be cool! But I've never thrived at this. They are always active and a non-proffesional digital camera just can't go with it. Do you know how to change the shutter speed? I think that's the poin for the problem. Hmm.. and lighting conditions of the tank itself is, also! 
I'm about to do a research on the Black Ghost Knife for my biology class and for the basic database of this forum, too. Your advice is very helpful to me!
Please share with us your idea and experiences. Thanks!


----------



## nosilver4u (Jan 23, 2005)

I use a kodak 6330 (3.1 MP) and I get pretty decent pics. A few things I always do:
1. If your camera has a "close up" mode, for flowers, and such, use that.
2. You can use a flash, so long as you don't point straight at the glass. Take pictures from an angle. You'd be surprised how well it can work when you get a good one.
3. Take lots of pictures. you'll never get good pics just by taking 2 or 3. I usually have about a 2:10 ratio of good to bad pictures.
4. Be patient. Fish don't pose, and some fish are near impossible to get good pictures of.
Have fun!


----------



## HobieDude16 (Jan 19, 2005)

i have a Canon Powershot S500, and lemme tell you, that thing can take some AMAZING picutres of fish, ill go take a couple here in a second, and post the pics (ill post one full size, cause its huge) and some more, it can take amazing shots if you do it right..... nosilver has the right idea


----------



## HobieDude16 (Jan 19, 2005)

ok, im too lazy to figure out a way to post it huge, so ill just post them however the host will take them.... heres some pics i just took


----------



## leck85 (Jan 19, 2005)

wow u like the big weird fish huh..

black sharks are wicked i like those..

clown knife :O 

and some weird flounder?


----------



## malawi4me2 (Jan 18, 2005)

I use a Minolta Dimage S414 (4.0 mega pixels). I always turn off the flash, and all the other lights in the room (except the lights on the tank that I am photographing) before taking a pic. Taking the pics from an angle will also keep you from seeing the reflection of the camera lense. I use the normal setting for taking pics of the whole tank, and the "macro" setting (the one NoSilver4U was talking about for close-ups) when taking a pic of an individual fish. And patience is the key! I take a lot of pictures, but only get a few that look decent enough to keep!


----------



## maxpayne_lhp (Jan 19, 2005)

I see, I did the same thing with you, but as the fish moves, the photo taken of him will be blur. I try the mode that disable motion blur, but still no work!


----------



## HobieDude16 (Jan 19, 2005)

leck85 @ Wed Jan 26 said:


> wow u like the big weird fish huh..
> 
> black sharks are wicked i like those..
> 
> ...


those were a black shark, a white finned black shark, a peacock eel, and a flounder..... and the red one is my betta in my other tank.... only things i left out were my other betta in his tank, and my borneo sucker and frog (thats cause those guys were hiding)


----------



## joe kool (Jan 24, 2005)

maxpayne_lhp @ Wed 26 Jan said:


> I see, I did the same thing with you, but as the fish moves, the photo taken of him will be blur. I try the mode that disable motion blur, but still no work!


Try a faster shutter speed  ... which may mean you'll have to use the flash but just take the photo from an angle not straight on
                                                    \
                                                      \
                                |                       \      <----- tank
you & camera-----> |                        \
                                |                           \
                                                              \

something like that  

:mrgreen:


----------



## maxpayne_lhp (Jan 19, 2005)

Wow, thanks alot! cool expression! Ah, what's the Arperture priority? Does it have anything to do with this?
Thanks!


----------



## joe kool (Jan 24, 2005)

no not really you shouldn't have to mess with the apature unless your "really trying to get profesional" just use the "portrate" or "nature" setting ... shillouette of a person or a flower on most point and shoot dials and get at the anlge form the glass. turning all the lights off in the house but the tank might help too. Also try a cuple with the flash off and see how they come out too. 

Laters

:mrgreen: :mrgreen:


----------



## shev (Jan 18, 2005)

I never saw a clown knife in the photos, I had to go back and relook when you said flounder, awesome. i love spiny eels.


----------



## HobieDude16 (Jan 19, 2005)

haha, its a peacock eel, he is so cool, he zooms around the tank a LOT, he tried to jump out one morning (he did jump out, but i had just woken up, and i heard him jump, so i put him back in) and then i blocked the exits, but hes fun to watch, he stares at the top trying to find the exit a lot..... i dont have a clown knife.... no clue what it is..... and the flounder, hes my FAVORITE fish of all time.... he does the funniest thing, he will swim to the top of the tank, glide into the bubble rock at the back of the tank, let the bubbles carry him to the top, catch the current from the filter at the top, shoot across to the top of the other side, and glide back down and do it again! its like hes on a ride or something, its awesome!


----------



## maxpayne_lhp (Jan 19, 2005)

Clown knife huh? They're cool! Do you know the blach ghost knife? It's even more....


----------



## HobieDude16 (Jan 19, 2005)

im not sure what a clown knife is..... and black ghosts are cool


----------



## shev (Jan 18, 2005)

http://aqualandpetsplus.com/Knife, Clown.htm clown knives

I have a Tire track eel, another spiny eel, similar to the peacock except for different patterns, and much larger. he does the same thing looking for exits and i have found him pushing his way a few inches out of the water trying to climb up into my filter. do you keep the betta and black shark together? they can be territorial and pose problems later, the black shark will soon outgrow the betta, and the betta wont back down to a fight, and has fins perfect for getting torn. flounder are very cool fish, and will like brackish water when older, they are found in estuaries, but when fry they migrate up the river into more FW, but as adults need some salt.


----------



## maxpayne_lhp (Jan 19, 2005)

Ah ha! Well, I've seen a clown knife at the petshop yesterday, that was a young one! IT was cool! But I'm not sure if I can keep it with my black ghost knifefish? So far, I think that the black ghost can go well with every fish escept another one and a elephant-noised fish. BTW, gonna write a profile for this fish! I will put it in basic knowledge. Thanks


----------

