Questions On Photographing Your Tank

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slick4hire

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Sep 11, 2005
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I hope this is in the proper forum...

I have tried multiple times to photograph my 38 gallon tank with a digital camera. Unfortunately, most of the pictures turn out blurry. As near as I can tell, the farther the fish is towards the back of the tank, the more blurry they appear.

For those who photograph their tank, what is the best method/equipment/etc. to come up with nice photos?

Thanks.
 
Are you sure your camera is focusing on the fish, and not the glass?

Use a tripod, kill your flash, and see how that works out for you.
 
I use a cannon digital rebel pro... let's me switch over to manual focus so I can easily target objects past the glass. Depending on the auto focus of your camera, and weather or not it's just targeting the nearest solid object, you may have to turn the auto focus off. What kind of camera are you shooting on?
If you can't turn the auto focus off.. one trick is to focus on something equal in distance to your target, hold the button half way to keep it locked, then aim at the real target. It's a pain in the butt though.
 
The flash is off but I haven't tried the auto focus shut-off, if in fact it has one. I am using a HP Photosmart 2.1 MP which is far from the best for what I am tryign to do, but hey, you work with what you have...
 
No macro feature and the focus is non adjustable. Time for a new camera...
 
Focus the camera on an ornament or the substrate at a midpoint of the tank. (shutter button halfway and hold it) Then realign to the fish and take the shot. That should get a decent shot. You might run into exposure problems if you have a very bright or dark substrate.

I've got a relatively basic camera that never seems to want to focus on anything, but I've still managed to get some great shots. Just take TONS of photos and some of them will be good.

Here is an example of how well it's possible to focus, even with a crappy camera. File is huge though, as it's full-size.
 
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If your glass is clean then I doubt the problem is that your camera is focusing on the glass.

The AF Sensors in your camera are looking for something with contrast in order to achieve focus. Find something in your tank with good contrast and try focusing on that, then recompose the image however you see fit (assuming target depth is similar).

You are also likely to have problems if you are trying to hand hold the shot. The tank may look bright to you but it's not. Long shutter speeds can be required to make the proper exposure, these can only be done with a tripod or something steady to rest your camera on.

The fact that your fish are moving will tend to make them blurry, especially if your shutterspeeds are slow. You can try bumping up the ISO, increasing the amount of light in the tank, or shooting with a larger aperture in order to get faster shutter speeds. It is also a good idea to just take a lot of shots and try to catch your fish while they stop moving for a second. You may end up with a lot of pics but you can just pick out the good ones afterwards.

I have previously posted some general picture taking advice in this thread: http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=41665
 
One thing you will need is lots of light that should be it most tanks require a slower shutter speed, meaning if anything moves it will become blurred.your F-stop should be 60 at least or i believe its ISO on a digital.
 
I have been playing with fish photography. I can't help with the camera you have but if you get another one, I love my kodak dx6490. I am the type that doesn't read manuals, so I am learning as I go. It has different settings for portraits or action shots, which I use on the fish. I can stand across my room, point it at a still fish, zoom in, use the flash, and get a great picture. For moving fish, I have to get closer.

Anyway good luck, a good camera makes a ton of difference, I'd never have thunk-it!
 
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