Re: Photographing fish and awuariums?

[Doug Brown <debrown@kodak.com>]

There is a lot of info on the web regarding macro photography, and Erik has
a nice article at the Krib. http://www.cco.caltech.edu/~aquaria/Krib/

Here're my brief thoughts too:

You will not be able to get decent photos with the "all-in-one" cameras.
Even with a zoom you will not be able to get close enough and fill enough
of the frame with such small fish. You will need at least a 35 mm camera
with some kind of macro capabilites. You won't be happy with images from a
video camera.

There are basically 3 lens choices for decent macro work. 1) You can get
close up lenses that attach to standard wide angle lenses. 2) You can get a
lens specifically made for macro work. Those around 55mm are common and
will work, those around 100mm seem to be ideal, allowing you to work
farther (about 16" or 40cm) from the subject. Larger lenses, i.e. 200mm
macros, can give great results but are large and cumbersome for moving
subjects. 3) You can also do as Dave mentioned and use extension tubes with
telephoto lenses. You will need to talk with a knowledgeable photographer
to get a good combination of lens and tubes and optional attachment lenses,
but some telephotos can make great macro setups and thereby give you a
multipurpose lens. Any of these options will work. I am looking for a 105
macro lens for my Nikon as I think this will work the best for me. My only
other recommendation is that you can buy 55-65mm macro lenses used for as
much as the close up attachments and get much better results.

Flash setups can get advanced but I assure you that you can get very good
results with one flash, attached or not.

Also, you need to think about how you will get the photos into a digital
format. A quick easy method IMO is to shoot negatives and scan the prints.
You can get much better results shooting slides and either scanning them
(with a slide scanner) or getting them converted by photos shops to a
digital format such as Photo CD. You will obviously need to get them to
.jpg format eventually for the web. This can all be quite daunting, and in
the end you really need to be at least a good amateur photographer and know
how to use an image processing program such as Adobe Photoshop and maybe a
scanner on a PC, unless you are going to get someone else to do part of
this.

You obviously don't need to move your fish to photograph them, although it
can make your life a lot easier. I prefer to photograph them in my tank
with the plants and wood etc. for a more realistic rendering. I also turn
the room lights off, leave the tank light on, and shoot at an angle to the
glass to avoid the flash reflection.

Sorry for all the people that have read this kind of stuff a million times,
but we're all newbies at some point eh?

BTW, these are my thoughts as a semi-capable amateur photographer, not
those of my employer. :)

>Hello everybody!
>
>I've been searching around the web for photos on my favourites...the
>West Africa dwarfs. But not too many photos are to be found.
>
>So I thought about taking some photos myself and put on my homepage with
>a discription of the fish. But I've never taken photos of the aquariums
>or fish before, can anyone please give me some advice on how to take
>good pictures?
>
>Do I need a very advanced camera and lences, or can I use my ols
>all-in-one compact camera?? It's got no zoom, but can take photos
>without blitz.
>
>I'd be most greatful for some advice.
>
>Anja Ehmke ;-)
>Norway

- -Doug Brown
debrown@kodak.com