I have been a fish hobbyist for over 25 years and
have enjoyed keeping everything from Cichlids to Killifish to
North American Natives. This hobby seems to offer enough variety
to suit most anyone’s taste. Once you get involved in the
aquarium fish hobby, it is only natural to start doing things
yourself. We breed and raise our fish, make our own frozen foods,
raise live foods, devise new filtering or water change systems
- and the list goes on and on. For me, one of the natural “out-branches”
of my fish hobby has been photography. I enjoy nature photography
anyway and, like most people, appreciate a beautiful picture (whether
artwork or photography).
There is no shortage of good reasons to photograph
your fish. Besides being nice to look at, a good fish photograph
can make it easier to study your fish (an immobile close up photo
is much easier to examine than a fish that won’t stop swimming),
can aid in species identification, allows you to share your fish
with others and, believe it or not, can be fun to create.
While I have not experimented much with digital
photography, there are some differences between digital cameras
and film cameras that are important to mention. This comparison
is probably easiest to make by listing the advantages and disadvantages
of each camera type.
Of course there are probably
other advantages and disadvantages to each type of camera,
depending on what model you choose and how much you are willing
to spend. The bottom line is, use what works best for you and
your needs. In either case, you will want a camera that can
focus close and will work with an off-camera flash (see below).
Because my experience has been with an SLR film camera, this
article is “geared” toward that type of camera.
However, many of the considerations and methods discussed will
hold true for both types of camera.
THE CAMERA
(Click
on Image to enlarge)
As discussed above, I use a 35 mm Single Lens
Reflex (SLR) camera. Simply put, this is a camera that allows
you to view the image directly through the lens (with the aid
of internal mirrors), as opposed to through an offset viewfinder
like with the common point-and-shoot camera. SLR cameras come
in many brands and varieties, most of which will enable you
to photograph your fish. The camera body really just holds and
moves the film - a proper/quality lens is more critical to getting
a good photograph. One feature you should look for in a camera
is a manual control option or capability (full automatic often
does not work with fish photography).
An SLR camera will typically accept a variety
of lenses (which are attached to the front of the camera), ranging
from the huge telephoto lenses for zooming in on a distant subject
to the fisheye lenses that enable an extra wide view. For our
use in photographing our fishes, we need a lens with close up,
or macro, capability. A lens that produces a 1:1, or life size,
image is best. While macro lenses are available in everything
from 50mm to 300mm, a lens of around 100 mm is the most versatile
- allowing a reasonable distance from the subject, without being
too heavy and cumbersome.
FILM
With a 35mm SLR camera, you have the choice of
using print film or slide film. As you may have guessed, each
has its advantages and disadvantages.SLIDE FILM: With slide
film, you get a slide that is essentially ready to project on
a screen (great for presentations or for seeing a very large
version of your photo). Also, if you plan to publish your photo
in a book or magazine, slides are typically preferred over prints.
Slides can also be scanned on a flat-bed scanner, but only with
a special adapter. In my opinion, the main advantage to using
slides is that you get truer results (you get what you shoot)
- in other words, the lab typically doesn’t “play”
with the negative to adjust the exposure, like they often do
with print film.
PRINT FILM: Prints are typically easier to scan
or enlarge. You can getprints developed in most any photo lab,
while you will need to find a specialty lab to develop your
slide film. Prints are also easily viewed with friends and can
be placed in an album or framed.
FLASH
An off-camera flash is essential when photographing
a subject through glass. Using a flash on the camera and shooting
directly into the glass would result in a strong reflection
back into the camera lens, resulting in a useless photo. You
will probably want to use a cord and bracket system to arrange
your off-camera flash. The flash should be offset, slightly
away from the camera and at a minimum of a 45 degree angle from
the plane of the aquarium glass.
Slave Flash (Click
on Image to enlarge)
A second, fill flash is recommended, and serves
a few different functions. First, the second flash, typically
placed over the subject or opposite from the main flash (again,
at greater than a 45 degree angle from the front glass), will
fill in the shadows that are often created when a single flash
is used. This results in a less flat and more 3-dimensional
image. Second, the additional light obtained when using a second
flash will allow you to shoot at a smaller aperture, thereby
potentially improving the focus of your shot (see below). A
fill flash can consist of a slave or strobe flash, which works
by reacting to the light emitted from the first/primary flash.
Slave flashes can be larger plug in models or smaller and battery
powered. Again, choose one that works best for you and your
setup.
Click on Image to enlarge
This Photo is an example
of a single flash photo. Not bad, but a few problems:
1) the single flash leaves a shadow behind/below the fish;
2) single flash gives a "flat" image - less
3-D than with 2 or more flashes; 3) Flash is a bit off-angle
in this shot resulting in uneven lighting of subject &
background; 4) The background of the tank is too light
- should have been darker/black. The Notho photo at the
top of the article was taken with 2 flashes and you can
probably see the improvement. |
THE PHOTO TANK
Whether you are photographing your fish in an
existing community tank or if you’re going to use a photo
tank set up specifically for photographing your fish, you will
want to take some preliminary steps to improve your results.
First, make sure the front of the tank glass is free of scratches
and smudges. New tanks are really best for this purpose. Use
lint-free tissue/cloth or newspaper with vinegar to clean the
outside glass. Clean the inside glass with a small (sterile)
sponge or abrasion-free scrubbie. Remove all bubbles from the
inside glass!
Ideally, the photo tank should have two chambers,
front and rear. The rear chamber can be “aquascaped”
and serves as the background for your photos. The front chamber
holds the subject and should have little to no aquascaping.
The front chamber is typically much narrower in order to limit
the activity of the subject and keep it within a relatively
narrow focal plane. This “chambered” tank setup
solves the problem of chasing your fish all over the community
tank, or waiting forever for the fish to come near the front
glass for you to get a good photo. Obviously, if you had to
do too much photography in the community tank (especially a
large one) you wouldn’t be very productive, but you would
be very tired.
Tank Divider 1(Click
on Image to enlarge)
Tank Divider 2(Click
on Image to enlarge)
Setting up a photo tank allows you to have better
control over your conditions and will result in better images.
If you do plan to photograph in a larger community tank or existing
aquarium, remember that you will get a different exposure depending
on how far from the front glass (and camera) the subject is.
For example, if you photograph the fish when it is near the
front glass, your exposure may be just fine. However, if you
photograph the fish mid-way or near the back of the tank, your
photo may be underexposed if you don’t compensate for
the increased distance. This is because the intensity of the
light emitted by the flash diminishes rapidly with distance,
especially through water.
The tank size should be according to the size
of your subject. The smaller the better. Obviously, if you
are shooting larger fish such as big cichlids, you would want
to use a tank of 10 gallons or more. For smaller aquarium
fish (i.e., killies, livebearers, dwarf cichlids, etc.) a
2 gallon glass aquarium is ideal.
A tank cover is optional, but can be an advantage.
If you use a cover, it should allow a light source on the
subject, but prevent lighting you or the camera. The cover
should be removable and should allow addition of a second
flash, if desired. The light placed on top of the tank actually
does nothing for the exposure, since you will be using flash,
but is necessary to allow you to see and focus on your subject,
especially if the room is dark.
Complete Set-Up
(Click on Image to enlarge)
Make sure the tank water is extra clean! Use
distilled or bottled water if necessary, especially for a
small photo tank. Water can be filtered, which is easily done
with a larger tank, but make sure the filter is turned off
well before your photography session. This will allow the
water to settle. Any debris or small bubbles in the tank or
on the glass will be painfully obvious in your photos.
As far as substrate, I prefer to use a natural
gravel - nothing bright that could detract from the subject.
Aquascape in the background using live plants (or plastic
if you must), stones, shells, etc. Keep in mind that the background
will be somewhat out of focus and should not be too busy or
distracting. Clean all components well before use. The backside
of the tank glass can be painted (I prefer flat black) or
a paper/film background can be used.
Remember, preparation and attention to detail
when setting up is very important and can be the difference
between good and poor photos.
NOTES
While I will not go into all of the basics of
photography - which can be found in most any elementary photography
book - it may be helpful to point out a few terms. F-stop
is the term used for the Aperture setting of your camera.
The Aperture determines how much light enters the camera to
expose the film. For example, a smaller F-stop number (aperture)
will allow more light through the lens than a larger F-stop
number setting. This is an inverse relationship (fraction).
As an example, F-8 represents a wider aperture opening than
F-16 (because 1/8 is larger than 1/16).
Shutter speed is inconsequential for your image
exposure when using flash. A standard shutter speed of 1/125
second will work fine for this type of photography. Too much
slower could result in a blurred image from movement of the
subject. However, if you are going to be photographing your
fish outdoors (i.e., in a field photo tank), using natural
light instead of flash, the shutter speed would come back
into play.
When photographing outdoors, keep in mind the
correlation between aperture and shutter speed demonstrated
below:
-
F-Stop
Shutter Speed Result
-
F-8
1/125 sec. Narrow Focal Plane
-
F-16
1/60 sec. Blurred Subject
Both of the above settings would yield the same exposure, as would
F-11 at 1/90 sec. As a rule, if you are using 100 speed film and
it is bright and sunny, you should be able to shoot at F-16 @
1/125 sec. (this is the Sunny 16 rule of photography).
(Click on Image to enlarge)
METHODS
Once you have your basic camera equipment and
setup, the first thing you should do is shoot a “test”
roll of film. This will allow you to gauge your camera, film
and setup. Using a single subject (presumably a fish), take
a series of shots at different camera settings, taking careful
notes for each shot taken. Record your F-stop (aperture), flash
setting, flash angle and # of flashes used for each photograph.
It is best to shoot in a dark room, or at least
shade your shooting area from potential reflections. Draw the
shades, turn off lights behind you and wear dark clothing. You
may also want to create your own background (to be placed behind
you) to eliminate unwanted reflections.
The following are some general tips and guidelines for aquarium
fish photography:
-
Take multiple
shots of the same subject to insure that you get a usable
photo. Rarely will you score a great shot with one photograph.
-
Use a clean
net to transfer your fish in and out of the tank.
-
Be patient,
you may need to let the subject settle in (if you are using
a specific “photo tank”) for a while before
you start photographing.
-
Keep the
subject parallel to the focal plane/camera if possible.
-
If possible,
fill the frame with the subject (get close).
-
Focus on
the eye or head of the subject.
-
Shoot the
subject when it is near the center of the tank - avoid the
sides and corners.
-
Remember
that a dark colored fish will require more exposure, and
a very light or shiny fish will require less exposure.
-
Stay comfortable
- sit or elevate the photo tank to suit you.
-
Don’t
forget to shoot the female (It is easy to want to shoot
only the “pretty” male).
-
Have fun!
Miscelaneous Equipment
If you have been considering
trying to photograph your fish, but didn’t know where
to start, or if you have taken fish photos, but weren’t
satisfied with the results, I hope you have found some information
you can use in this article. Remember, you will probably come
up with your own “custom“ set up and methods, based
on your experience and preferences. Talk to others about their
methods, read up on the subject and create your own style. With
a little practice and patience, you'll
be taking great photos before you know it.
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