bmxican Posted May 7, 2008 Report Share Posted May 7, 2008 hey there, Im always getting asked how do i take good fish pics, so i thought id put together a thread to help some of you out a little bit. Some people might say that its cos i got a good camera, but to take a good photo you need to know how to use your cameras different functions effectively. it takes alot of practice to get things right, and lots of trial and error... basically if you read through your cameras manual and find out how to use it properly then any camera can take decent pics. these are a few of the basic things i do everytime i take pics 1. Make sure your glass is spotless both inside and out before you even start. 2. If your using a flash hold your camera on a slight angle so the flash doesnt bounce off the glass. 3. Turn off all the lights in the room except the tank light so you dont get any reflections on the glass. 4. If your using a compact camera try using the macro setting and play around with other settings to see what you get. (eg. my canon compact takes better fish pics in sports mode than with macro...) 5. Use a fast shutter speed to freeze the action. we all know fish dont like to stay still while you take their photo and usually the result is a blurry pic.. 6. Composition. Get down low so your level with the fish. Make sure before you press the button that there are no distractions in the background and remember that the flash will bounce off the glass at the back of the tank and usually destroys the pic 7. If you have a tripod its definately worth using if not try leaning against something firm so you dont get any camera shake. 8. Never trust the auto mode on your camera for fish pics or they will always turn out like crap, like ive said before play with the settings and learn to use the camera properly. practice makes perfect. 9. Take lots of pics. You will learn alot from your mistakes and it wont be long before your snappin off some rippers 10. FOCUS the most important thing is to get your fish in focus. The eye is the most important part. You can have everything set up perfectly but if the fish isnt in focus the photo will be crap. Good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
japes Posted May 7, 2008 Report Share Posted May 7, 2008 I'd like to add to be patient and have plenty of free memory. I shoot in RAW, and at any given position or composition point that my fish are in, if time permits, I'll take upwards of 5 shots of them to make sure that at least 1 is perfectly focused. So, I sit there watching through the viewfinder, glancing over the camera every few seconds, always keeping it in focus with the correct shutter speed, and as soon as they stop, or do something I like, 3-5 photos, one after the other straight away. I used to try and get like the 1 timed perfect photo but it was hard to pull off, and was disappointing to blow it up on the PC and find it's just slightly out of focus and unusable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbunamad Posted May 7, 2008 Report Share Posted May 7, 2008 Thanks Mick and japes very helpfull info. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gingerbeer Posted May 7, 2008 Report Share Posted May 7, 2008 I am not a great photographer - but take pictures of big fish first. They move slower and are easier to focus on. I do OK with those - unfortunatly I like dwarf cichlids How about tips for taking piccies of small fish guys? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loachlover Posted May 8, 2008 Report Share Posted May 8, 2008 Check-out Aquatic-Photography.com Cheers Graeme. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmxican Posted May 11, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 11, 2008 yeah Aquatic-Photography.com is a good site if you really want to get into fish photography. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
