Aquarium Photography

[In The Moment]

So, over the weekend I went to the Baltimore Aquarium. I posted several pictures over on the Animal SYS section from the trip. I'm new to photography and learning everyday but I found the aquarium particularly challenging. Smudging on the glass, murky water in some tanks, people pushing and shoving, dark lighting, and the animals jetting around proved to be a bit difficult. I plan on going back soon and thought that I would come here and see if anyone had any tips for taking pictures in that sort of setting? Any certain settings on my camera that would be suggested? I left my camera on program mode the entire time we were there.

Here's one of the pictures that I took while there. Any kind of critique on this is more than welcome. Hoping to capture some really great shots the next time.

Camera: Nikon D5000
F-stop: f/4.2
Exposure time: 1/80 sec
ISO: 3200
Flash Mode: No flash
Focal Length: 35mm

[Laurenbiz]

An aquarium would be a fun place to take photos! The smudge on the glass and people walking around may be annoying, but oh well.

I can very easily see your high ISO in this photo with so much grain and noise.

I really like to use P mode on my camera since it shoots a picture quickly without flash. Sometimes, if I don't like the results in P mode, I review the photo and look at how it set my aperture and exposure, and then I flip over to M, and use the settings I want. Here, since P mode gave you 1/80 exposure, I may try TV or M mode and try a 1/60 exposure (still with f/4.2) to brighten it up. And I would lower the ISO to remove some of that grain.

Other than that, a tripod may work, or some sort of external flash would be helpful. I don't know if the fish would like flash, though! :-D

[Kanin]

I much agree with Laurenbiz's suggestions. I would also consider composing the picture so that there is some space in front of the fish next time.

[Kari.Wolfe]

Ok, I rather like the image I've tried taking pictures at the Aquarium in Denver and it's not an easy thing to do. I don't think flash would work all too well because most of the fish are behind a thick pane of glass--you're apt to catch the flash reflected in your picture. Or at least I have.

While I really like the image--my question is what do you intend to do with it? I think once you determine what your intentions are for your image, you can better compose your shots. Is this a cropped shot? Can you recrop with some background to give us more of a feel for where the fish is and what it's doing?

Just my two cents--hey, I'm quite new to this, so take what you want

[In The Moment]

Lauren- The aquarium was definitely a fun place to go with the camera! Difficult but lots of fun for sure. First off I just want to say thank you. You've responded to a couple of my other posts and you are always so helpful. I appreciate it. Great idea to put the camera in P mode and see what I don't like about the picture and then use specific settings on M mode from there. I'm gonna give that a try next time. I think the hard part is that when Iooking at the picture on my camera's screen it looks much more clear and then when I upload the pictures onto the computer that's when I start to see the noise and other issues. I think I just need to look more closely next time.

One more question for you if you happen to see this again: Why is it that some pictures with a high ISO produce so much grain while others with the same ISO don't produce nearly as much grain. For example- I took this picture the same day. Exif data below shows the same ISO but to me this jellyfish picture looks a lot less grainy. Thanks again for all of your help!

Camera: Nikon D5000
F-stop: f/5.6
Exposure time: 1/60 sec
ISO: 3200
Focal Length: 55mm
Flash Mode: No flash

[In The Moment]

Kanin- Thank you for you response I think I liked the up-close and personal one because you can really see the details on the fish. Lionfish are so pretty! But I do see what you mean about leaving more room in front of the fish next time

Kari- Haha nope, not easy. And nope on the flash too. Believe it or not this picture isn't cropped. It was just a really tight shot. Here's another picture I took that has more space (it's still grainy though). Also, no worries, I'm new to this too. I really appreciate your feedback.