Aquarium photos - which lens?

[SusanH1970]

I'm guessing my friends here know I'm away on vacation so have limited time here, BUT.........

Okay, so you can see on my signature what lenses I have. I have hoods for all, and I do know the importance of using them and going right up against the glass for less glare. I also have UV filters on all - will UV's be a help or hindrance?

Main question is - I am lugging children, a stroller, and a diaper bag, and I don't want to bring more photography equipment than my camera and one or two lenses w/ hoods/filters if needed. In the diaper bag I can keep a lens and hood, while the other is mounted. I can't bring a tripod. I'm thinking I need my 50mm for being a faster lens in low light with no flash....am I incorrect?

I want to be able to get fairly decent pictures of the creatures behind glass, both in huge aquariums where they swim freely (think beluga whales through underwater glass) and small (think Nemo, aka a clownfish in a tiny exhibit, maybe 12x18 inches).

Thank you all!

[candleman]

Originally Posted by SusanH1970

I'm guessing my friends here know I'm away on vacation so have limited time here, BUT.........

Okay, so you can see on my signature what lenses I have. I have hoods for all, and I do know the importance of using them and going right up against the glass for less glare. I also have UV filters on all - will UV's be a help or hindrance?

Main question is - I am lugging children, a stroller, and a diaper bag, and I don't want to bring more photography equipment than my camera and one or two lenses w/ hoods/filters if needed. In the diaper bag I can keep a lens and hood, while the other is mounted. I can't bring a tripod. I'm thinking I need my 50mm for being a faster lens in low light with no flash....am I incorrect?

I want to be able to get fairly decent pictures of the creatures behind glass, both in huge aquariums where they swim freely (think beluga whales through underwater glass) and small (think Nemo, aka a clownfish in a tiny exhibit, maybe 12x18 inches).

Thank you all!

START in aperture priority (A). and turn the flash off

then open the aperture to as wide as possible on your best lens (for me its the 50mm at f/1.8)
then set the exposure bias down quite allot (especially if its a dark aquarium.
i used -1.7 but -0.7 should ok.
this will do 2 things.
1. force a faster shutterspeed
2. capture the natural darkness, because aquariums normally are dark with harsh lights, its not an 18% grey environment.. you need to be smarter then the camera.

set a medium to high ISO and change to SPOT metering.

meter off a bright spot, usually the back of the fish where the light strikes it and then hit the AE-L button (Exposure lock) then re-compose, focus and shoot beofre the fish moves too far out of the light spot.

i got some excellent results like this..
heres a composite of some of the darker ones.
bear in mind there was one light, so it was hard to even see the fish coming until it got nearer the little spotlight.
and this fish was swimming in a large tank.. so it was fast

(i wanted it dark)
as you can see there was only a tiny amount of light.. but its possible.

dont go for long shutterspeeds,
basically because that indicates you're trying to bring the exposure up to what it would be in daylight, but in reality you want to capture the natural darkness.
if they do slightly underexpose on the mid-tines just bump up the contrast or adjust curves/levels in post production.

I hope that helps... this is basically standard for any concert or night time+moving object shot without using flash.

spot metering, negative exposure bias, aperture wide open, manual focus.. where we were it was too dark to get an autofocus.. in "lit" tanks AF is easier.

the UV filter wil calse little pinlight reflections when pointed toward small light sources.. but i still didnt take mine off.. i never do.

[fletch]

As with everything. If in doubt search flickr and check the EXIF. Depressingly someone has 'been there done' that for almost every photographic scenario!

Some good examples
http://www.flickr.com/photos/angelav/31494841/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mundilfari_gjk/2497402169/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/timrudder/2254217638/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/leftblu...ite/852958814/

[jprime84]

I imagine a polarizing filter would help cut glass glare.

Check my photostream, I recently took a few aquarium shots on a trip. You can see what I did (mostly lower aperture and crank up ISO)

[SusanH1970]

Thank you, everyone! I think I got it figured out.