Advice Needed: Aquarium Setting, Active Portraits

[LiveLaughLovePhotos]

Hello All,

A friend of mine is having her rehearsal dinner at an Aquarium and has asked that I shoot photos of the night and the guests for her. The dinner is at night and so the aquarium will be dimly light in the main hall b/c of large windows to the outside, and throughout the rest of the aquarium, so you can better see the tanks. This will not be a sit down dinner, but heavy hors d'oeuvres, so there will be a lot of walking around and mingling. I have a digital Rebel XTi. Does anyone have any advice on what Aperture and Exposure would work best. I'm feeling like it might be difficult to have the aquariums look nice in the background without the people coming out fuzzy, or have the people come out sharp without a large flash being reflected on the tanks. Any advice?

Should I bring my tripod and telephoto lens? I'm thinking maybe I can sit back from the crowd and zoom in on their moments. This might alow a longer exposure and better natural light from the tanks. Is that a silly idea??

I would appreciate any input you have to share!!

Thanks,
Lauren B.

[Free]

Do you have any fast lenses? Using the ambient would be good if possible, as you said you'll get a lot of reflections if you flash. I'd think a longer exposure will make people all blurry as they move. You'll need to open your aperture as much as possible and set your iso as far as you can take it without getting too grainy.

As for white balance, it would depend on your aquarium and the room/s you're in. If you're only around the one tank then you could use a white card or something at the start, but if you're going to be moving around different tanks that will have different Kalvin bulbs you'd have to adjust each time.

I'd be more inclined to shoot raw and just take a pic of something white under each different tank lights and then set the white balance in post production using presets for each tank.

Cheers
Free

[wulf]

When is this? Still to come (in which case, it would be great if more people have suggestions) or in the past (in which case, how did it turn out)?

Wulf

[CaptainNH]

My experience of shooting in aquaria has taught me one thing - that the fishy bits are always significantly brighter than the peopley bits

In terms of portraiture, it's like shooting directly into a setting sun, with the added problem that there's glass everywhere to play havoc with your flash.

You can get good shots using ambient light if you shoot parallel (or at a narrow angle) to the glass and your subjects are close to the glass. You'll need fast glass for this. If you put your subject between you and the glass you're going to end up with silhouettes.

You'll have to use flash to expose the people properly, so you really have two options: 1. Be really careful with your angles to avoid reflected flash (which means no gorgeous shots of people with fishies in the background) or 2. get your flash(es) off camera.

You'll get the best results with a couple of off-camera flashes if that's available to you, using snoots or flags to keep the flash off the glass if possible.

You've obviously worked out that this is a significant challenge - in fact one of the most challenging lighting problems I can think of.

That said, it's a great learning opportunity (for everyone at DPS too). I'd love to see the results.

Good luck.