Taking Photos?

im curious on what peoples personal experienceon takins pictures of their tanks are, mine always turn out in poor quality......flash on or off doesnt seem to matter, just always blurry and color is off........any tips?

 

Tri-pod or stable position, like on a chair back.

Play with the ISO, will reduce grainy appearance and blurring.

Try using Macro setting for anything under 11 inches away.

There is a thread specifically dealing with photography for tanks. I will look and see if I can find it.

 

Turn the room lights off

I get better pics with the flash off 99% of the time, YMMV

Rest elbows on knees to steady hands

Play with the settings on the camera

Take tons of pics

Edit: Here is an article that has some tips. Melevsreef.com Photo Tips

 

I am, by no means, even a novice photographer (aquarium included) but there are some handy tips at: aquarium photography tips

Here are a few tips from my own experience...

• Make sure your glass is clean (inside and out)
• Fool around with your room's lighting
• Try different settings (my Canon S90 even has an aquarium setting)

It's great to take pics and share them too, if you plan to do it all digitally, I'd suggest picking up the program GIMP at: GIMP - The GNU Image Manipulation Program This is really indispensable, cheap (as in free) and once you're familiar with the program you can do some pretty amazing things. But even as a beginner you can retouch those photos you take and change the brightness/contrast and other things to make it ROCK!

Best of luck to you, and I look forward to seeing your pictures.;D

Edit: The posts above this have great info, I have never used my flash to take pictures of my aquarium, I found it's usually more trouble than it's worth. I have stolen the floor lamp from another room set it up in various spots too for light. Corailline's suggestion on the macro is a very handy tip and one that is often over looked.

 

You will want to set your flash to rear sync to pick up ambient light. Then, depending on what camera you use, set it to M or manual. Set it to 1/20-1/30 exposure and the lowest f stop you can go. If your tank has a 20K look set you white balance to tungsten. Use flash only as a last resort as on-camera flashes are WAAAY to bright and focused and will give you glare on the tank. If you have to, shoot the flash through a peice of milk plastic jug.

 

*Turn off room lights, leave tank lights on.

*For whole tank shots, stand in front of tank, Flash off.

*You will get 'warmer' shots with flash off, but a steady hand, and a slow fish are required. It's next to impossible to get a shot of my Flame angel because he's always on the move...

*For these quick fish, USE FLASH setting, as it compensates with a quicker shutter speed. However, when using flash, you must set your vantage point (the camera) at an angle to the glass (30-55 degress) to offset the flash bouncing back at you and having glare in the shot.

*For better more vivid coloration of fish, hold small flashlight above and to the right or left with one arm shining on target fish.

*Keep the lens at least an inch or so away from the glass, and don't zoom in more than 1.5-2x. This helps the camera take a clearer picture free of focus issues through glass and water... IE it helps keeps a better focus on your subject.

*Take Multiple Shots. Pick your target fish, and follow him, taking pics for a good 5 minutes. Hopefully you'll get 1 or 2 (maybe 3 or 4) great shots.

MOST IMPORTANT THING IS...

*Patience. I have to sit in front of my tank for a good 30 minutes with the camera out before the fish become 'comfortable' enough to indulge in their normal but interesting behaviors.


Below are some of my favorite shots I've taken, not a one with any fancy DSLR, just a regular 200 buck camera...













And my freshwater tanks over the years... Better shots with all that green compositionally IMO

 

What camera are you using? If it's a separate lens, what lens are you using?

 

I would recoommend having your camera on a tripod with a ballhead 5ft away from the tank and use a 70-300mm to get in close so fish won't be frightened by your camera up close and will swim around freely. The ballhead helps you track fast moving fish with ease. This is what I did for the picture below of this very active flagfin angel.

 

All mine I posted were taken with a simple Sony Cybershot.

 

If you are using a DSLR put it into manual with no flash. Also use macro mode! Good luck!
All posts above also look like great pieces of advice!