Aquarium photography
30 DigitalSLR PhotographyOctober 2019
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LOCATIONIt’sbesttotrytoarriveat thezooforits10amopening
andheadstraighttotheaquariumbeforecuriouschildrensmudge
theglassin fingerprints,photographingobstructsthepublicandfish
becomemoreskittishthanusualfromthenoise.Forthisreason,tryto
visitoutsideof weekendsandschoolholidayswhenit’squieter.Look
for tanks that were recently cleaned and are well illuminated.3
SET-UPHavinga tripodhandyis advantageousin lowlightbut
workinghandheldgiveyouflexibility.Theonlywaytoeliminate
reflectionsfromtheglassis tohavethelenstouchthetankbutthiscan
scratchsurfaces.A rubberlenshoodis perfecttoprotecttheglassand
yourlens.Alternatively,wrapblackcardaroundyourexistinglenshood
to block out reflections and have this touch the glass tank instead.5
DEPTH-OF-FIELDYou’llneeda wideaperturetomaximiselightfora
fastshutterspeed,butthewidertheaperture,theharderfocusing
willbe,soit’sa balancingact.Remembertousesubject-to-lens
distanceandthesubject’sangletohelpmaximisedepth-of-field.
You’llgetthebestexposuresthecloserthesubjectis totheglassorthe
water’s surface as that’s where they’ll receive the most ambient light.2
WHICHLENS?Assomespeciesaremerecentimetreslong,toget
imageswithanyimpactyou’llneeda macrolensorextensiontubes.
Trytofilltheframebyphotographingthemclosetotheglass,which
is whya close-focusinglensis essential.I alternatedbetweena Nikon
60mmand50mmwithtubes;thededicatedmacrolensprovedfar
moreflexiblegiventhechangeabledistanceof thesubjects.4
EXPOSURESetyourcameratomanualmode,a shutterspeedof at
least1/160sectofreezesubjectmovement,a wideapertureandan
ISOthatgivesyoua slightlyunderexposedshot.Aslightingin thetanks
cantrickmulti-zonemetering,deliberatelyunderexposingthescene
bya stoportwocanactuallyimproveresults– althoughyoumayneed
tolifttheexposurea littlein Rawprocessing.6
FOCUSINGBycomposingclosetotheglassyou’llfocuspastany
smudgesormarksbutyou’llstillneedtobewatchfulof reflections.
Selectyourcamera’sbestfocusingmodetotrackunpredictable
movementsasfishtendtochangedirectionquickly.FortheD850that
wasContinuous-ServoAF(AF-C)with3DTracking.Setcontinuous
shooting mode and try to track the fish’s movements for a sharp shot.