Taking photos in London Aquarium...advice please
Discussion
Hi all,
Am going there on Saturday, wondering whether to take the SLR or just the compact (may take it anyway for London Eye, Parliament, etc. if it looks to be a nice day).
So...is it possible to get decent photos in an aquarium? (Note: no tripod/monopod)
And if so what advice do people have about camera settings (and composition perhaps)?
Thanks,
Martin
Am going there on Saturday, wondering whether to take the SLR or just the compact (may take it anyway for London Eye, Parliament, etc. if it looks to be a nice day).
So...is it possible to get decent photos in an aquarium? (Note: no tripod/monopod)
And if so what advice do people have about camera settings (and composition perhaps)?
Thanks,
Martin
Take it or you might regret it ! I've had some cracking pics of things behind glass without the use of a tripod etc so it's do-able. Can't remember what settings off hand. Think there was a bit of trial and error if I remember right ! Hope you have a good day. My other half went not long ago and said it was really good. 
Gemm said:
UKBob said:
Are you not planning on lugging a tripod around, or do you not have one? Id say it was worth buying one especially, if you're going 
I missed out on dozens of potential shots last weekend by not taking mine.
I missed out on dozens of potential shots last weekend by not taking mine.No tripod allowed in the Aquarium though.
Then I recommed a monopod, or a gaggle of disability crutches twined together in a disguised unison of triangulation, or sorts. No one would dare confront a cripple. Wear a potato sack, no shoes or socks, and paint leperous scabs on your face for good measure.UKBob said:
Gemm said:
UKBob said:
Are you not planning on lugging a tripod around, or do you not have one? Id say it was worth buying one especially, if you're going I missed out on dozens of potential shots last weekend by not taking mine.
I missed out on dozens of potential shots last weekend by not taking mine.No tripod allowed in the Aquarium though.
Then I recommed a monopod, or a gaggle of disability crutches twined together in a disguised unison of triangulation, or sorts. No one would dare confront a cripple. Wear a potato sack, no shoes or socks, and paint leperous scabs on your face for good measure.Bloke on cash desk at Aquarium said:
Sorry Sir, no tripods. Scabby faced shoeless lepers dressed in an old King Edwards sack are fine, Twelve pounds please
I'm far from an expert, but I got a few reasonable shots at the aquarium at London Zoo a while back.
I'd take the SLR. In general, try to get the lens right up to the glass to reduce reflections and throw any marks on the glass as far out of focus as possible. A wide aperture will help this and also increase the available shutter speed. One of the biggest problems I found was that many fish actually move around quite a lot, so getting them in focus, and sharp without motion blur can be a problem.
One other idea to reduce reflections would be ideally to have a large square of black card with a hole in the middle for the lens to poke through. Although this might not be very practical, simply wearing a black top (perhaps with a black hood) might achieve some of the same effect - if you don't mind looking a bit like the grim reaper!! Another option is to use a lenshood and push it tight up against the glass to also reduce reflections.
One other idea might be to take a cloth/baby wipes to clean any greasy fingermarks from the glass before shooting if at all practical.
Finally, I didn't use flash, but if you are going to use it (if it's allowed) you will definitely need to prevent light from the flash reflecting off the glass. The lenshood option above would no doubt help. As would using the flash off-camera if you have the appropriate kit.
All the best, and hope you get some good shots - let's see some of the results!
Conrad.
I'd take the SLR. In general, try to get the lens right up to the glass to reduce reflections and throw any marks on the glass as far out of focus as possible. A wide aperture will help this and also increase the available shutter speed. One of the biggest problems I found was that many fish actually move around quite a lot, so getting them in focus, and sharp without motion blur can be a problem.
One other idea to reduce reflections would be ideally to have a large square of black card with a hole in the middle for the lens to poke through. Although this might not be very practical, simply wearing a black top (perhaps with a black hood) might achieve some of the same effect - if you don't mind looking a bit like the grim reaper!! Another option is to use a lenshood and push it tight up against the glass to also reduce reflections.
One other idea might be to take a cloth/baby wipes to clean any greasy fingermarks from the glass before shooting if at all practical.
Finally, I didn't use flash, but if you are going to use it (if it's allowed) you will definitely need to prevent light from the flash reflecting off the glass. The lenshood option above would no doubt help. As would using the flash off-camera if you have the appropriate kit.
All the best, and hope you get some good shots - let's see some of the results!
Conrad.
I've had more luck using manual focus & picking a spot and waiting for the fish to come to me.
Def have the camera(lens) up against the glass, I've used flash but not 100% happy with it like that. Prolly highish ISO and/or fast lens *would go for the 50mmf1.8 or like, unless you have IS, even then the fish usualy are moving fast.
Def have the camera(lens) up against the glass, I've used flash but not 100% happy with it like that. Prolly highish ISO and/or fast lens *would go for the 50mmf1.8 or like, unless you have IS, even then the fish usualy are moving fast.
Cheers all for the advice!
As I don't posess a tripod (or monopod), and I've only got the stock Canon 18-55 lens at the moment (decided I wanted an IS telefoto (for motorsport) first...but the damn thing's been on order for over 5 months
), sounds like rubber hood against the glass, flash on, widest apeture possible is the best solution. But I'll have a muck around, see what works.
Watch this space...
As I don't posess a tripod (or monopod), and I've only got the stock Canon 18-55 lens at the moment (decided I wanted an IS telefoto (for motorsport) first...but the damn thing's been on order for over 5 months
), sounds like rubber hood against the glass, flash on, widest apeture possible is the best solution. But I'll have a muck around, see what works. Watch this space...
beyond rational said:
would a polarising filter help in this situation?
And what about the white balance?
And what about the white balance?
A polarising filter is a big help but you lose a stop - but the biggest help is a lens cloth to clean the grubby kid's fingerprints off the glass and a big rubbery lens hood (as above).
If worried about white-balance, shoot RAW and set the white balance for each image when you get back home...
Bee_Jay said:
If worried about white-balance, shoot RAW and set the white balance for each image when you get back home...
Oh god no, far too complicated! And too memory-intensive.
Would rather shoot 3x the number of photos across a range of settings and pick the best later...but I guess that's the beginner in me.
Not at all complicated. You take one image instead of 3 (haven't 'bracketed' for a long time) and then in Adobe Lightroom (currently a free beta) you tweak it to your heart's content. You can then take those tweaks and apply them across your entire set if you want.
RAW/JPG has been discussed at great length here before and I don't want to get my can-opener out on that one though... ;-)
RAW/JPG has been discussed at great length here before and I don't want to get my can-opener out on that one though... ;-)
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