Fish pictures

[Reefland]

Mike,

What is your trick to taking those awesome fish pictures? I think I've got a decent handle on macro's and full tank shots, but for the life of me can't get a good fish picture. Seems like when I use manual adjustments I get nothing but a black picture?

[Poseidon]

Like these?





This one would have been cooler if the EYE was the focal point, instead of the fin:


Those are all taken @ f5.6. 1/60, and ISO 400. Nothing fancy as far as the settings go, just a steady hand, a still fish, (well mostly) and luck. I took loads of pictures the other night, and I would say 1 out of 3 or so turn out good, others are near misses like the tang picture.

Another thing that really helps is my camera has NO lag from the time I push the button, till the time it takes the picture. I have tried some cameras that you could use a sun dial to time the difference! I hate to say it, but it comes down to practice and luck! Of course the camera helps, but a good hammer does not make a good carpenter!

[Reefland]

Yeah just like those! That Tang picture is incredible!

I don't know but I think one problem I have is I have no idea how to manually adjust all of those things on our camera. It has settings on the dial for different modes but once I get out of A (auto focus) I get lost...I'll have to see if I can get those settings in my camera on manual mode and see where it leads me.

Thanks!

[Poseidon]

Thanks Scott. Remember there may be subtle differences in our lighting, so 1/60 and 5.6 may not be right for you. It should be close though, as long as you are @ ISO 400. At that point you may see more color noise though too, I have seen some point and shoots that are not really usable past ISO 200. Heck even Nikons Flagship DSLR has more noise then my 20D! An equivelant exposure at 200 ISO would be 1/60 and f4.0 or you could try 1/60 @ f2.8 and ISO 100. Any of those should be close, but the fish has to be relatively still. If you are going after a fast moving fish, you need better then 1/125 for a shutter speed, more like 1/250 really. I tried to get a good one of the trigger, but he is so dark in color it makes it hard for the camera to focus....so even stuff like that can affect your images.

[zhenya]

I tried to take a dissent shot of my yellow tang today...took about 10 shots to get one, half way reasonable. I think photography is much harder than reefing.


I gave up on the manual focus after trying about 8 shots or so and went with the auto focus instead.

[Reefland]

Here is a small one that didn't turn out too bad.

[Poseidon]

You are right Scott, that is a GOOD one! Great job!

[Reefland]

A very welcome comment coming from you Mike, thanks!

[zhenya]

Here's a fish shot I thought was hilarious.

and this Rubbitfish pic I thought came out OK as well.

This pix were taken with my Sigma 24-135mm, f2.8 lens.

Oh, almost forgot, check out where my new wrass likes to hang out... :eek3:

[Reefland]

Holy Smokes, looks like your Bristletooth is ready to take a chunk out of that clams mantle!

[zhenya]

Holy Smokes, looks like your Bristletooth is ready to take a chunk out of that clams mantle!

Nope, just algae on the glass.There is always some film on the glass by the clam's shell becouse I can't always reach there to clean.That clam is big and I don't want to move it all the time to clean the glass, only during water changes.

[Reefland]

The picture looks like he's getting ready to have Clam Chowder!

[charlie]

Gene, I love the pic with the wrasse hanging underneath the clam.
Just a question guys, how do you get the pics to show up with the Reefland.com logo? Being about as computer literate as my dog Willis, enquiring mids would like to know.

[Poseidon]

Excellent pics Gene, as usual! I agree with Scott, it looks like clam is on the menu!

[Poseidon]

Gene, I love the pic with the wrasse hanging underneath the clam.
Just a question guys, how do you get the pics to show up with the Reefland.com logo? Being about as computer literate as my dog Willis, enquiring mids would like to know.

Just load them to the Reefland Gallery! It automatically puts in the logo!

[charlie]

Just load them to the Reefland Gallery! It automatically puts in the logo!

That is kinda what I thought, do you just copy the location?
Mike, how's the move goin?

[charlie]

[Poseidon]

You got it Charlie!

The move is DONE, now I have to put everything AWAY! The tank is very cloudy right now, I had to move the sand in buckets, and that may have really screwed things up. PLUS I had to wait for more RO water, as I did not have enough here, or did not bring enough with me... I guess I thought my rock displaced more then it actually did!

[charlie]

Sometimes I even amaze myself
Where are you keeping your corals during this ordeal. I hope you don't go thru to much of a cycle when you get everything back together. Moving the sandbed like that is liable to cause a few headaches.

[zhenya]

Excellent pics Gene, as usual! I agree with Scott, it looks like clam is on the menu!

Thanks,Mike! No, the clam is in no danger from this tang at all. If you look closely you can see that he's about to scrape the glass. I;d post a larger resolution pic but it's rather large and will take some scrolling to view the image.

Charlie, love that blue throat trigger...always wanted one but always pass on them as my tank is waaay too small.
Here's one more for you of the wrasse hiding out under the shell, the looney fish...


Oh, Mike, almost forgot.
Were you set on kipping that DSB? I persoanlly think that moving it in buckets is a very hard to do without wacking half the life in it. I would suggest, if it is possible, to keep your corals in some containers for a bit longer. Just so you can make sure that you have no cycle after disturbing the sand. Just a thought.