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need help with aquariam shoting
Dec 7, 2016 00:18:29   #
bull drink water Loc: pontiac mi.
 
whole shooting at our new aquariam I ran into two problems , color balance and exposure. I was shooting with a Sony a-550/ a 16-80mm f3.5-f4.5.
1 with the camera set to auto WB the color was all over the place.
2 even with the iso set to 3200 most of the shots were between 1/40 sec- 1/80 sec. way too slow for the lens speed.

the next time out I plan to take a Sony a-77 with a 28-70mm f2.8 and a 50mm f1.7. i'm enclosing a few samples from yesterday. ANY suggestions are welcome.









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Dec 7, 2016 00:35:51   #
Rongnongno Loc: FL
 
One click and the WB is solved... I can post it if you want.

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Dec 7, 2016 01:15:11   #
MtnMan Loc: ID
 
bull drink water wrote:
whole shooting at our new aquariam I ran into two problems , color balance and exposure. I was shooting with a Sony a-550/ a 16-80mm f3.5-f4.5.
1 with the camera set to auto WB the color was all over the place.
2 even with the iso set to 3200 most of the shots were between 1/40 sec- 1/80 sec. way too slow for the lens speed.

the next time out I plan to take a Sony a-77 with a 28-70mm f2.8 and a 50mm f1.7. i'm enclosing a few samples from yesterday. ANY suggestions are welcome.


Shoot in RAW so you can more easily fix white balance later. It will also give you more dynamic range.

Faster lens will help but then you'll have DOF challenge. You might need a camera better able to handle the high ISO.

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Dec 7, 2016 08:32:06   #
Armadillo Loc: Ventura, CA
 
bull drink water wrote:
whole shooting at our new aquariam I ran into two problems , color balance and exposure. I was shooting with a Sony a-550/ a 16-80mm f3.5-f4.5.
1 with the camera set to auto WB the color was all over the place.
2 even with the iso set to 3200 most of the shots were between 1/40 sec- 1/80 sec. way too slow for the lens speed.

the next time out I plan to take a Sony a-77 with a 28-70mm f2.8 and a 50mm f1.7. i'm enclosing a few samples from yesterday. ANY suggestions are welcome.


Place camera on tripod, rubber lens hood on lens, then place lens against the glass so no light reflections can enter the lens.
Use external flash tethered with a sync cord, and place above camera at first, bounce off white ceiling, then move to different angles to the fish, but avoid casting a shadow from the camera. Experiment with various angles and portable white bounce card.
Set white balance to flash.
Set camera to capture RAW.
Set camera/flash to ETTL.
Set capture mode to Program.
Adjust shutter speed to sync with flash (1/200sec.)



Michael G

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Dec 8, 2016 03:08:37   #
bull drink water Loc: pontiac mi.
 
Armadillo wrote:
Place camera on tripod, rubber lens hood on lens, then place lens against the glass so no light reflections can enter the lens.
Use external flash tethered with a sync cord, and place above camera at first, bounce off white ceiling, then move to different angles to the fish, but avoid casting a shadow from the camera. Experiment with various angles and portable white bounce card.
Set white balance to flash.
Set camera to capture RAW.
Set camera/flash to ETTL.
Set capture mode to Program.
Adjust shutter speed to sync with flash (1/200sec.)



Michael G
Place camera on tripod, rubber lens hood on lens, ... (show quote)


nice ideas, but , flash's not allowed. the light startles and can harm the sea life. the flash if allowed, would solve color issues at some of tfe exibits.

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Dec 8, 2016 12:17:13   #
Bultaco Loc: Aiken, SC
 
I've had great success using a 50mm 1.4 with a rubber lens held against the glass.

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Dec 8, 2016 12:27:39   #
chapjohn Loc: Tigard, Oregon
 
I shoot at aquariums a lot. My basic settings are f5.6, auto ISO, auto WB, shutter speed 1/250, 35mm lens, flash gun at 1/16 intensity at 45-60 degree tilt up with soft box. It is essential that you use a circular polarizing filter on your lens.

Aquariums have mixed lighitng at best and are they did not consider the photographer when building things. You need to deal with moving water, moving fish, and glass. However, most all aquariums do not allow flash at the octopus tanks. The above settings work 90% of the time without flash. I use a rubber lens hood too, but it has limited use next to the glass, but can be helpful. Tilting the falsh gun up removes the big white spot out of the view of the lens. You don't need to add a lot of light to the scene, but a little helps and will help stop motion. Hand hold your camera as the tanks are at different levels and over open water tanks you have freedom of moving your camera easily to where needed. Don't waste all your time adjusting a trippod/monopod.

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Dec 8, 2016 12:31:28   #
Armadillo Loc: Ventura, CA
 
bull drink water wrote:
nice ideas, but , flash's not allowed. the light startles and can harm the sea life. the flash if allowed, would solve color issues at some of tfe exibits.


You may have a point about the flash, but then the Sun does not seem to have an adverse effect on fish. The flash may in fact startle the fish, but the flash and exposure are so fast the startled jump is after the exposure has been captured.
I don't know about the flash harming the sea life, we have lots of folks in agricultural museums who have the idea a camera flash will degrade the painted surface of a tractor.

Using the fore mentioned camera set-up you can forego the flash with a set of LED studio lamps, or LEDs attached to the hot-shoe of the camera, these are constant on and consume very little battery energy. (Look at TV news live camera set-ups to see the array of LED lamps).

Michael G

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Jan 7, 2017 12:44:12   #
JeffDavidson Loc: Originally Detroit Now Los Angeles
 
Use a flash that is off camera and a rubber lens hood so that you can go right up to the glass without fear of scratching it and still protect your lens.

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Jan 13, 2017 10:25:07   #
boncrayon
 
Apparently the blue reflective light in the background is preventing a life-like color. I'd use a soft yellow gel on on both sides of the aquarium to bring warm life-like glow to the subject.

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