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Aquarium photography
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Jun 9, 2018 10:57:55   #
ecobin Loc: Paoli, PA
 
I was at the NJ aquarium a few weeks ago and used my 50mm 1.8 with a rubber hood. The biggest issue was lights and signs inside the tanks. The lights caused weird reflections and were difficult to avoid. Signs showed up in reflections even when I was able to avoid them directly. For may shots I had to use very high iso even at 1.8. Good luck.

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Jun 9, 2018 11:00:05   #
mborn Loc: Massachusetts
 
PixelStan77 wrote:
Rubber lens hood to touch glass so you can block glass reflections. I would use your 40MM Macro. I do manual focus and need to pump up the iso to freeze the fish in the low light in Shedd Aquarium. No filters


Agree

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Jun 9, 2018 12:35:05   #
craig.j.tucker
 
I'm a Chicagoan who is big Shedd Aquarium fan, and I think you have received good and complete advice here

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Jun 9, 2018 12:54:02   #
photoman022 Loc: Manchester CT USA
 
PixelStan77 wrote:
Rubber lens hood to touch glass so you can block glass reflections. I would use your 40MM Macro. I do manual focus and need to pump up the iso to freeze the fish in the low light in Shedd Aquarium. No filters



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Jun 9, 2018 12:56:36   #
jayd Loc: Central Florida, East coast
 
Be aware that anybody using a flash can transmit the light through the thickness of the plexiglass laterally and could affect your shop

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Jun 9, 2018 14:09:31   #
amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA
 
Bison Bud wrote:
...also hate the lighting they use in our local aquarium as most everything is very blue no matter where I set the color temperature....


Set a custom white balance.

Use "Warm Cards" to set the custom WB, if you want a slightly warmer bias (https://www.vortexmediastore.com/pages/warmcards-white-balance-system)

Using one of the blue cards as your "target" for the custom WB will cause the camera to render warmer images. There are several different ones that can be used, to make for more or less warm bias. There are also cooling cards, neutral gray, pure white and special cards in the set for fluorescent lighting.

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Jun 9, 2018 16:25:56   #
Shoeless_Photographer Loc: Lexington
 
Bison Bud wrote:
My problem is generally having to crank up the ISO enough to deal with the low light levels and the moving subjects. I also hate the lighting they use in our local aquarium as most everything is very blue no matter where I set the color temperature. Most of this can be taken out in post, but when they use blue lights it's impossible to remove it all from my experience. While a polarizing filter may help with reflections in some situations, it would indeed make the low light situation even more difficult to deal with so I haven't even tried that option as yet, but don't expect much help there either. As others have stated, try to get right up on the glass if possible and I've found that shooting at a bit of an angle can help too, especially when I can't get right up on the glass. Focus can also be a difficult issue to deal with due to shooting through the glass, etc. I've used both manual and auto focus and either way have real problems getting a sharp image. This may also be somewhat due to the low light levels. Anyway, interesting photographic challenge here and one I get a bit better at each time I go to the aquarium. Good luck and good shooting to all.
My problem is generally having to crank up the ISO... (show quote)


How 'bout taking a piece of white paper or white matte board, then take a picture of that? Use it in post to set your white balance.

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Jun 9, 2018 16:48:17   #
kcooke Loc: Alabama
 
Bike guy wrote:
I have not been to an aquarium in years, no decades. Planning on visiting the Atlanta Aquarium tomorrow.
What suggestions can anyone give on capturing images? What do I need to be careful of?
Wide angle lens? 18-55mm
35mm lens?
I have a 40mm macro lens.
Polarizing filter?
I have two Nikons, 5300 and 7100. Will probably bring the 5300 since it is lighter in weight and the live view screen flips out.

Thanks


Take it with lens against the glass as recommended. This is one I took about 10 years ago against the glass with Nikon D80 and 18-55 VR kit lens. Shoot manual and adjust for exposure with a fast shutter speed. at some aquariums you can’t get up against the glass unfortunately.



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Jun 10, 2018 07:46:08   #
bmike101 Loc: Gainesville, Florida
 
if you are going to take action photos of the dolphins (or something like that) jumping be sure to put back-button focus.

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Jun 10, 2018 07:55:15   #
bmike101 Loc: Gainesville, Florida
 
also shoot raw so you can adjust white balance when you get home

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