kumard Loc: Canada

I am interested in taking pictures of fishes in my tank with ME Super SlR cameral with flash. Any suggestions and Ideas please.

BHC Loc: Strawberry Valley, JF, USA

Start off with a rubber lens hood that you can place against the glass, thus minimizing reflection.

kumard Loc: Canada

Thanks Bill, I am planning to buy used Pentax K x model, whats your opinion.

BHC Loc: Strawberry Valley, JF, USA

There are several members who know a lot more about the subject than I do. Personally, I would experiment with off-camera flash, possibly more than one. Use the smallest aperture you can for increased depth of field. Tou should ask someone smarter than me about white balance. If shooting fron a tripod, turn off your image stabilizer. Use a remote or shutter delay to avoid vibration. If you have an artistic background on your tank, take it off and use a sky blus backing. Make sure your tank is clean and the water is crystal clear. Shoot at feeding time, but do not use flakes; use a fine powdered food just this one time (otherwise I never use powder; I use flakes or brine shrimp). Tetra used to sell a product that came in a powdered form, but it didn't sell well; you may still find it at an aquarium store, but not at pet shops. Finally, shoot with a circular polarizer and set it to minimize glare.

1eyedjack

The Pentax Kx is a very good choice..
Bill41 has very good advice..

SeniorPhotographer Loc: the Great Pacific Northwest

About a year ago I decided I wanted to go to the Point Defiance Zoo (Tacoma WA) and shoot the polar bears. I knew some kind of rubber doodah would be needed to get the lens up against the glass and cut out reflections. I went to a local drug store and bought a $3 toilet plunger. I used the "saw" blade on my multi-tool (finally found a use for a 2 inch saw blade) and cut the center out to fit my lens. I get funny looks from civilians when I pull it out of my bag but the little rascal works like a charm. For an example check this: http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-55553-1.html#914498

BboH Loc: s of 2/21, Ellicott City, MD

Wonder if a polarizer would be of help?

14kphotog Loc: Marietta, Ohio

You and Bill41 both missed the mark! Kumard stated he was using a Pentax ME Super, ( film camera).Few of the settings for camera are on that camera. "FILM"

:lol: :-( :oops: :oops:

DTCOP Loc: Camarillo, CA

I bought an old fashoned rubbber toilet plunger, cut the bottom to fit on my lens and hold the rubber against the glass. It eliminates any reflections.

1eyedjack

I use an off camera light source on an angle and camera also
next to glass,on an angle. I also did this with my film
cameras..

sczurs Loc: Pa, Fl.

DTCOP, Thanks for posting the plunger idea. I think I will try this at the aquarium.

Danilo Loc: Las Vegas

You may as well skip the polarizing filter as you are not dealing with polarized light...it will have no beneficial effect, UNLESS your aquarium is outdoors in the sun!

BHC Loc: Strawberry Valley, JF, USA

You are absolutely right; thanks for the reality check. I knew it was a film camera originally, but got carried away about white balance and image stabilization. I still stand behind most of my suggestions, even the one about using more than one off-camera flashes. Also a linear polarizer is sufficient.

ephraim Imperio

I use a rubber lens hood and place the lens against the glass. Using and SB-800 flash, i shoot at a 90-degree angle. The lens axis must be perpendicular to the plane of the glass.
Here are some examples using this technique.

nikon_jon Loc: Northeast Arkansas

Remember, light bounces like a basketball. If you bounce the ball straight down to the floor, it will bounce straight back. If you bounce it at a 45 degree angle, it will bounce off the floor at that same angle. This leads to one of the oldest rules of photography. The angle of reflectance equals the angle of incidence. Reflectance being the light that is reflected off your subject and incidence being the light striking your subject.

In the case of your aquarium, your strobe is the incident light. If you position yourself at a slight angle to the front of the aquarium, the reflected light that you do not want to show in your photo, that is the harsh glare from the strobe, will bounce off the glass away from being captured by the lens. At the same time, you will get plenty of light reflecting from your subject to acquire a well exposed image.

The same rule applies when shooting people with glasses on, or a mirror or window in the back ground, or if you want to shoot something inside a display window in a store at night. A slight angle will divert the strobe blast away from the lens and still give you plenty of light for good exposure.

This same rule is also what causes red eye. The light from the strobe is at the perfect angle to bounce off the back of the inside of the eye, thus showing up as red in the middle of the eye. When I did weddings back in the 70's, I always used a bracket to get the strobe well above the level of the lens on the camera. Once again, the angle would prevent getting red eye in the subjects of the photos.

Note, this principle applies whether you are using digital or film cameras, big cameras, dslr's, or a 'shirt pocket' camera.