SalvageDiver Loc: Huntington Beach CA

My brother and I spent a day at the Long Beach Aquarium trying our hand at photographing marine life in aquariums. I tried this many years ago, but failed miserably because of reflections and blurry images. Never tried again until this attempt. We decided to go out and see what we could learn.

The first thing we realized was the light levels inside the exhibits were much lower than we expected. To add insult to injury, tripods/monopods were prohibited as well as flash in most indoor exhibits.

To solve the reflections, I uses a big rubber lens hood (Ultimate lens hood) to block reflections. I chose this hood because it allowed me to press it up against the glass and easily move the camera direction. The lens hood solved most of my reflection problems. But I continued to have autofocus problems. I ended up just using manual focus for the rest of the day with only limited success.

I was shooting raw with a crop sensor camera, Sony a6000 with the 16-50mm kit lens, rather than my FF. After all, this was just a trial run so I thought my trail camera would suffice. Not true. I manually set aperture and shutter speed, but set iso to auto. Shutter speeds varied between 1/10s to 1/125s at a wide aperture. ISO’s were 3200 and greater, so noise and DR was a big problem for me. I did solve part of my focus problem by keeping the camera pointed perpendicular to the glass, Duh.. Next try is with my FF with a faster lens.

I was expecting to see a lot of chromatic aberration, but this wasn’t nearly as much of a problem as the low light levels and focusing.

I didn’t have very many keepers, but after PP, there were a few that I consider acceptable. I addressed the noise problem with Topaz Denoise. It took out enough noise to salvage a few images which I’m sharing here.

Any tips and/or suggestions with this kind of photography would be greatly appreciated. I’m hoping for a lot more keepers the next time around.

Mike

1/10s, f11, ISO 3200, 17(25)mm

(Download)

1/60s, f5.6, ISO 3200, 47(70)mm

(Download)

1/50s, f8, ISO 3200, 16(24)mm

(Download)

1/125s, f5.6, ISO 6400, 16(24)mm

(Download)

1/125s, f5.6, ISO 25600,, 36(54)mm

(Download)

1/60s, f5.6, ISO 25600, 16(24)mm

(Download)

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Faster shutter? Higher ISO?

Zooman 1

I think you have done well, higher ISO would help. Ask at the aquarium if there is any day or time set aside for photography when you could use a tripod. If they do not, suggest they consider it, even charge a special photographers fee. May not be, but will not hurt to ask.

Quixdraw Loc: x

All aquariums are different - I shot 60 with few discards, little or no PP - ISO 1000, spot metered, aperture, various speeds and apertures. 2 Nikon DSLRs one FX one DX, Nikon Zoom lenses. Was even able to get on camera flash to work through the glass for some lurking creatures (it was not prohibited). Did not need to press the camera against the glass, just remained aware of the plane of the glass and reflections. You certainly got some good shots as well. If I do it again, I'll bring polarizing filters.

Dr.Nikon Loc: Honolulu Hawaii

Mike .., cool aquarium shots ..,

UTMike Loc: South Jordan, UT

Very nice results, IMO!

SalvageDiver Loc: Huntington Beach CA

Hi Zooman,

Yes, they have a photography night coming up in Oct. Tripods and some flash will be allowed. But I was even having problems with stationary objects.

I want to be more proficient than I am now to take advantage of evening. Finding a technique to shoot in low light thru 2 inches of plexiglass capturing moving subjects that are reflective or partially transparent is going to take some work to improve my keeper rate. Right now its abysmal. Time to go to the internet and do more in-depth searching.

Thanks for your suggestion
Mike

SalvageDiver Loc: Huntington Beach CA

Thanks for your feedback. I think the light levels must be much lower in this facility. I couldn't get anywhere close to your exposure settings. The polarizer is a very good idea.

Thanks for sharing your feedback
Mike

PixelStan77 Loc: Vermont/Chicago

Mike, I am impressed with your results.

fergmark Loc: norwalk connecticut

Thats a tough reach. In very low light situations I have resorted to intensionally under exposing to reach a more desirable DOF and faster speed, relying on PP to restore the lighting. A slightly HDR look might be pretty nice.

gvarner Loc: Central Oregon Coast

I use my 35mm 1.8 on my D7200, Auto ISO, Aperture Mode set at 1.8, and try to keep the shutter speed faster than 1/50. Some scenes are just too dark but most can be accommodated. I also use BBF to better target my subject focus options. You’re stuck with noise issues. Do the best you can to edit for that.

Blair Shaw Jr Loc: Dunnellon,Florida

The coral formations and the Crab are really gorgeous images and need very little extras in my opinion.

chapjohn Loc: Tigard, Oregon

At aquariums ALWAYS use a circular polarizer filter. You are dealing with glass and water that cause reflections. Use auto ISO and auto WB as you have mixed lighting. Need to use a fast shutter speed of 200 or more.

Earnest Botello Loc: Hockley, Texas

Very good series.

SalvageDiver Loc: Huntington Beach CA

Thanks fergmark, now that's a good idea. I'll definitely try underexposing and adjust in PP next time. Noise is at least partially recoverable, unlike focus and/or DOF. Thanks

Mike