High ISO Aquarium Shots (Large!)

[Scottes]

My niece was down for the weekend, and she wanted to visit the aquarium. She loves penguins and turtles so I *had* to bring the camera. (Twist my arm.)

These are all pretty high ISO, no flash, handheld with the 70-200 (not IS, grrr). They didn't come out too bad at all, though some needed decent noise removal and cloning to remove dirt from the glass. Almost all of these would be very good printed 8x12.

ISO 800, 1/60, f/2.8, 200mm
"What are *you* lookin' at??"
"Nothing much."
http://www.itsanadventure.com/postimages/Penguins_54700.jpg

ISO 800, 1/100, f/2.8, 90mm
He's waving to IanD.
"Hi Ian!"
http://www.itsanadventure.com/postimages/Penguins_54726.jpg

ISO 400, 1/200, f/3.2, 120mm
Yellow Tang, little bad-ass of the tank.
"Are *you* lookin' at *me* ??"
http://www.itsanadventure.com/postimages/YellowTang_54742.jpg

ISO 3200, 1/80, f/3.2, 70mm
Lion Fish, which my wife loves.
I'm fairly astounded by this one. ISO 3200, so it took a bit of work, but this would look great printed 8x12.
http://www.itsanadventure.com/postimages/LionFish_54748.jpg


ISO 800, 1/50, f/1.8, 50mm (Nifty Fifty)
Sea Turtle. Even the shark (upper right) doesn't mess with him.
This shot was seriously rescued. But this was *the* shot my niece wanted, so I went through a bit of work.
http://www.itsanadventure.com/postimages/SeaTurtle_54773.jpg

ISO 400, 1/125, f/2.8, 135mm
Last penguin.
http://www.itsanadventure.com/postimages/Penguin_54800.jpg

[gtg]

First of all, these shots look too silky to believe that it is taken with ISO 800. Kudos to ur post processing ability. U really have a great deal of patience sitting before the monitor, i guess... Obviously, i agree that it is of prime importance for a digital photographer to gain success...

Every shot is great in its own way... Very beautiful shots...

I am not very happy with myself to say that i somehow find the 5th shot not so crisp as the other ones. But may be it is just me...

One photo that i would like to mention out of the lot is the yellow fish.... this is my fav.

keep posting more like this scottes

[boomer1959]

Hand held, through glass, WOW :shock: Awsome shots for those conditions Scott :D

[Scottes]

First of all, these shots look too silky to believe that it is taken with ISO 800. Kudos to ur post processing ability.

ISO for each is listed, and yes I did spend some time on them. :-)

Check out my tutorial on masking for noise reduction (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=48929). Once you have it down it's not so bad. I spent 1:15 on 13 images, so less than 6 minutes each. That's not too much time, eh? Granted, that's about 3 times more than I usually spend on an image.

The 5th shot was a killer. Dirty glass, quite dark - the contrast was truly horrible. The original image covers about 2 stops.

[gtg]

ISO for each is listed, and yes I did spend some time on them. Only now i noticed that there is a ISo3200 shot also which looks splendid...

Check out my tutorial on masking for noise reduction. Once you have it down it's not so bad.I will definitely read ur tutorial coz i really want to learn about noise reduction. Please dont be annoyed if i come back with questions/doubts. :(

The 5th shot was a killer. Dirty glass, quite dark - the contrast was truly horrible. a shot like this in these conditions is really spectacular.

[stoneylonesome]

WOW! those are all great, ISO 3200 unbelievable.. Nice job. :D :D

[eric1]

i'm surprised at the quality of that 3200 shot. thats impressive. you know penguins are practically chickens.

[tommykjensen]

As usual awesome photos. Especially the one of the Lion fish. Well the fish itself is ugly :lol: but the photo excellent captured and processed. And at ISO 3200. :D :D

[KartGirlsMom]

Wow, I'm impressed. I took a bunch of shots at the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago and none of them turned out. Awesome job!

[HJMinard]

Wow, nice job Scottes. I particularly like 3&4 (the two fish).
I need to check out your tutorial ... thanks for that.

[drisley]

:lol:
I love #2! :lol:
It almost looks 3D

[MilesG]

i love #5

[MegaTrixel]

Yeah these are great.

I've tried aquarium shots with my film camera and they always looked like junk (well, that's because they were junk).

Also, thanks for posting the link to your noise reduction tutorial.

[LazyPhotographer]

Very cool ... the Lion Fish is awesome!

[Scottes]

Thanks folks!

Tommy: I can't agree with the lion fish being ugly. It's so bizarre that it's quite beautiful in it's own way. Have you ever seen one all spread out? It's pretty wild, really. I re-processed it earlier for print, trying some things with noise removal and masking. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing this printed at 11x17.

MegaTrixel: I wouldn't have bothered if I was using film. The contrast adjustments alone make digital almost necessary.

Lazy: Adorable avatar. :D

[johngraham2002]

honestly i think the high iso is irrelevant here these are simply wonderfull captures

[CyberDyneSystems]

:shock: :shock:

Great SHOTS!
(that penguine was waving at you )

Wow.. amazing job with the noise.

And.. nice to see you finally used that 70-200mm :)

[thomascanty]

These are great, too. That tang sure does look like he has a load of attitude! :lol: I love Lion Fish, too. They look so unusual. They taste great, too. I've caught quite a few of those off the coast of Ventura, near the Channel Islands. You don't want to stab yourself on one of those quills, though. It'll make you very sick... So you have to be pretty careful when you filet them!

[Scottes]

honestly i think the high iso is irrelevant here these are simply wonderfull captures

You should see the originals... :?


And.. nice to see you finally used that 70-200mm Smile

I have truly begun to appreciate f/2.8 for shooting indoors. The 85mm f/1.2 is on my Wish List at B&H, along with the 35mm f/1.4. Along with the 500mm f/4, and the 1Ds kII, and the...

Actually it goes with me everywhere unless I know I'm going after birds. So I get a bit of use out of it lately.


You don't want to stab yourself on one of those quills, though. It'll make you very sick...

Well that's good to know since my wife wants to get one. I had no idea they were poisonous.

[thomascanty]

You don't want to stab yourself on one of those quills, though. It'll make you very sick...

Well that's good to know since my wife wants to get one. I had no idea they were poisonous.

There's a reason they're also known as Scorpion Fish, at least among the deckhands on the sportfishing boats around here. :D

It would take a lot of work to keep one as a pet. Salt water tanks are a real bear to maintain.

[IanD]

The 85mm f/1.2 is on my Wish List at B&H, along with the 35mm f/1.4. Along with the 500mm f/4, and the 1Ds kII, and the...
Do what I did, put the whole damn Canon Lens Catalogue on your wish list :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
Really great results Scott. sort of reminds me of the Bio Dome.

[D4VE]

Very good shots at those ISOs, Im going to read your article as the post processing has definately done the trick without making the shots blurry.

Nice one :)