going to the aquarium

[time532]

Hey guys i'm off to the N.J. aquarium tomorrow.
Can you give me an idea how to shoot in these conditions.
I have a Rebel XSI, efs 18-55 kit lense & the efs 55-250
Thanks in advance for any tips

Time

[Fred Eric Norris]

Hey guys i'm off to the N.J. aquarium tomorrow.
Can you give me an idea how to shoot in these conditions.
I have a Rebel XSI, efs 18-55 kit lense & the efs 55-250
Thanks in advance for any tips

Time


You may have a hard time unless you have a faster lens available to use... but who knows.. depends on the lighting.. perhaps a polarizing filter in the event that there is a glare on the aquarium glass..

[bfree32]

That'll be pretty hard. It'd be nice if you could pick up a 50 1.8 in the meantime. Anyway, shoot wide open at high enough ISO to hopefully get 1/100 shutter speed, maybe a bit less. No flash.

[time532]

Thanks for the comments & Tips.
God I have to get some good glass.
Here are a few of shots.
Not a wasted day we had lots of fun.

[time532]

I don't think I did to bad.
Considering the limit of the lenses

[Roy G. Biv]

Got any hippo shots :)

[chauncey]

Hint...put that lens flat against the glass if you can.

[GoneTomorrow]

Hint...put that lens flat against the glass if you can.

Yep, that's what I do, I call it "aquarium image stabilization." Also, a monopod isn't a bad thing to take to the aquarium/museum, etc.

[weezerfan84]

A CP (cicular polarizer) would have worked the best with some fast glass. Just came back from the aqarium, and a CP would have helped a lot with glare and reflections. Oh well. I don't plan on going back to the aqarium I went too, so a CP is not needed in the near future.

[GoneTomorrow]

A CP (cicular polarizer) would have worked the best with some fast glass. Just came back from the aqarium, and a CP would have helped a lot with glare and reflections. Oh well. I don't plan on going back to the aqarium I went too, so a CP is not needed in the near future.

Plus you lose a couple of stops of light with a CPL.

[IslandCrow]

If you Photoshop out those reflections on that first photo, I rather like it. Fast glass is definitely nice at an aquarium. As you probably saw, flash is generally not your friend when shooting through glass. If you must, use an off camera flash and get close to the tank. That can often times help out with a slower lens. Macro lenses can also be very useful at aquariums. I always bring my Canon 100mm f/2.8 macro with me to aquariums. It's not a cheap lens, but well worth the money, especially since it can double as my telephoto lens in a pinch.

CPs are great at cutting down glare and reflection, but I've found that it's not worth the loss of light in this particular environment.

[weezerfan84]

Plus you lose a couple of stops of light with a CPL.

Yep. That's why even if I had a CPL I wouldn't have probably been able to use it. Many shots were 2-2.5 with a 1/60-1/100 shutter. I just dealt with the flare. Many of the fish I was trying to take pics of moved so fast that I couldn't place my hood up against the glass. The images that came out well have minimal flare in areas that I can clone out too. The one that I liked the best so far had flare on it's body. I can maybe clone it to look better. I just know that it will take a good amount of time and a steady hand on a laptop. I was disappointed by the flare on its body though.

I'll remember to post on this thread when I'm done processing my 200+ images from this weekend. Went to a zoo and aqarium.

[GoneTomorrow]

This one is through glass with the 70-200 f/4 IS. I pressed the front element right against the glass and had the IS on, ISO 800 and 1/40 second. It was fairly dark. Aquariums are even darker, so I need to get to an aquarium soon myself.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3596/3801631027_4fd062d482_b.jpg

[time532]

Got any hippo shots :)
No hippo shots the were just lying there with their buts to the crowd

[time532]

If you Photoshop out those reflections on that first photo, I rather like it. Fast glass is definitely nice at an aquarium. As you probably saw, flash is generally not your friend when shooting through glass. If you must, use an off camera flash and get close to the tank. That can often times help out with a slower lens. Macro lenses can also be very useful at aquariums. I always bring my Canon 100mm f/2.8 macro with me to aquariums. It's not a cheap lens, but well worth the money, especially since it can double as my telephoto lens in a pinch.

CPs are great at cutting down glare and reflection, but I've found that it's not worth the loss of light in this particular environment.

Not great at the pp yet, I will try to do some better pp when I get the time

[time532]

Yep. That's why even if I had a CPL I wouldn't have probably been able to use it. Many shots were 2-2.5 with a 1/60-1/100 shutter. I just dealt with the flare. Many of the fish I was trying to take pics of moved so fast that I couldn't place my hood up against the glass. The images that came out well have minimal flare in areas that I can clone out too. The one that I liked the best so far had flare on it's body. I can maybe clone it to look better. I just know that it will take a good amount of time and a steady hand on a laptop. I was disappointed by the flare on its body though.

I'll remember to post on this thread when I'm done processing my 200+ images from this weekend. Went to a zoo and aqarium.

I would like to see some of those when your done

[weezerfan84]

Here's a few from the aquarium. All of these were taken with my 5d classic and Sigma 50 1.4

http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc205/weezerfan84/underwatersealifewatermark.jpg

http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc205/weezerfan84/someeelandplantlifewatermark.jpg

http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc205/weezerfan84/orangeandwhitefish.jpg

http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc205/weezerfan84/orangeandwhitefishwatermark.jpg

http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc205/weezerfan84/fishwithcontrastwatermark.jpg

http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc205/weezerfan84/jellyfishlittlewatermark.jpg

http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc205/weezerfan84/jellyfishprettybigwatermark.jpg

More to come as I weed through the rest of my photos.

[time532]

Here's a few from the aquarium. All of these were taken with my 5d classic and Sigma 50 1.4

http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc205/weezerfan84/underwatersealifewatermark.jpg

http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc205/weezerfan84/someeelandplantlifewatermark.jpg

http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc205/weezerfan84/orangeandwhitefish.jpg

http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc205/weezerfan84/orangeandwhitefishwatermark.jpg

http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc205/weezerfan84/fishwithcontrastwatermark.jpg

http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc205/weezerfan84/jellyfishlittlewatermark.jpg

http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc205/weezerfan84/jellyfishprettybigwatermark.jpg

More to come as I weed through the rest of my photos.

Great shots I realy like 4 & 6. Did you get any from the shark tank?

[weezerfan84]

None from the shark tank. Not only was it dark in the tunnel around the shark tank, but there was very little light in the shark tank. I metered and then kept walking. I would have been getting nothing, but motion blur. The fastest shutter I could get was 1/25, and the sharks were moving constantly.

[time532]

Here's another one from the big tank