Help !!! on how to take fish pictures?

i want to help my cousin to take pictures of the fishes he wants to sell.
what kind of lens do I need?
I need macro lens don't I?
what about the lighting setup?
please guys .... teach me how to do it.

thanks

zebra-fish the strobist way.

I'm going out on a limb and assuming that the fish are in water.

Most cameras don't work very well in that environment.

So you'll either need an underwater camera, or you'll be shooting through glass.

Using flash when there is glass between the flash and the subject can be problematic, since the flash will reflect off the glass. But if you're careful, you may be able to bounce the flash off the ceiling (remove the top from the fish tank).

Usually focusing is the biggest problem when shooting aquarium fish. There are two things that generally help autofocus in difficult environments: 1) Use a fast lens. A 2.8 zoom is good, a fast prime would be better. 2) Get as much continuous light in the aquarium as possible. Think big. A couple 500 watt shop lights, positioned directly above the aquarium and aimed down, would not be too much. This may allow you to shoot without flash, which adds its own level of complexity.

If shooting into an aquarium maybe try a piece of black matt board and cut a hole in the center just big enough for your lens. Make it big enough so all reflections are blocked out, say a 16x20 board or a piece of black cloth would work too. Hard lights from above would mimic natural light more than blasting a flash in through the side of the tank, but a splash of fill flash couldn't hurt.

a good idea is to get a piece of glass and 'sandwich' the fish between the front glass and the glass you're holding, also, a nice plain background might help as typical aquarium background might not be too good. The glass idea is from a famous fish book writer Baensch.

As for lenses, anything capable of focussing up close, not necesarily macro, depending on the fish.

What type of fish are you photographing?
Where will they be taken?
What camera are you using?

Harry

Manticorp wrote in post #5606630
a good idea is to get a piece of glass and 'sandwich' the fish between the front glass and the glass you're holding, also, a nice plain background might help as typical aquarium background might not be too good. The glass idea is from a famous fish book writer Baensch.

As for lenses, anything capable of focussing up close, not necesarily macro, depending on the fish.

What type of fish are you photographing?
Where will they be taken?
What camera are you using?

Harry

They're freshwater type fish.
I will take their pics on his shop, but I will bring a background (either white or black if the aquarium doesn't have a background and a desk lamp.

My camera is 450d with 24-70mm f2.8 L

Do you guys familiar with Kenko Tubes to make regular lenses into a macro lens?

The Kenko tubes work fine as long as you aren't relying on autofocus. In this scenario, they will most likely do you more harm than good.

The 24-70 has a max. magnification of 0.29, which means it will focus close enough to give you a field of view of about 3 x 2 inches. Unless the fish you're shooting are very tiny, you won't need a macro lens or Kenko tubes.

Okayy...Well even a desk lamp is going to have pretty low light levels, but if that's what you're limited to then you can probably make it work.

to make you're job easier the glass idea is probably going to help...do you get what I'm saying by this thought? just 'trap' the fish with a big sheet of glass against the front glass of the aquarium and it should make focussing a bit more easier, especially with the tubes.

The camera and leses you're using should be fine.

Best to bring a tripod as the low light levels are going to be a bit of a hassle.

Only other tip I can really give is to light from an planar direction, i.e from top, bottom, right or left and you'll get some alright lighting. Also, play around a bit and make sure you get NO reflections off the glass.

i.e try and get in a darkened room with no light sources like windows etc and completely control your lighting, unless you're willing to do a more elaborate set up

Keep us posted on how it goes friend!

Harry