Taking phots at an aquarium?

[BMWJNKY]

I'm going to the Monterey Bay Aquarium this weekend and was wondering if anyone had some tips for taking photos at an aquarium. I know not to use the flash but do I need to make any adjustments in the camera or just expose for the available light? Has anyone taken photos at that aquarium before, if so how did the photos come out?

[paulnj]

Use a hood right up against the glass to stop the reflections from the overhead lighting and people. A rubber aftermarket on in whatever filter size you have can be found at nearly any decent camera shop for under $10 and they work GREAT.

[BMWJNKY]

Thanks for the tip, I'll go grab one tonight.

[paulnj]

get a collapsible WIDE Angle hood like this one here
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...ughType=search

It may be over $10, but still cheap

[Loupey]

Great tip, Paulnj! I usually use my left hand or entire left forearm/elbow/upperarm.

Two other tips:

1) don't bother shooting any angle other than near 90-degrees to the plexiglass. Otherwise the distortion will be hideous.

2) don't forget the bigger picture. Sometimes in the hussle and bussle we forget to step back (literally). Getting the crowd - especially children - sillouetted against the aquarium can tell a great story. You will need to take a small tripod for just such an image. If the flow of people is really steady, you can make an image of the people flowing on one side and fish flowing on the other side. Keep thinking along those lines.

Hope you post some images here after you get back

[mjs1973]

Great topic! I wish I would have asked this question a couple weeks ago. The wife and I went to an aquarium a couple weeks ago. (Look for a new thread coming soon.) One thing to keep in mind is your white balance. The aquarium that I was in had some large windows, and let in lots of natural light in some areas, and other areas were very dark, and the main light source was coming from florecents. I shoot RAW so changing WB is very simple in post production. If you shoot JPG, I would really pay attention to your WB settings.

Another thing to consider is how much gear you want to take. I only took my DRebel, and 50mm f/1.8. I wanted a fast lens because I was expecting dim light. It worked out OK, but some zoom range would have been nice.

[BMWJNKY]

So far taking pics at the aquarium has been one of the most difficult things I've done with my camera. The light varied a lot from exhibit to exhibit making exposures different for every pic. Also trying to get a clear steady shot with all the other people waking around was not easy. If I were to do it again I would probably go early in the day during the middle of the week and bring my tripod along. The Monterey aquarium was nice because there were hardly any reflections off the glass as long as you were straight on with it. A faster lens with IS probably would of saved my pics of the jelly fish because all of my hand held ones with my kit lens went straight to the recycle bin because they were blurry.

My tip for anyone planing to go to an aquarium is bring the fastest lens you have and if possible go when there will be very few people and use a tripod.

Here is one pic that I have processed, I'll work on the others and post them throughout the week.

[Loupey]

Thanks for getting back to us, BMW.

Yeah crowds can be a huge problem when trying to get images which look like there are none. Good idea about going back when the crowds are thinner.

A fast little lens like MJS's 50mm f/1.8 is probably all that you'll need the next time since you can walk up and get as close as you need.

Please post some more and any other experiences for the group.