Fish Pictures

Hey Oly guys,

It's your founding Moderator back to share some of my favorite fish shots from my time in the Oly fold.

All these shots are from my Oly E-500 using, for the most part, the 45-150mm kit lens. I also used the 14-45mm, but not as much.

On most of the forums I regularly visit I am known as the fish guy, and everyone thinks I have some big secret to shooting fish in aquariums. Honestly, this could not be futher from the truth. Fish photography is pretty much like any other form. The main difference is that you are almost 100% of the time shooting through a pane of glass. The only time that glass is not in the way is if you shoot from the top of the tank, or take the fish out of the tank.

The fact that you are shooting through what is, for all intents, a mirror to your flash means that this is not a point and shoot game. It takes a bit more thought then that. Also, you are more often than not dealing with active, fast, moving subjects. This is hard enough outdoors where you are a ways back from your target, and have all the wide open space you could want to utilize. With fish you have a small inclosed space in which you must shoot up close, and personal with something that could out run you in highheels and a skirt.

Direct flash can get you some great pics, however the best advice that I can give is to get the lights off of your camera and over the tank. I recomend studio strobes or a master/slave flash system that uses either IR, RF, or a flash sync cord to fire the strobes. If you do plan to shoot direct flash the best advice is to shoot at an angle. Shooting straight into the glass will net you a big bright picture of a flash.

As lenses go, well I have never bought a lens to shoot fish with. The point being, you can use just about any lens. It all depends on what you are looking for in way of results. For closer macro shots almost nothing touches a good 50mm prime. For full frame close ups a good 200mm zoom is grate choice. And for tank scenes, I would be looking at a slight wide angle, 28-35mm.

Ok, 'nuff of that. How about some pics?

I seriously admire you for your fish shots John. I tried to shoot some at the beginning of this month and, although I did ok, my pictures were nowhere near as good as yours!

Great Post, I went with the 50mm Prime macro as you suggested and it should be here friday.

Beautiful fish!

Heres my first attempt with e520 + 14-42, its a bit noisy because I had to bump the ISO to 400 due to being a low light tank and not having special lighting equipment yet. Shrimp are a little easier to photograph than fast moving fish.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3157/...8fcfc5b6_b.jpg

Here is another picture I got this morning, didn't have a chance to clean the tank glass but just some practice with the kit lense.

I call it Puffer vs Snail.

Edited it a bit in photoshop to remove some scratches that are on the fishtank glass.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3177/...b448a68b_b.jpg

Hi all
Great pics! I have just bought my first DSLR and have gone for the oly E-510,quite a big step to take for a complete novice,this is one of my first shots,which impressed me and hope to get better results when I learn how to use the camera, this is my ruby shark,nightmare getting him to stay still.

Congrats on the camera. Make sure you write a review once your feet are wet. Pun intended there. Thanks for stopping by an I hope you become a regular and share your pictures and thoughts.

Fishtank pictures are nice because they don't need any special lighting - just take a couple of desklamps from around the house and direct them at odd angles, it's like a little studio softbox with critters living in it. I always prefer some kind of directional lighting (e.g. not from above) so I'd recommend putting two, or maybe even three on one side of the tank rather than spreading them evenly. Don't forget to adjust the white balance.

Goes to show you what I know! For taking fish portraits I would have thought you needed a fish eye lens :idea: Jeff