How To Photograph Aquarium Fish

Many people like to photograph their pets, or take pictures of animals, but if you keep fish then it can seem impossible to get a good photo of them. They are swimming through water, after all, and separated from you by the glass wall of their tank. Added to that is the problem of the dim light that may be good for fish, but does not help the camera.

There are a number of things you can do to improve your fish photographs. To begin with, opt for a digital camera rather than a film one, as it will allow you to take plenty of shots without spending a fortune on getting them all developed in order to pick out the good ones. You are photographing live animals under difficult conditions, so you should not expect every picture you take to be a masterpiece.

Using a digital camera will allow you to take as many shots as you need, and only keep the best ones. You will also find that using a tripod helps enormously. Although this might seem counter-intuitive as you will be taking pictures of moving objects, the fish are limited within the boundaries of the tank, and setting up the camera on a tripod will keep your camera steady to prevent blurring. The low light levels mean that the camera will switch to a slower shutter speed. This makes it even easier to create a blurred picture if the camera is not held steady. You will still be able to move the camera if you keep the levers of the tripod fairly loose, but your movements will be much smoother than if you do this by hand alone. Waiting for the fish to come to you rather than chasing them with the camera can also result in some great shots.

When photographing through glass it is essential to make sure it is as clean as possible. Marks and dirt, and particularly smears on the glass will show up much more in photos than to the naked eye. Give the tank a thorough clean before you begin your photography session. In order to avoid reflections in the glass you should turn off all the lights in the room. Keep an eye out for any unexpected glare, and get rid of it- light from the numbers on a digital clock, or coming through the chink of a curtain can still be enough to ruin a shot. You can always use you body or some other screen to keep light off the glass if you can’t turn it off at the source. You should also turn off the pumps in the tank, as they can stir up particles and create bubbles in the water that will show up on the photo. This will also stop any movement of plants in the tank, which could otherwise blur the shot.

In order to get the best pictures of your fish it is a good idea to set the camera up in front of the tank and leave it there for a few days, so that the fish learn to ignore it and behave naturally when you get around to actually taking some pictures.