Wild Life
Vacation Photography: A trip to the Aquarium
10/07/11 16:09
Vacation Photography: A trip to the Aquarium
ISO 800, 50mm, f2.8, 1/20s (Using optical stabilization)
When shooting a moving animal, such as a shark, make sure that you give the animal room to move in the frame. Notice that in this frame the main shark is coming into the frame from the right and is moving towards the left. I have given the shark plenty of space on the left and in doing so I imply movement of the shark.
I recently went to the Newport Aquarium just outside of Cincinnati Ohio in the northern Kentucky town of Newport. Unlike an art museum, at the aquarium the use of a camera is encouraged. Cameras are everywhere; and so are disgusted looks on the faces of the patrons as they look at the image preview screens on their point and shoot cameras. Those disappointed looks are the result of a mixture of unique problems that occur when shooting photographs in an aquarium. The aquarium has the problem of low light conditions such as what you experience in a cave, the “shooting through the glass” problem of a standard museum, and the problem of moving subjects like in sports photography. These are three big obstacles that have to be overcome in order to get any good photograph at an aquarium.
In the tutorial Vacation Photography: Let's Visit a Cave ISO, Aperture, and Shutter speed when shooting in low light are covered in depth. I really wish I could just tell you to read that article and apply everything I say there to aquarium photography. However, I can’t. I can’t because those fish keep swimming back and forth and to and fro. So, I guess I can start at the beginning and work through the particulars of aquarium photography.
Hardware
I took this photo with a cell phone camera at Cabela’s in Lehi, UT.
Camera Settings
ISO 400, 50mm, f1.8, 1/60s
Technique
Taking photographs in an aquarium is not as strait forward as taking photos of fireworks or even as taking photos in a cave. The biggest factor here is not how still you can hold the camera but can you get a fast enough shutter speed to freeze the action of the swimming fish in the tank. Ideally a shutter speed of 1/120s is where action can really be paused and 250/s is even better. Unfortunately those speeds are just not going to happen in the aquarium setting. I generally end up shooting between 1/20s up to 1/80s. With a little planning and study of how the fish move these slow shutter speeds can still produce impressive results. To get an idea of what shutter speeds you will need, it might not be a bad idea to start in aperture priority mode. Set your aperture for around 2.8 and take a few shots. You will see really quickly whether you will be able to hold the camera still long enough to get a shot in the lighting conditions. After you get an idea of the aperture and shutter speeds needed to produce the photograph, switch to shutter priority and enter in the slowest shutter speed that was used in aperture priority mode. Then start taking a few photos and gradually increase the shutter speed until you find the slowest speed that allows you to focus manually and hold the camera still enough not to blur the shot. Make sure that you try both the aperture and shutter priority modes at several different ISO settings. Remember that the higher the ISO, the smaller the aperture or faster the shutter speed that can be used to expose a photo. Also remember that the higher the ISO the more noise in the final image. After you have spent a few minutes taking some test shots in both of these modes, switch the camera to manual mode, enter in the slowest shutter speed that you can hold, the smallest aperture that still exposes the image, and the ISO that gives you the best compromise between exposure and noise. Then start shooting. Please take a while at every tank and look for the way the fish swim. You will see areas of the tank where the lighting is better, you will see areas of the tank where the fish slow down or stop, observation of the subject is of prime importance in taking photographs in an aquarium.
The Magic of Under Exposing
An interesting quirk of the digital camera can come into play when shooting in extreme low light situations. That quirk is that digital images can be severely underexposed and the exposure can be corrected in post-processing to produce some pretty dramatic results. The following is an example of an image that is so underexposed that the frame itself appears to be black, except for two small patches of dark blue and a hint of orange. I could see the image well enough in the eyepiece to focus but the exposure was insufficient to use the final photograph in a professional setting. Notice I said professional setting. You will see below that, after post-processing, the final photograph was good enough to print a 4” x 6” print for an album and certainly good enough for me to post on Facebook to share with others.
ISO 800, 50mm, f1.8, 1/60s (I took this image while I was trying to determine the best exposures to use in the aquarium.) This image is severely underexposed.
The following is the same photograph as the preceding photograph. The only differences between the two photographs are adjustments made to the contrast, color correction, a little dodging and burning, and some sharpening. This is an extreme example of how much information is contained in even a drastically underexposed image. As I said above, the image is not usable for professional purposes but a less underexposed image might have been correctable to the extent that it could be used in a professional setting. While I don’t recommend underexposing an image as much as I did in this photograph, you can rest assured that, if you need to, you can underexpose the image a bit and still get a satisfactory final product. Just in case you think this is some kind of digital trickery, you should be aware that this dramatic result is also possible from film processing in a wet dark room. A good dark room technician has produced great works of art out of images with less than ideal in-camera exposure.
ISO 800, 50mm, f1.8, 1/60s This is the same image as above after contrast and color correction. Note that the image is a bit grainy but to have been essentially a black frame the final results are impressive and demonstrates that a choice to underexpose an image in-camera may be a compromise that has to be made to get the final photograph.
ISO 3200, 50mm, f2.5, 1/50s
Conclusion
The process of taking low light photographs in an aquarium is one of compromises. A professional would bring along light meters and might get permission to shoot inside the tanks while using additional lighting. However, as a tourist you can produce some amazing photographs that will rival the professional, you just need to take your time and determine the best exposure for the situation. It really is trial and error. After a short period of time, you will get a feel for the exposure needed. Practice will help you know how to adjust you shutter speed, aperture, and ISO to accommodate for low light situations coupled with fast moving animals. This process of manually adjusting your camera will make you a better photographer and will do so quickly. Last but not least, the process of manually focusing will also improve your photography very quickly. You will learn to focus faster than the camera can focus and you will add a skill that will help you not miss the important shots when the camera just can’t get the job done by itself. The fact that you will be shooting at large aperture settings, such as f1.8, will really help you become a pro at focusing. At f1.8 you might have a depth of field of only inches, or less, and you will be forced to determine what part of the animal is most important to your final image (here is a hint: 99% of the time it is the eyes).
I hope this tutorial has helped you prepare for a trip to the aquarium and I hope you bring home some great photos.
-- Enjoy
ISO 800, 50mm, f2.8, 1/20s (Using optical stabilization)
When shooting a moving animal, such as a shark, make sure that you give the animal room to move in the frame. Notice that in this frame the main shark is coming into the frame from the right and is moving towards the left. I have given the shark plenty of space on the left and in doing so I imply movement of the shark.
I recently went to the Newport Aquarium just outside of Cincinnati Ohio in the northern Kentucky town of Newport. Unlike an art museum, at the aquarium the use of a camera is encouraged. Cameras are everywhere; and so are disgusted looks on the faces of the patrons as they look at the image preview screens on their point and shoot cameras. Those disappointed looks are the result of a mixture of unique problems that occur when shooting photographs in an aquarium. The aquarium has the problem of low light conditions such as what you experience in a cave, the “shooting through the glass” problem of a standard museum, and the problem of moving subjects like in sports photography. These are three big obstacles that have to be overcome in order to get any good photograph at an aquarium.
In the tutorial Vacation Photography: Let's Visit a Cave ISO, Aperture, and Shutter speed when shooting in low light are covered in depth. I really wish I could just tell you to read that article and apply everything I say there to aquarium photography. However, I can’t. I can’t because those fish keep swimming back and forth and to and fro. So, I guess I can start at the beginning and work through the particulars of aquarium photography.
Hardware
- DSLR camera, bridge camera, or upper end point and shoot camera. You might get lucky and get a good photo with your cell phone or inexpensive point and shoot camera (I have done it), but the inexpensive camera is not ideal for the shooting situation found in an aquarium.
I took this photo with a cell phone camera at Cabela’s in Lehi, UT.
- Fast lens (Exp. 50mm/f1.8) This lens would ideally have optical stabilization in order to achieve the best results. If your camera has optical stabilization built into the camera, then turn it on prior to shooting.
- A flashlight. You will need the flashlight if you need to change settings on the camera and you are not familiar enough to make those changes in the dark.
- Circular Polarizing Lens (See:Using a Polarizing filter to eliminate reflections on glass.)
Camera Settings
- Turn off the flash.
- ISO: 400- 3200
- Aperture Priority Mode, Shutter Priority Mode, or Manual shooting mode.
- fStop: between f1.8 and f5.6 depending on how well the individual tanks are lighted.
- Image stabilization: Turn it on.
- Focus: Manual (You will need to focus manually, in most instances the light levels will be too low to reliably use auto focus.)
ISO 400, 50mm, f1.8, 1/60s
Technique
Taking photographs in an aquarium is not as strait forward as taking photos of fireworks or even as taking photos in a cave. The biggest factor here is not how still you can hold the camera but can you get a fast enough shutter speed to freeze the action of the swimming fish in the tank. Ideally a shutter speed of 1/120s is where action can really be paused and 250/s is even better. Unfortunately those speeds are just not going to happen in the aquarium setting. I generally end up shooting between 1/20s up to 1/80s. With a little planning and study of how the fish move these slow shutter speeds can still produce impressive results. To get an idea of what shutter speeds you will need, it might not be a bad idea to start in aperture priority mode. Set your aperture for around 2.8 and take a few shots. You will see really quickly whether you will be able to hold the camera still long enough to get a shot in the lighting conditions. After you get an idea of the aperture and shutter speeds needed to produce the photograph, switch to shutter priority and enter in the slowest shutter speed that was used in aperture priority mode. Then start taking a few photos and gradually increase the shutter speed until you find the slowest speed that allows you to focus manually and hold the camera still enough not to blur the shot. Make sure that you try both the aperture and shutter priority modes at several different ISO settings. Remember that the higher the ISO, the smaller the aperture or faster the shutter speed that can be used to expose a photo. Also remember that the higher the ISO the more noise in the final image. After you have spent a few minutes taking some test shots in both of these modes, switch the camera to manual mode, enter in the slowest shutter speed that you can hold, the smallest aperture that still exposes the image, and the ISO that gives you the best compromise between exposure and noise. Then start shooting. Please take a while at every tank and look for the way the fish swim. You will see areas of the tank where the lighting is better, you will see areas of the tank where the fish slow down or stop, observation of the subject is of prime importance in taking photographs in an aquarium.
The Magic of Under Exposing
An interesting quirk of the digital camera can come into play when shooting in extreme low light situations. That quirk is that digital images can be severely underexposed and the exposure can be corrected in post-processing to produce some pretty dramatic results. The following is an example of an image that is so underexposed that the frame itself appears to be black, except for two small patches of dark blue and a hint of orange. I could see the image well enough in the eyepiece to focus but the exposure was insufficient to use the final photograph in a professional setting. Notice I said professional setting. You will see below that, after post-processing, the final photograph was good enough to print a 4” x 6” print for an album and certainly good enough for me to post on Facebook to share with others.
ISO 800, 50mm, f1.8, 1/60s (I took this image while I was trying to determine the best exposures to use in the aquarium.) This image is severely underexposed.
The following is the same photograph as the preceding photograph. The only differences between the two photographs are adjustments made to the contrast, color correction, a little dodging and burning, and some sharpening. This is an extreme example of how much information is contained in even a drastically underexposed image. As I said above, the image is not usable for professional purposes but a less underexposed image might have been correctable to the extent that it could be used in a professional setting. While I don’t recommend underexposing an image as much as I did in this photograph, you can rest assured that, if you need to, you can underexpose the image a bit and still get a satisfactory final product. Just in case you think this is some kind of digital trickery, you should be aware that this dramatic result is also possible from film processing in a wet dark room. A good dark room technician has produced great works of art out of images with less than ideal in-camera exposure.
ISO 800, 50mm, f1.8, 1/60s This is the same image as above after contrast and color correction. Note that the image is a bit grainy but to have been essentially a black frame the final results are impressive and demonstrates that a choice to underexpose an image in-camera may be a compromise that has to be made to get the final photograph.
ISO 3200, 50mm, f2.5, 1/50s
Conclusion
The process of taking low light photographs in an aquarium is one of compromises. A professional would bring along light meters and might get permission to shoot inside the tanks while using additional lighting. However, as a tourist you can produce some amazing photographs that will rival the professional, you just need to take your time and determine the best exposure for the situation. It really is trial and error. After a short period of time, you will get a feel for the exposure needed. Practice will help you know how to adjust you shutter speed, aperture, and ISO to accommodate for low light situations coupled with fast moving animals. This process of manually adjusting your camera will make you a better photographer and will do so quickly. Last but not least, the process of manually focusing will also improve your photography very quickly. You will learn to focus faster than the camera can focus and you will add a skill that will help you not miss the important shots when the camera just can’t get the job done by itself. The fact that you will be shooting at large aperture settings, such as f1.8, will really help you become a pro at focusing. At f1.8 you might have a depth of field of only inches, or less, and you will be forced to determine what part of the animal is most important to your final image (here is a hint: 99% of the time it is the eyes).
I hope this tutorial has helped you prepare for a trip to the aquarium and I hope you bring home some great photos.
-- Enjoy