Fish Photography
Taking Fish Photos II
Written by Friday, 14 September 2001 00:00
| Article Index |
|---|
| Taking Fish Photos II |
| Page 2 |
| All Pages |
They say that an image is worth a thousand words but in this case there are a thousand words to be told about each image. Instead of getting that far, we decided to show you some photos which are classified as technically "excellent" (in our opinion anyway) and let you know how those shots were actually taken. Apart from the theoretical part (which we trust you have already read) some examples of what can be done should complete this long article. We all love fish and we want to show the best of them. However, in some cases, a "direct" approach may not give you the best results or you may want to try something different.
1. Taking a photo with minimal presence of the photographer
First click on the two images above to see the high resolution pictures and pay close attention to the detail, color accuracy and sharpness which make them stand out of the many you have probably seen. The main difficult was to take the picture of the male Cyathopharynx furcifer while making its pit without disturbing it. Standing in front of the glass was definitely not the solution as the fish would stop its activity and display to the intruder. Thus, Frank tried a different approach using a remote flash unit and taking his camera to the left thus allowing "vital space" to the fish which went on with its activities. However there were more reasons for this approach. As Frank says, "I just chose this approach to highlight some details in the tank: flash through the side of the tank to get special lighting on that spot and shoot the picture though the front glass. The shadows indicate the size and shape of the nest... I can also bypass the large minimal focusing distance of the Nikkor AF 70-210 with this technique as no light gets lost (should work miracles with the Tamron too if you're standing a bit further away from the tank in my opinion) This also prevents the eyes of the fish being too highlighted." In the picture below you see the actual set up used for this photo while right below it you can see the data of this shot as recorder by the camera. To avoid any reflections by the flash units the camera was kept at an angle. If you are puzzled by the setup, the camera (Nikon D70) can "fire" the SB800 flash unit electronically even from a distance (within a range of course) if set to "Commander" mode. A tripod was essential in order to mount the flash unit and have complete control over the area which was to be illuminated. The TTL (through the lens) function of the main flash unit resulted in excellent color reproduction despite the reflective nature of both the fish and the sand. Very few cameras offer the "remote" flash unit mode but still, this is just an idea you wan work on. As we are going to see in the next examples, this "limitation" can be overcome.
2. Looking for a different "feeling"
Click on the image above to see the high resolution picture. The aim was to get a picture of some Paretroplus maculatus which tend to stay together in close formation and search their surroundings in the tank. After taking hundreds of photos of this fish I was tired of getting the same image every time. Moreover, what I saw in the pictures was not exactly what I was seeing in the tank. The use of "head on" flash units resulted in silver, flattened bodies which is not how the fish looked like in this particular tank. The water surface in this tank is covered with Lemna minor so what I was actually seeing in the tank was fishes reflecting the green color of the plants as the light passed through the green "layer" of plants. This created a more natural sight and the fish seemed to enjoy the subdued light of the tank. However, the use of a flash unit fired directly at them (placed on the camera's hot shoe) eliminated this "feeling" and created the classic silvery shots. It was evident that I needed to have the two light sources (tank illumination and flash units) at the same place to replicate this atmosphere. Placing one unit over the tank didn't produce the effect I wanted since, although the green cast was there, the sides and bottom of the fishes turned out dark. Adding a flash unit on the camera, although eliminating the darkness, didn't result in the desired effect since the illumination was now "even" throughout the tank. A third flash unit was placed out of the right side of the tank, which seemed to do the trick. However, much work was still needed to "balance" the light coming from the three sources. Too much light from the front eliminated the green cast. Too much light from the right side created long horizontal shadows. In the end, it was obvious the more light was needed from above (since it would have to penetrate the plant layer) and less from the right. Light from the front was only to be used for a "fill in" effect. The flash units were then set as follows: Unit # 4 in the photo below was set to GN 36 (full power); the output of unit #1 was set to 1/8 while the output of the SB800 on the camera was set to 1/16th of full power. I was happy with the result so I decided to shoot more than 50 photos (actually the batteries drained at that point). You will see more of those photos coming online soon. The camera used was also a Nikon D70 but, instead of using the "commander" mode (which would only fire the compatible Nikon SB800) I used a light sensitive trigger (#2 in the picture below) which fired (through a solid state 1:3 terminal; #3 in the picture) the other two flash units each time the on camera flash was fired. For your information, the two slave unites were Sunpak DX36 (above the tank) and DX 24 (to the right of the tank).
