August 15, 2009
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Long Beach Aquarium With Family…
So, we had a bit of a “staycation” this year, and visited the Long Beach Aquarium last weekend. I really enjoy aquariums, just because I love animals and the outdoors, but getting new and unique images each time you go is becoming quite a task… So I tried a few new things. I tried using a polarizer, in low light, to reduce glass / water reflections. Then I tried using slower shutter speeds in artistic ways. And I also practiced anticpating, chasing, and capturing moments of “serendipity…”
=Matt=
(PS- If anyone has any questions about an image, just ask! The basics: Nikon D300 & 17-55, JPG capture with Kelvin WB, and pretty much “SOOC” images…)
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
Comments (10)
#3 and #4 are especially cool. Love how you caught the flash highlighting the kids in #3!
So awesome man
Very cool shots! Sometimes we forget what’s in our backyard. You don’t have to travel far to see some pretty awesome stuff.
i’m like in awe and speechless. all i can think of is “oooohhhh” and “aaahhhhh”.
Great captures!! LOVE the first one. Those jellyfish are…well words escape me.
Blessings~Nancy
hit matt that last shot is killer =) awesome colors
I love the last shot too. I love the colors!
Since you gracioulsy offered to answer any questions…….
How can I “fix” that underwater color shot? You know, that mucky, dull color? We are going to NC in a couple of months and will be going to a couple aquariums so your advice will be greatly appreciated! : )
Hey!
AMAZING shooting, yo. =D
1. what’s SOOC?
2. photo #3: how are those kids side-lit? Is that other guy carrying an off-camera flash for you? Or did you capture the image right as he fired off his flash? [if the latter...that is AMAZING timing!]
3. [philosophical]: how do you go about shooting things like this with kids present? Did you know them?
@JeezolPeats - There are two things that go into a good underwater / aquarium photo:
Firstly, don’t give your images any excuse to look even worse than the potentially murky water already is- Keep your ISO as low as you can, and keep your shutter speed as fast as you can, to maintain image quality. To do this, you need an amazingly fast lens. F/2.8 at a minimum, and preferably f/1.8 or f/1.4…
Secondly, if it is too dark, just don’t bother, or go for the slow-shutter blur trick and call it artistic. But I mean if the water really is nasty and murky, it’s going to look nasty and murky in the picture. All the pictures I took that look clear and colorful look that way because I picked the right aquariums, the ones that looked nice and clear and afforded me enough light to shoot a quality image. There were plenty of tanks I passed up because they were just horribly dim…
Oh, and of course, avoid using flash. It’s pretty close to pointless, not to mention I hate to think how it annoys the animals…
=Matt=
@Eutychus22 - Thanks!
1.) SOOC = straight out of camera.
2.) Just used a semi- slow shutter speed, (had a polarizer on indoors!) and jammed a bunch of pictures all at once. Wasn’t planning on catching the flash, I was just hoping to capture the kids all pointing at the seal. But yeah, that was the guy’s P&S flash going off at the same instant. It’s pretty easy to catch, when your shutter speed is… Wait a minute, EXIF data says 1/750 sec, ISO 1600, f/2.8. I guess it was REALLY quite bright in there, for the shutter speed to get that high with a polarizer on! And catching the flash must have been a lot more miraculous than I thought.
3.) I guess I just use my “shooting in a public place” level of discretion. If a face is un-identifiable, (back of their head) then to me they’re fair game in a public place. Or, if an identifiable face is just a smalller part of an image with a more important subject to focus on, (like the jelly fish shot) …I also don’t feel too bad about snapping the shot in a public place. There ARE photos I just won’t take, of course. For example outside near the “touch” pools, there were these kids splashing each other in a fountain, and there was a row of them all peeking over a concrete dolphin or something, getting splashed in the face and laughing happily, it was ridiculously cute and would have made a GREAT stop-action shot with the smiles and water splashing everywhere. If I were at a private event as the official paid photographer I would have been all over that shot at 6 FPS, filling the viewfinder with a really close-up shot of their faces, but since I had no clue who they were I definitely felt it would be respectful to pass up the shot. (So I did.)
Take care!
=Matt=