this post was submitted on 08 Oct 2023
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Photography

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[Help] Tips for sea life photos at aquariums? (rblind.com)
submitted 1 year ago by MostlyBlindGamer@rblind.com to c/photography@lemmy.ml
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I've been having issues getting decent photos of sea life at aquariums. I went to two different ones recently. I used a Canon R10 at both: for the first I took a 24 f/2.8 pancake lens and felt like the maximum aperture wasn't providing enough light to autofocus fast enough. For the second trip, I used a 50 f/1.8 and that did address that problem, but I'm still left with blurry photos and massive blue-yellow chromatic aberration.

It's a challenging environment to begin with with how dark it is and how fast and unpredictability some fish and other animals move. The best - still pretty bad - results I got were at f/4, 1/300 or faster and moderate ISO speeds.

Part of the issue is that, with my username being very literal, I can't really adjust my settings in response to image quality, on the spot. Reviewing images in the EVF with magnification is awesome and helpful, but I still end up getting disappointed when I open the photos up on my 32 inch monitor...

So... any tips? Is there a secret for this, something like a Watery 16 rule I don't know about?

For what it's worth, one of these places is pretty close by. I could get an annual pass and head there every weekend and try something new. I don't want to, but I could. Hehe.

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[–] kriz 8 points 1 year ago (1 children)

A couple things to try for low light situations.

1). A tripod. This will help the background and anything static stay sharp. And it may help with something moving, as you are only dealing with the blur its movement is creating vs the blur of its movement + the blur of your camera movement not being locked down.

  1. Try to take your photo as a moving target changes direction. As the fish (or whatever) turns around, it will be still for a split secind. You have a better chance at a sharp image when that happens.

  2. Try to do a slower shutter speed and track with the fish. Keep the fish in frame and move the camera along with it as you take the picture. With luck you can get a sharp fish with a blurred background.

[–] MostlyBlindGamer@rblind.com 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I don’t think they’d let me use a tripod, but tracking is a good idea… It certainly works for race cars. I’d probably be able to stop down too and rely less on perfect focus.

[–] everett@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

When you can't use a tripod there are some better-than-nothing alternatives you can try for getting some steadiness, like bracing your elbows against your abdomen, or pulling the camera forward against the neckstrap.