Aquarium Digital

Photographing an aquarium with a digital camera?

I have been attemping to take decent pictures of my aquariums with my digital camera, but the pictures are turning out pretty bad at best. Let me tell you what I have tried so far:

Turned out the lights in the room and took the picture with just the light of the tank and the flash. = Bright glare, taking up most of the picture.

Turned off the flash, left lights out in the room. = Dark blurly images, camera speed seems to slow without the flash on.

Turned lights in room to dim, flash off. = Better, but still blurry.

Lights dim in room, with flash on. = clear but again with the glare.

Tried all of above with adjusted speed. = noticed no change in the speed the camera took the picture or in the quality of the pictures.

I dont have much experience with photography, so any tips or idea's that may help my pictures turn out better, would be so much help. Thank You!

Without knowing which camera you are using it is hard to be specific with an answer but here goes. I noticed that you didn't mention changing camera settings and only varied the lighting. If you can take your flash off the camera and hold it to the side that would help. If not, just standing at an angle to the glass will get rid of a lot of the glare. With the flash on, your camera is using it's flash sync speed to take the shot. In your first attempt above, your flash angle caused the glare. In the second attempt, there wasn't enough light to get your shutter speed fast enough for the moving images of the fish. The camera metered for the room light and that made your aquarium appear dark in contrast. Same in the third attempt but not as much contrast in the lighting so your camera did a better metering of the aquarium. You need a faster shutter speed and the only way to get that is more light by upping your ISO as already suggested or providing another light source. Your fourth attempt created glare again from your flash angle. Learning how to manually adjust your camera settings might help if that can be done, but that's a whole other learning experience.

If you can't remove your flash I'd try just shooting at an angle to the glass with your flash (45 degrees or so the flash isn't pointing at the glass). If you still need more light try something portable like a flashlight(s) positioned so they aren't in the photo. That way you can try different light positions easily and add and subtract until you get the look and shutter speed that you need for a clear photo. Be sure to check the light angle to avoid glare and remember that with the flash on the shutter speed will be a constant. Only with it off will you be able to vary it. Your camera needs enough light to be able to focus properly. I have had successful aquarium shots with a fast lens (f/1.4) and ISO of 800. Without the flash on, you can put the camera up to the glass to steady it if you don't have a tripod and if your camera can focus at that distance. Let us know how you make out.

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