Berlin (dpa) — Ever tried to take a nice photo of fish in an aquarium? You'll likely have found it anything but easy. The reflections caused by the glass pane and the swimming movement of the fish make things particularly hard.
Underwater photos are most beautiful when the glass pane can’t be seen in the picture. If you want to take photos of your own aquarium, you should clean the glass properly beforehand so that dirt or stains don’t spoil the photo.
It helps to make the room dark so that you and any surrounding objects are not reflected in the glass. This means dressing darkly and - if you want make things professional - ideally even wearing dark, thin gloves. That’s because if your hands are close to the aquarium when you take the picture they’ll be reflected strongly in the glass.
You can also throw dark cloths over any reflective objects in the room. Wildlife photographer Oliver Giel recommends, where possible, turning off the room lights so that only the lighting in the aquarium shines on you and the immediate surroundings. He also advises taking photos parallel to the glass — taking them at an angle creates distortions in the image.
You may need additional light to get the perfect photo. Daylight can be a good solution, but camera flashes should be avoided as they can scare or stress the fish. Giel says light-sensitive lenses are available that don’t require additional light to take a good photo.
In order to take sharp photos of fish in motion, you have two options for setting the camera. The first is to put the camera in autofocus. If that doesn't work or your camera doesn’t have the feature, you can also use manual focus.
However, the swimming movement of the fish can pose a problem for manual focus. Patience is required here. Observe the fish you want to photograph for a while before taking any pictures.
“Fishes also have habits and swim the same paths over and over again, turn in the same places, stand against the current for short moments,” Giel says. “The magic formula is to observe, recognise, and react accordingly.”
You can also experiment with different motifs, perspectives and lighting conditions to create interesting images.