Tips needed for Rookie

[jdh313]

I am waiting to get my d40 delivered to me and i am going on vacation in a few weeks, my camera will be going too. I was wandering if anyone had any tips for taking pictures of the waterway there or through glass (going to the serpentarium there). All i have is the camera with the kit lens and no money to buy anything else.
Any advice would be appreciated.

P.S. Just a random question, but would a circular polarizer filter give the appearance of no reflections in a mirror?

 

[gardy90]

no flash

 

[Derrel]

A rubber lens hood is always handy when shooting through glass--it keeps reflections suppressed. Screw-in rubber lens hoods can sometimes be found at camera stores in their so-called junk bin, often for $3 or something like that. Failing that, it helps to have something to wrap around the area where the lens front meets glass--even a scarf or hanky or a folder-up dark T-shirt or even a fanny pack--anything to keep the glass-to-lens area dark. And like gardy90 said, "no flash".

I don't know if they allow flash, but if you DO use flash and you have the lens squished right up to the glass with a rubber lens hood or some dark fabric around the area where the lens meets the glass, there will not be a hot-spot caused by the flash ruining the picture.

 

[jdh313]

Thanks for the tips.
I know last time when i went with my P&S i had difficulty without flash and that hot-spot had come up.

 

[reznap]

That's some really good info, Derrel. I'll look for something like that - under 5 dollars... can't go wrong.

 

[Sirashley]

Best advice I can give you would be to dig up enough for a 50mm 1.8 prime lense... These can be had for less than 100$ on ebay, and will give you some amazing shots through glass in low light... WIth the setup you have, that being a D40 and a kit lense, you are looking at a challenge... Because you are shooting through glass at a subject in water, essentially, that means no flash or tripod will help... Best of luck and post your results

 

[billygoat]

If I was you, I'd email/call the owner of the serpentarium and see if they do "private" or behind the scene tours. It would be worth a little extra to be able to go behind the scenes and get pics without the glass. . .but, the tips above definitely work for glass shots. You'd be surprised how much people will help you out. I got to go on a behind the scenes trip at the Denver Zoo which was pretty awesome by getting in with a few of the employees. . .

 

[Jeremy Z]

When shooting through the glass in an aquarium:

- Set the D40 in the appropriate mode. It may even have an aquarium mode. If not, set the color balance so the shots come out looking natural.

- Focus manually, so the autofocus doesn't focus on the reflections in the glass

- No flash.

 

[jdh313]

thanks for the advise.
A few things that i guess i didn't make clear was that
1. the through glass and the water shots were two different things
2. This isn't a pro shoot so i really don't need and can't justify going behind the scenes.
P.S. being in a small glass cage with some of the most venomous snakes in the world isn't such a great idea.