Advice for Fish Tank Photography

raiSMASH · Jul 17, 2011

Hi! I have a 60 gallon goldfish tank that I'd like some advice with.

I have a Canon Powershot A650 IS. Does anyone have any tips on taking good pictures? I can get decent quality shots, but only with the flash. I've tried messing with settings to try to get decent shots without flash but it never really works. What do I need to do that would allow me to take good pictures of fast moving fish Now obviously I'm not going for stuff you'd publish in a magazine because there are decorations and plants in the tank so there won't be any perfect pictures with a solid background or anything like that. I'd just like to be able to figure out how to take pictures that aren't over exposed, out of focus. etc.

Here are some of my decent pictures:

1. Over shiny scales, but at least it's in focus. x.x

2. Flash at the top. Ugh. How could I get a shot like this that's more in focus and without the flash at the top?

3. With this picture, what's up with the odd coloring on the eye? I've seen that appearing more often when I take pictures. How do I fix that?

Okay, I think those pictures cover my basic problems. Soo, any advice?! I'd really appreciate some!

joealcantar · Jul 17, 2011

I've tried this before and I found it best to put the lens up against the glass and fire the strobes remotely from off the sides. Sync cord or wireless all depends on what you have.
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Shoot well, Joe

raiSMASH · Jul 17, 2011

I'm sorry, but... what? >.<

joealcantar · Jul 17, 2011

raiSMASH said:
I'm sorry, but... what? >.<

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Sorry just noticed you were using a point and shoot camera. Not sure if you can do it with that camera.
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Shoot well, Joe

tirediron · Jul 17, 2011

This is one of the rare cases where equipment does make a big difference. To do this properly, you need to have several off-camera light sources (flashes) that can be triggered remotely. If your camera has a hot-shoe for an external flash than you could buy a couple of cheap flashes and an inexpensive radio-trigger. You'd have to do your exposure calculations manually (mostly trial & error) but it could be done.