Do these look fine or bin worthy...C&C

[AustinChap]

I went to the sea of life aquarium the other day with my d3100 and just the kit lens. First time taking aquarium shots...

Problem 1- aputure would only open to 4.x not sure the exact number.

Problem 2- minimum focal distant is like .9 feet so that beat me up.

What would be a good all around lens for this and other scenes?
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[TBandura]

I like the composition and colors, but they're all blurry and too dark to really be portfolio material, except for maybe the last one. Since there's not a lot you can control in an aquarium in terms of light, I would suggest using a higher ISO, and lower exposure time and play around with those till you get something you like more.

 

[tirediron]

Because of the way water attentuates light, aquarium and other water-related photography is very challenging and usually requires some fairly specialized equipment to pull off. Given where you were and your gear, the images aren't bad. As far as an 'all around' lens, it really depends on what you want to shoot. The main reason that people use interchangable-lens cameras is for the flexibility afforded by different lenses. I can go from a macro lens for one shot, to a super-telephoto for the next. True, lenses such as the 18-200 and 18-300 appear to offer this in one, convenient package, BUT like a Swiss Army knife, any time a tool has too many functions, it usually winds up doing none of them very well. I would suggest working with what you've got, learning how to use it to maximum effect, and when you have a better idea of what sort of photography excites you the most, buying the gear for that purpose.

 

[AustinChap]

Thanks! I was looking at getting a 60mm 1.8 macro by nikon I believe to take aquarium shots. I had to use a really high iso for these to get a decent shutter speed since it was f5.6 at 55mm.