Shooting fish in water?

[bhardy501]

I took these today. It was such a beautiful day I had to get out and take a few pics. What do you guys think of these. I had to fight sun reflection on the water. Was able to clean them up a little. I know there is a shadow under the fish but I kind of like it there because it adds depth. These are Trout in a small pond. Any suggestions on taking photos of things in the water or under water like fish. Shooting from above the water, not being underwater with them.

 

[Mrgiggls]

For this type of shot a polarizing filter is a must have.

 

[bhardy501]

OK, what does a polarizing filter do?

 

[Mrgiggls]

OK, what does a polarizing filter do?

A polarizing filter will block light rays that have been reflected off of something. Not 100% but quite a bit. This is a key feature of sunglasses for fishermen. They have polarized lenses that block much of the suns light that is reflected off of water.


Also polarizing filters a nice when shooting in daylight with cloudless blue skies in the shot. It helps deepen the blues in the sky and add some contrast. These effects can be duplicated in software but its much easier to just screw on a filter.

 

[bhardy501]

I looked at some on ebay. Are they all the same just different sizes ti fit the lense?

 

[Mrgiggls]

I looked at some on ebay. Are they all the same just different sizes ti fit the lense?

Not really. There are 2 types of polarizing filters. Here is a link that you can go to to get a better understanding of what they do.

 

[bhardy501]

Thanks for the info. Would it be best to get one of each to change out as needed? You can see a difference in the example photos the linear one on a frog in water, I could see it helping my fish photos. The circular made a difference in the sky on the building pic.

 

[scorpion_tyr]

You want a circular polarizer if your camera has autofocus. And the polarizing lenses will get rid of the reflection off of most things that insulate electricity like glass, plastic, with the exception of water because the light is actually polarized from the atmosphere... yada yada yada... you'll see the fish It won't cut the reflection off of electrical conductors like metal.

 

[bhardy501]

If you place a polarizing lense on your camera and go into a dark place like the cave pics I did will it affect the pics or will it just be like a clear lense?

 

[Stradawhovious]

If you place a polarizing lense on your camera and go into a dark place like the cave pics I did will it affect the pics or will it just be like a clear lense?

It will kind of act as like a Neutral Density filter, and you will likely lose a stop or two of light depending on the filter.

 

[KmH]

With a CPL (Circluar Polarising) filter, the angle of the reflective surface to the camera, and the angle of the light to the reflective surface, determine how much the reflections are diminished.

A CPL is made of 2 pieces of glass. the front piece gets rotated to adjust how much polarizing gets done.

Good CPL filters have coatings that aid the transmission of light while also diminishing lens flare.

This is a good CPL filter - B+W 77mm Kaesemann Circular Polarizer with Multi-Resistant Coating

Many photographers get one good CPL filter that is as big or bigger than the filter threads on their biggest lens, then use much less expensive step up rings to mount that one big filter on smaller lenses. Adorama Step-Up Adapter Ring 52mm Lens to 77mm Filter Size

 

[kundalini]

Shooting fish in water?

Although frowned upon by your local Game Warden, dynamite is more effective than a long barrel.

 

[bhardy501]

A friend of mine is a police officer in the small town where that park is. There is absolutely no fishing allowed, stiff fines will follow along with a trip to jail. He was out patrolling and saw a guy fishing. They guy never moved when he got out and walked up to him. He asked the guy if he was catching anything and he held up a stringer of fish. The guy was tickled to death at the amount of fish he had. The thrill of victory turned to the agony of defeat very quickly. My buddy said you could hear him yelling explitives across the park as he was getting handcuffed and stuck in the patrol car. They are very protective of the fish they have there.