As I was going through some of my old photos to figure out another useful tip, I came across a folder from the Shedd Aquarium. I remember when I was little how frustrated I would get when I tried to take a picture of an amazing looking fish, and all I would get was a big, white reflection of the flash. Now it may seem like common knowledge that to solve the problem you have to turn the flash off, but even as you solve that problem, more arise! The new photo might be too dark (especially in an aquarium where lights are kept low anyway) or they might turn out blurry because, like we learned in the last post, the shutter speed is too slow. There's a solution!
First things first, if you have a point-and-shoot digital camera, it's still going to be very difficult to get a good shot. You'll have to turn off the flash and turn the ISO to the highest your camera allows, assuming its incredibly dark. When you do that though, and this happens even with the best of cameras, the photos appear grainy. In a DSLR, this is easier to take care of.
As you can see, this photo was incredibly dark. I had to wait until the sharks came into the one stream of light before I could get a shot I was happy with. Here are the steps:
First, set your camera to manual or shutter priority (S or Tv) mode.
Second, turn off your flash.
Third, set your shutter speed to about 30 (1/30th of a second) and take a test shot. Odds are it will be dark.
Next, bump up your ISO to the highest that your camera can shoot well in. For example, my first DSLR, the Sony a100, could only shoot high quality images when the ISO was less than 600. On my Nikon D700, my maximum ISO is closer to 1200, making it a lot easier to get nice shots in the dark because it allows me to use faster shutter speeds.
Once the ISO is set, take another test photo. If it is still too dark, continue taking shots while slowing the shutter speed. If you start to notice that your photos are getting blurry, you'll have to find something to brace yourself on. In aquariums, there are usually sections of wall between each tank that shut out and have information about the fish on them, lean against that to keep your arms steadier. You can also kneel and brace your shooting arm on your knee if the tank is low enough. Another trick I learned is to take a deep breath and hold it before shooting and tuck your elbows into your sides.
Once you've done all of this, you should be able to get a decent shot!
If you are more comfortable using your camera on manual (M) mode, there is one other possibility other than continually slowing the shutter speed. You can also adjust your aperture (f-stop). In my post on keeping the subject in focus and the rest of the image blurry, I talked about making the aperture number smaller to tighten the focus. Doing that actually has two functions. It also allows more light to enter the lens because the hole that does so gets larger. So if you're a very shaky person, lowering the f-stop will let you use faster shutter speeds! There are lots of lenses that have extremely low apertures. They are generally very expensive, but they give the photography a looooot more leeway in terms of quality, ISO and shutter speeds. But, they aren't necessary.
Your Assignment: Take photos through glass, or at least in places with low lights. Try taking a photo of an animal running through your backyard from inside of your house. Turn off that flash, raise the ISO (but only as much as you have to!), lower the f-stop, and slow down that shutter speed! Once you've mastered glass, try the same techniques in a darker room in your house. You'll be amazed at what your camera can do when it's used on manual mode. You'll never go back to automatic!
(Just kidding...it takes a long time to get so comfortable with manual mode that you can use it all the time...but there are many situations where it's the only way to get the shots you want!)
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