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| Taking Photos at Aquariums SUMMARY: Several tips you can use at aquariums to avoid blurry, out-of focus, underexposed digital photos.
Interested in taking digital photos of sharks, jellyfish, crabs, or other sea life at public aquariums? While many people bring their digital cameras to these tourist attractions in the hopes of taking pictures, many photos will not come out due to the inability of photographers to control surrounding lighting. So, how can you increase your chances of taking a usable photo?
Taking photos at a public aquarium is just like taking digital photos at a museum. Most of the aquarium will be dark, you won't be able to control the lighting, and there may be instances where problems, such as dirty glass, may prevent you from taking good photos. That is why the first tip is to take lots and lots of pictures and realize that only a few may result in pleasing photos.
Visit aquariums during the week, early morning, or the tourism off-season. The less people around, the easier you'll be able to maneuver yourself to take photos, and the less chance that other peoples' reflections will be seen on the tank glass.
Most likely you will not be able to take a tripod with you to a public aquarium. That, combined with the overall darkness and inability to control the lighting, can result in your digital camera wanting to take longer exposures. This can result in camera shake. So, the third tip is to increase your digital camera's ISO; the photos may be grainy, but grainy recognizable photos are still better than blurry ones. Digital SLRs can help in this situation as they normally take higher ISO photos with less grain.
The fourth tip; use as quick a shutter speed as possible. Experiment and override your digital camera's suggested speed; just note that doing so may result in a dark or underexposed image.
Just as you can't bring in a tripod, don't expect to bring in external flash units. Thus, you must maximize your digital camera's onboard flash if you choose to use it. Flash can result in reflections off of glass, so you'll need to shoot at an angle to help reduce the reflections.
The last tip here - consider bringing a circular polarizing lens to reduce the overall reflections of you and other visitors on the glass. Unfortunately, this will cause your digital camera to need even more light to take photos, possibly increasing camera shake. You'll need to experiment.
Even if you use all of these tips, realize that not every photo will be a masterpiece. Some may be blurry, others too dark, others too grainy. However, with enough practice (and luck), at least a few pictures may turn out bright and sharp, suitable for framing in your home.
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