mopsie and any other photography moms

kategw

I'm taking DD to the aquarium with some friends tomorrow and I want to get some good pics.  I have a Nikon D3100 and I'm very much a novice.  Any tips on how to get some good shots, settings, etc.?  Thanks in advance!

eta: I'm looking for pointers on getting shots in the unique lighting that aquariums have, in case that wasn't clear

delphinus12

I'm not a professional by any means but a good tip would be not to use flash near the glass. I see this so often in aquarium pics and it ruins them.

The pics where you can just see the people silhouetted in front of the glass are really cool to me.

PiRSquared330

I know this probably won't help you for tomorrow, but do you by chance have a Borders near you that is closing? I went to ours yesterday and they had a ton of digital photorpahy books on clearance. it was great! It might be good for long term tips if you are trying to learn how to use your camera

ali_bl-nov05

delphinus12:

I'm not a professional by any means but a good tip would be not to use flash near the glass. I see this so often in aquarium pics and it ruins them.

The pics where you can just see the people silhouetted in front of the glass are really cool to me.

This.I suppose you could use one of those devices that difuse the light, thought. Also, bump your ISO.

mopsie

Our aquarium was really dark, so I used my Speedlite (since you have a Nikon, it'd be a Speedlight).  An on-board flash will make your LO really washed out and it will reflect off the glass.  Even with the Speedlite, it was still hard to get consistently lit photos because the rooms kept changing, so the ceilings where the light would bounce kept redirecting the light differently. 

Here are some photos from our trip to the Aquarium: Aquarium Photos 

Starfish113

PiRSquared330:

I know this probably won't help you for tomorrow, but do you by chance have a Borders near you that is closing? I went to ours yesterday and they had a ton of digital photorpahy books on clearance. it was great! It might be good for long term tips if you are trying to learn how to use your camera

omg i love you! thanks for sharing. ours is closing i never thought about clearance items. i'm definitely going after work now

PiRSquared330

Starfish113:

PiRSquared330:

I know this probably won't help you for tomorrow, but do you by chance have a Borders near you that is closing? I went to ours yesterday and they had a ton of digital photorpahy books on clearance. it was great! It might be good for long term tips if you are trying to learn how to use your camera

omg i love you! thanks for sharing. ours is closing i never thought about clearance items. i'm definitely going after work now

no problem! I had gift cards I needed to use. It was great! They had some baby books on sale, too.

kategw

delphinus12:

I'm not a professional by any means but a good tip would be not to use flash near the glass. I see this so often in aquarium pics and it ruins them.

The pics where you can just see the people silhouetted in front of the glass are really cool to me.

Thanks, I'm excited because its one of my first opportunities to play with it in a unique environment since I got it.  The weather has been so horrible, I feel like I'm taking the same shots over and over.  I'm enjoying learning though and can't wait to be able to take outside shots.  Hopefully, I'll get some good ones to share!

kategw

PiRSquared330:

I know this probably won't help you for tomorrow, but do you by chance have a Borders near you that is closing? I went to ours yesterday and they had a ton of digital photorpahy books on clearance. it was great! It might be good for long term tips if you are trying to learn how to use your camera

Thats a great idea, thanks.  I actually have a gift card for Borders.  I guess I should use that sooner or later. 

luvmyleens

I think that the light will be on the darker side and I'm not sure you are going to be able to bounce a flash off of anything that will be help give you the light you need.  You are going to have to play with the light to see what works.  I like the pictures where you try and get parallel to glass and get the side shot of them looking in...  Good luck and have fun!!

kategw

mopsie:

Our aquarium was really dark, so I used my Speedlite (since you have a Nikon, it'd be a Speedlight).  An on-board flash will make your LO really washed out and it will reflect off the glass.  Even with the Speedlite, it was still hard to get consistently lit photos because the rooms kept changing, so the ceilings where the light would bounce kept redirecting the light differently. 

Here are some photos from our trip to the Aquarium: Aquarium Photos 

Thank you.  These are my exact concerns.  I've wanted to get a speedlight for a while now, so maybe tonight would be a good time to get it. 

kategw

mopsie:

Our aquarium was really dark, so I used my Speedlite (since you have a Nikon, it'd be a Speedlight).  An on-board flash will make your LO really washed out and it will reflect off the glass.  Even with the Speedlite, it was still hard to get consistently lit photos because the rooms kept changing, so the ceilings where the light would bounce kept redirecting the light differently. 

Here are some photos from our trip to the Aquarium: Aquarium Photos 

Your pics are great.  You DD looks just like her daddy!

mopsie

kategw:

mopsie:

Our aquarium was really dark, so I used my Speedlite (since you have a Nikon, it'd be a Speedlight).  An on-board flash will make your LO really washed out and it will reflect off the glass.  Even with the Speedlite, it was still hard to get consistently lit photos because the rooms kept changing, so the ceilings where the light would bounce kept redirecting the light differently. 

Here are some photos from our trip to the Aquarium: Aquarium Photos 

Your pics are great.  You DD looks just like her daddy!

Thanks