Safegaurding Your Pets Against Air Pollution Vol XII , Issue No 12 , Dec 2019 | Page 31

movement of the fi sh. If you want to
take a picture of a shrimp or pleco
you can easily set the exposure time
up to 1/100s or even 1/50s, and use a
tripod.
To get the maximum amount of light
onto the sensor you should open up
your aperture as much as possible.
But don’t forget that your depth of
fi eld will be smaller the more open
the aperture is and depending on
the form of the fi sh’s body you might
have parts of the fi sh out of focus. The
ISO should be at least as high as there
will be no disturbing noise. How high
you can set the ISO depends on the
sensor and the manufacturer of the
camera. If the picture is still under
exposed you can try to get a longer
exposure time of 1/200s or 1/160s.
Lighting
The lighting is one of the most
important
aspects
of
fi sh
photography. If you want the fi sh to
be your main object in the picture
it has got to be brighter than the
background. That’s why I always
use a Spotlight and not a fl ash. With
a Spotlight you can make sure that
the fi sh receives more light than the
background. Make sure that the light
always just comes from above the
fi sh. If the ground beneath the fi sh
refl ects some light or is too bright,
the fi sh just won’t look like it should
because in nature the sunlight
always comes from above.
Background
Another important thing to keep
in mind while taking pictures of
your fi sh is the background. If the
background is too restless or too close
to the fi sh, the eyes are distracted
by the background and the fi sh is
no longer the prime focus of the
picture. To make sure that the viewer
can concentrate on the fi sh your
background should consist of big
green leafs at a distance of minimum
4” (depending on the camera and the
lens). It is also recommended to use
a dark background if the fi sh is very
colourful like Betta splendens.
Taking the Picture
When you use a spotlight, you’ve
got to search for a place where the
background looks soft with enough
space in front of it. After you’ve found
the right place, search for the fi sh you
want to take a picture of. Don’t follow
the fi sh with your camera through
the whole tank. Just point the fi sh
with your eyes and wait till the fi sh
comes in front of the background.
Try to predict the movement of the
fi sh and follow it with your camera
just in the small spot in front of the
background. Make sure that the fi sh
and the camera always stays parallel
to the glass of the tank to get the
sharpest pictures. If the camera is
not parallel to the glass, the whole
picture will be blurred. If the fi sh
is not parallel, parts of the fi sh will
remain out of focus.
Timing
Most fi sh have their fi ns down
while swimming. If you also wish
to take a picture with the fi ns up,
you’ve got to wait until the fi sh stops
swimming (sometimes it feels like
it never happens) or you’ve got to
wait until the fi sh wants to change
direction. Shortly before changing
the direction, a lot of fi sh put up their
fi ns to stabilise themselves for the
modifi cation.
I hope I could help you a bit to
understand how I take striking
pictures of fi sh. But even after you
know how to set everything to make
the picture, you still need to be very
patient. Depending on your gear and
the fi sh, it sometimes needs more
than one hour to get a single eye-
catching picture. So, patience is still
the key to taking an arresting picture
of your swimming friend.
* Stefan Langenbach is an ardent fi sh keeper
and passionate photographer. He started taking
pictures of different species of freshwater fi sh in
February 2019 and posting them on his Instagram
handle @langenbach.photography. Since then
he has photographed more than 200 species of
freshwater fi sh and interacted with many friendly
people on the scene.
December 2019 • Vol. XII • Issue 12 • Noida
31
| Creature Companion