faq01

I often receive emails with questions relating to my photography, health problems
with loaches, loach compatibility etc. I have a good collection of loaches and
rarely lose any, but by following the basic fishkeeping rules I have not had to
learn much about fish diseases and how to treat them. I sincerely hope my run
continues. I enjoy hearing from visitors to the site, but hopefully this faq will
cover the most common queries (and explain why in many cases I can't help)

Some of the older pics are scans of 35mm prints but I now use a Sony Mavica
FD95 digital still camera for all my shots. Colours are much richer with print film
but the ongoing cost savings and convenience of digital made the choice easy in
the end. I chose the Sony mainly for it's huge 10X optical/20X digital zoom and it's
use of 3 1/2" floppy discs to record images. I am able to take very close up shots
without frightening the loaches by having the camera "in their faces". I have
found that they refuse to cooperate if I stand too close. The down side is that at
high digital zoom factors it is difficult to obtain truly sharp images. Overall though
it is an excellent camera, and I am glad I chose it.

There are two reasons why a lot of my photos are quite dark. The first is simply
tank lighting. Most, if not all loaches prefer a low light environment. I run only a
single strip of fluorescent tubes, and because my big tank is 2 feet 6 inches front to
back I have them positioned across the rear of the tank, which makes the front
glass area a bit "shady". This encourages the loaches to spend most of their time at
the front where I can see them. Secondly, I only use the small fill in flash built in to
the camera. I have found that the full flash attachment upsets the loaches. After 3
or 4 flashes Basil gets visibly upset and heads off to the back of the tank with his
gills pumping like crazy. The fish all tolerate the fill in flash quite well though, and I
would rather put up with dark photos.

My technique for taking photos is simple - take heaps. I am definitely an amateur
photographer - the photos on this site are just a fraction of the total number taken.
Many of them don't turn out, which is why digital rules for us non artists. The
golden rule is never take photos at right angles to the tank. If you shoot directly at
the glass the flash will bounce back and ruin the shot every time. By varying the
angle the flash bounce will be directed away from the camera. You should also try to
minimise the amount of reflection by turning off or dimming room lights, televisions
etc. Another factor, and one I know little about, is "through the lens" viewfinder
and metering versus the separate viewfinder common on smaller cameras. Both my
cameras are "TTL" which makes it easy to tell if I am focused on the fish or the
tank glass. The separate view finder doesn't give you a virtual preview of the shot.
I suspect most aquarium photo failures occur because the cameras auto focus fixes
on the glass, which gives a blurred result.