Help need in photography.

[chin]

I was wondering if anyone can help me with this problem that I always encounter whenever I try taking close up photos of my fishes.

I have been trying to snap some decent photos of my betta but the photos will always end up either overexposed or too dark; or there will be a reflection on some part of the photo.I didn't have my flash on and I had a relatively bright white light above the tank. I've also tried to change the angle of the light but to no avail. Don't know if anyone ahs encountered this problem before and how do I rectify it.

FYI, I am using a normal digicam. Any kind of tips or help will be greatly appreciated.

Thank You!

[megaweb]

It would better to tell us what is brand and model of your normal digicam.

[Sunfire]

For reflection, use a polarized lens filter.
For too dark or too bright, swich to manual mode.

[celticfish]

the light from above the tank is lighting you up so you see your reflection.
it also aggravated by not using flash.
you should flood the tank with light so that it is brighter than the outside to get rid of the reflections.
(above learnt from benny's workshop on tank photography)
however this may not be possible for a regular digicam.

will the real normal digicam guru please stand up?

[hwchoy]

here's the digicam I used

[celticfish]

alamak!! (slaps forehead)
sorry chin... the "normal" digicam is apparently on steriods!! (ST-E2 wireless transmitter)
I suppose you would need to find a way to use an external flash.
you will need to place the flash off-centre so that you won't get your reflection on the glass.

another tip is to only shoot perpendicular to the glass. this will minimize distortions from the glass.

[uorme99]

here's the digicam I used

Wow! nice camera My brother have Canon G2. will it be as good? and i do need the external flash unit for better pics right? is it expensive to purchase one? chin, hope you dunt mind i off track abit. Thanks all.

[hwchoy]

you can get a good used 550EX flash is about $400-450. the ST-E2 transmitter is a bit esoteric so most likely you have to buy new, around $260-280.

anyway my camera grew up already the good thing is that you can retain the ST-E2 and flash!

[valice]

the light from above the tank is lighting you up so you see your reflection.
it also aggravated by not using flash.
you should flood the tank with light so that it is brighter than the outside to get rid of the reflections.
(above learnt from benny's workshop on tank photography)
however this may not be possible for a regular digicam.

this is another one reason why we flood the tanks with lights. other than lighting up our subjects.

you can get a good used 550EX flash is about $400-450.

if you are on an even lower budget, you can go third parties or a 420EX or 430EX. And if your tank is not too big, you can get away with a off-camera cord. But abit clumsy to use sometimes.

Another option from a Canon flash is also the slave flash. But I got no experience with them. So can't advice more on that.

[uorme99]

Thank you hwchoy and valice. i guess need to save up for it first. will read up more on photo-taking manuals first.

[megaweb]

Try to use manual focus. Move your setup to focus the object is faster.

[XnSdVd]

And turn off all the lights in your room. Failing that you can just cut a small hole in a black cloth, poke your lens through, and then take a shot with the cloth blocking out the background light.