How to take pictures of killies/other irridescent fish

[TyroneGenade]

hat A. australe you photographed...does it have an extra filament on its tail as shown? Wonder if that trait was passed on or not.

These are common mutations. I had a pintail australe male at one time... never saw another. These are developmental mutation. As the tail is developing it is nipped or nicked and the tail regrows in an abnormal way. If you cut those lyre-tail extensions than they grow back not as 1 per corner but as several and the tail then looks quite frilly.

tt4n

[jerseyjay]

Btw, Jay, that A. australe you photographed...does it have an extra filament on its tail as shown? Wonder if that trait was passed on or not.

This picture was taken in friend's fishroom so I can't comment more on it.

[jerseyjay]

Your pictures are very good, Jay. Thanks for sharing the photography technics with us. You once asked me for my photograpic setup but after seeing how good your pictures are, I'm embarrassed to show it to you. Compared to you, I'm an amateur.

Loh K L

Loh,

Thanks :wink:

I would still like to see your photosetup and your photography.

[stormhawk]

Took this picture recently over at Ronnie's place last night. Fishes belong to him and were kindly allowed to be photographed. :wink:

Here's a picture of one of Ronnie's remaining Terranatos dolichopterus males taking a rest with some Corydoras habrosus (I think these occur naturally with the DOL in Venezuela). Also known as the Sabrefin Killie.



Pardon the angle because the fish kept drooping downwards. Very shy fellas. This particular male had a damaged dorsal. The larger male with perfect finnage kept hiding in the back of tank.

Did some tweaking and editing on Photoshop. Comments are welcome. :wink:

[CM Media]

I've got 2 shots of my other fishes.

Feel free to comment.. I'm still a new to aquaria photography.



As usual, to view the larger image, just click on the images..

[nonamethefish]

Thanks! Anyone with this camera know how to turn off flash? Will that affect picture clarity?
Joseph

Joseph,

Maybe you won't be able to turn off the flash on some simple consumer digital cameras that does not give you as much control over the settings as other digital cameras. You will have to flip through the manual to see if the camera has the function to allow you to switch off the flash.

If you are unable to turn off the flash, but you need to turn it off, then maybe as i mentioned earlier, you can cover it with something. Or maybe diffuse the light by covering the flash with tissue paper. Sometimes, Diffusing the light while still having the flash on does provide some interesting results.

What do you mean by picture clarity? Do you mean the exposure? Or the blurness, or something else?

The flash will affect everything, as flash = light. And photography is all about light. So maybe you can be more specific as to what you mean by picture clarity?

The picture simply is blurry. Not exposure. In the case of a swimming fish-the form blurs or "runs" when the photo is taken.

I remember some photos that I took of a betta under very bright incandescent that came out impressively...hmmm...

[bsplenden]

[\The picture simply is blurry. Not exposure. In the case of a swimming fish-the form blurs or "runs" when the photo is taken.

I remember some photos that I took of a betta under very bright incandescent that came out impressively...hmmm...

Then it has only got to do with the shutter speed. You need faster shutter speed. Is there any settings on your camera such as shutter priority, aperture proirity, manual mode, or maybe a scene mode like the sports mode?

To push the shutter speed higher, you will need a larger aperture. Or an alternative would be to have more light. Bettas move less that killies, so it will be easier to take photos of them, and since you are using a brighter light source, the shutter speed can hence increase, thus freezing the motion of the fish.

If you are unable to have anymore control of your camera, you can consider upgrading your camera. Or, just be patient and wait for the fish to stop swimming. That will require a lot of understanding of the fish, the camera, and anticipation skill. And of course, you will need luck too...

[stormhawk]

Au, the picture of the SMO could do better if you could reduce the shine of the belly region of the male. I think the pic did not show the full potential of the male SMO. There's a marking on the anal fin that isn't showing fully and the dorsal fin of the male (if it was longer), would have made a very beautiful photo subject. Again the blue speckling of the male can be seen but is rather subdued. I can't pinpoint the causes but its more on the positioning of the fish and the angle of the shot.

The pictures of the RAC, GUE and FUM are simply stunning. :wink:

Try out your camera on the LCT and perhaps the aff.delucai.

[TyroneGenade]

Hello Ronnie

The first picture resembles the "gold" strain that was the work of Hjerresens. A good picture is here: http://www.killifish.f9.co.uk/Killif...A.australe.htm. Such fish are also sometimes called orange or red depending on the intensity of the orange in the fish. The middle picture is a classic "spotless orange" fish. The "spotless cholate/wt" is just as lovely but is more brown/red than orange. The last fish is a washed out "spotless" fish. This is problem with a pure breeding "orange spotless" strain as they loose the intensity of the colour. For this reason both we in SA and Karl Walter maintained hybrid orange/chocolate-wt spotless lines to retain the intensity of the orange.

Your first fish certainly has some "spotless" genes a it lacks spots on the rear of the body. This is a classic manisfestation of a the hybrid spotted/spotless lines.

I think these are lovely fish and I'm sad to learn you have passed them on to. I would dearly love to have them back!I very much regret off loading my lines.

tt4n

[RonWill]

Your first fish certainly has some "spotless" genes a it lacks spots on the rear of the body. This is a classic manisfestation of a the hybrid spotted/spotless lines

Tyrone, it's difficult to differentiate corrupted/hybridized populations when 'pure-line' specimens are not easily available for comparison.

It's this reason, in particular, that I do away with questionable stock to avoid future accidental 'contamination' of breeding stock. [This includes plant/moss quarantine and microwaving/drying spawning mops after use]

I think these are lovely fish and I'm sad to learn you have passed them on to. I would dearly love to have them back!I very much regret off loading my lines

Sure it hurts to cull or cut a line but with limited tank space and other resources, one good line is better than four corrupted ones.

Anyway... about fish photography, a fellow member (thanks André) sent me a linked email to Randy Carey's site. Check out the link "Digital Aquarium Photography: A Web Presentation" and read up "Aquarium photography is a challenging art"

[nonamethefish]

That was a good tutorial. My camera has internal flash, so perhaps if I would be able to get ahold of an external flash that would help a bit.

BTw, any using this....is it possible to tape it to the glass? Standing in front of the aquarium often frightens shy fish(and you can usually never stay as still as when sitting with both hands on one camera).

[bsplenden]

That was a good tutorial. My camera has internal flash, so perhaps if I would be able to get ahold of an external flash that would help a bit.

BTw, any using this....is it possible to tape it to the glass? Standing in front of the aquarium often frightens shy fish(and you can usually never stay as still as when sitting with both hands on one camera).

Use a tripod and you can avoid all the taping, and you will have the most stable camera unless there is an earthquake. I am not sure of yours, but my SLR does have a remote control. So I can sit some distance away, wait... and wait and wait... And when the moment comes, I press the remote and there... I got what i wanted... Takes a lot of time, but well, fishes and photography are both my interest!

[nonamethefish]

Bsplenden: Only problem would be that for a large tank you would have to "plant" the tripod somewhere and wouldn't be able to move if the action is taken somewhere else. I'm hoping external flash will help with my color problem, as I can get fishes into the viewer and into focus just fine(or at least good enough for me).



By some distance away, you mean you have the tripod, say, several feet from the tank while taking shots of the fish?

[bsplenden]

Bsplenden: Only problem would be that for a large tank you would have to "plant" the tripod somewhere and wouldn't be able to move if the action is taken somewhere else. I'm hoping external flash will help with my color problem, as I can get fishes into the viewer and into focus just fine(or at least good enough for me).



By some distance away, you mean you have the tripod, say, several feet from the tank while taking shots of the fish?

Wait for the oportunity to come... I mentioned earlier that you have to wait, when using my method. Or you may want to try with a monopod, but personally, I have not tried using monopods before.

I think a few brothers here mentioned that using flash will make your colour problem more prominent? Anyway, I don't think you can attack external flashes to your camera right? The only things are can add are lighting, reflectors, etc...

You mean you can't set up a tripod near the tank? I don't think I get what you mean. I set it up as close to the tank as I can.

[Svein]

Hi Au



As mentionedbefore, you got very correct colors from f. thierryi, very nice!!


did you got anything from the eggs I sent to you?
regards
Svein

[CM Media]

Hi Au
As mentionedbefore, you got very correct colors from f. thierryi, very nice!!

did you got anything from the eggs I sent to you?

Hi Svein,

Thanks for your comments. I've got about 20 fry from the lot of eggs. The fish is one of the grown up fry. They're now happily breeding.

I've pass a bag of eggs I collected to one of the member here. Hope to here success stories from him. hint.hint...

Tha bag of eggs of the Fundulosoma thierryi Gh 1/94 Accra Plains had give me 50 fry. They're now 1 week old and are taking newly hatched brine shrimps. Chance to get them establish in my tanks are high. When I manage to spawn them, do you want some eggs?

[nonamethefish]

Bsplenden: Only problem would be that for a large tank you would have to "plant" the tripod somewhere and wouldn't be able to move if the action is taken somewhere else. I'm hoping external flash will help with my color problem, as I can get fishes into the viewer and into focus just fine(or at least good enough for me).



By some distance away, you mean you have the tripod, say, several feet from the tank while taking shots of the fish?

Wait for the oportunity to come... I mentioned earlier that you have to wait, when using my method. Or you may want to try with a monopod, but personally, I have not tried using monopods before.

I think a few brothers here mentioned that using flash will make your colour problem more prominent? Anyway, I don't think you can attack external flashes to your camera right? The only things are can add are lighting, reflectors, etc...

You mean you can't set up a tripod near the tank? I don't think I get what you mean. I set it up as close to the tank as I can.

I have never used a tripod before, but my guess is that a tripod would prevent moving the camera and you would simply have to set it up at a likely spot(as opposed to being allowed to move up and sideways slightly).

[bsplenden]

I have never used a tripod before, but my guess is that a tripod would prevent moving the camera and you would simply have to set it up at a likely spot(as opposed to being allowed to move up and sideways slightly).

A tripod would surely prevent the camera from moving. And THAT, is the whole point of a tripod!

It is really a much better idea than sticking the camera to the glass with tape or something. Try it.

A bit of waiting is ok for me, just got to be patient.

Just a fun fact : A National Geographic photographer took more than 7 hours to crawl towards a toad just so that he can capture a picture of the toad without scaring it away!

So I guess you can always take the photo another day if you can't get it today right? Maybe spend half an hour after dinner everyday just to try to capture some photos? Very soon, you will have a big collection of nice photos! :wink:

[nonamethefish]

LOL...

I wasn't planning on taping the camera to the glass, but the external flash(while I hold the camera). I may consider a tripod, or at least a stool.

[bsplenden]

LOL...

I wasn't planning on taping the camera to the glass, but the external flash(while I hold the camera). I may consider a tripod, or at least a stool.

Yes, a stool will do a good job too... Just anything more stable than our pair of hands...