Shedd Aquarium - 12.2011 - Last Post - Fishes

So this is my last post for this particular trip to the Shedd.  These are the actual fish.  Like I was saying yesterday, there are ways that shooting the fish can be easier than shooting the air-breathing animals, since you typically don't have to worry about dirty glass.  Scratched glass, however, can be a whole different issue.  It seems to be more visible when against the water.

This little guy is a freshwater goby.  Again, I had problems with scratches in the glass, but he was pretty still (for a fish) in a bright area of his tank.  I really like the way his eye is such a dark, contrasting spot compared to the rest of him which is kind of milky, translucent white.  His coloring is so sparse, you can actually see some of the viscera above his right fin.

 The colors on some of these fish make me think of having an aquarium again some day.  When I was in college I had a fishtank with a few mollies and some African frogs and some salamanders.  They were the only pets were were allowed to have in the dorms.  I kind of miss it.  Though I hesitate to think of what would happen if the ferrets intersected with a fish tank.  But the amazing color displays on these reef fish make me miss having a tank of my own.  I find it amazing that these fish don't just have two colors of stripes like zebras or tigers where you just have the stripe against the background color.  In these fish you get these outlining third colors that make them look more like works of ink art than just a natural adaptation.  I also love how much blue shows up in fish.  You certainly don't see that in mammals.  I particularly like this shot because of the white belly in the shot.  It's kind of "I'll be beautiful on the sides, but I still need that camouflage belly, so that I'm harder to see by any animals swimming under me."

Copperbanded Butterfly

 Butterfly fish are amazing.  Partly because of the same coloring issues - like this one having the black between the bands of white and yellow.  But I also find their lips interesting.  Not too many fish have that long 'muzzle' like a horse or dog.  I also find the false eye on the top of his back a fascinating evolutionary development.

Moving Targets

Dragonets are probably my favorite of all the tropical fish. The layers of color are amazing.  These spots are four concentric circles deep.  There are others with even cooler colors that have been moved to a tank downstairs by the whales with the seadragons, but shooting them is nigh on impossible in that light.


Okay!  Finally finished with this post - it's been languishing in draft phase for, what?  Two weeks?  I had a new shoot yesterday, so I'll start posting those shots in just a bit.

Something 's a little fishy in here. (post 2/2)

[Okay, I'm going to fuss with this later, but I do know the formatting of this seems to be way off.  I can't seem to get the paragraphs to line up with the appropriate pictures.  When I'm in the WYSIWYG editor it looks *fine*, but it doesn't preview or post right.  Argh.  Sorry.]

Okay, here's the rest of the shots from the fist trip. Following this, I have something way cooler to talk about. ;)

Seriously, Who Puts Eyeshadow on a Fish?

There was an indoor Koi pond.  These koi were being fish-sat for a corporation that has a fishpond for them when it's warmer out, but it isn't deep enough for them to winter in and they don't have the facilities to keep them indoors.  Makes me think of the 9-billion gallon tanks my dad used to keep in the family room as a kid for his koi in the winter.

This Isn't a School, This is a Mob!

They're hand fed.  We got to hand-feed them, which is a bizarre feeling.  It's sort of like sticking your hand against the end of a slimy vacuum cleaner hose.  Because they're used to being fed by humans they mob up against the pool whenever anyone stands against the wall to see them.

The challenge to shooting these guys is that the water is highly reflective and they're half-in and half-out of the water most of the time.  I tried not to use the flash and make the reflection any worse than it was.

Not helping the matter was that some of the fish were really, really bright white and were basically swimming hot spots.

Self-Expression: He haz it.

But once in a while someone would calm down enough to let me get a good shot.  I find the blue 'eyeshadow' on this fish really, really hysterical.  He has both eyeshadow and a moustache.   Well, to each his own. :)

Lionfish

This lionfish is amazing, but hard to shoot.  This was probably the best shot I got - and it was through the glass with the flash, so it's not, you know brilliant, but it could be worse.  He's tough because there's a very solid fish, but some very ephemeral, transparent fins.  Getting the light to catch both properly is not the easiest thing ever.

Copper Wires

This one shows the very cool metallic stripes and the transparency of his lips.

Mini Ray

This little ray was only about the size of my hand.  He was a little high strung, zipping around his enclosure.  I had no idea you could keep a ray as a pet.

Under Ray

Here he was showing off his belly. I can't decide if it looks like he's frowning or smiling.  We fed the larger rays in the tide pool.  They don't have teeth, but they have some power behind their jaw.  If you don't let go of their lunch, you'll get nipped!








Okay, so that's the end of the fish story.  Next: I saved a diving duck from the mean streets of Chicago!  Stay tuned!

Something 's a little fishy in here. (post 1/2)

Okay, so yesterday I talked about shooting through the glass.  I got the chance to take shots of fish at a large fish/aquarium store.  Today I'm just going to post the pics that I got that I liked.  No big discussion today. :)

The Aliens Have Landed

 Isn't this guy a trip?  I have to say that I love that this aquarium uses a lot of flat black backdrops.  Especially here.  If anyone wanted to know if there was proof of aliens visiting Earth, I could show them this shot and probably have a few believers!   It's actually a form of boxfish called a "Longhorn Cowfish."

Anemones Do Not Eat Chocolate Chips

 This was shot in a re-created tide pool, so there was no glass.  The starfish here is about half the size of my hand - maybe three or four inches tip to tip - and is called a chocolate chip seastar (It is not a starfish it is not a starfish it is not a starfish!  I know, I know, most of us grew up calling them starfish, but since they aren't actually fish at all there's a movement to get people to call them seastars and be more accurate) .  Something tells me chocolate chip cookies taste better.  On the tour we were allowed to touch the anemone out of water.  It's very odd to feel an animal that has absolutely no structural support to it's tentacles.  It was like handling mobile jelly!

Yeah, come on.  Check out my blue teeth...with your finger.

 This is a Harlequin Tusk.  It's actually a form of wrasse, which strikes me as odd.  I always think of wrasses as being much smaller and more torpedo shaped, but there it is.  What's really awesome about this guy is that he has blue teeth.

More Moray

I adore eels.  I'm not entirely sure why, but I suspect it has something to do with going to the Shedd with my grandparents as a kid and looking around the huge coral reef in the center for the big moray there and refusing to leave until I found it.  I got to feed this guy - using a grabber stick and some fair amount of contortion to get the squid into the tank.  He's a vicious little eater!

Psst... Is the coast clear?

Here's the anemone I showed before.  The starfish was being passed around to the tour, so this little red shrimp started poking his head out from under this little flat cave he was hiding out in.

A Shrimp Pairing

I'm not a huge fan of seafood, personally, but even if I was, these shrimp are far too small to be worth eating.  And besides, they're way too pretty.

Peekaboo, I see you too!

Everything I'm finding online says this should be some kind of jawfish, both in shape and behavior, but I can't seem to find a species that matches in color and has the little horn.  Any aquarists out there who can help me out?







Okay, that's half the shots from this trip.  It figures I had just a few more than I was comfortable putting up in one post, but not really enough to have two full posts.  Oh well, I'd rather err on the side of caution and not break anyone's internet with ridiculous load times. :)

I'll put up the rest tonight or tomorrow.

Flash On the Glass

So as a nature photographer I can encounter birds and mammals and even amphibians in their natural habitats without having to account for their environment any more or less than I would any other subject, like a plant or a person.  But marine life if a whole different issue.  Unless you're a certified SCUBA diver and you have an underwater set up for your camera, your opportunities for shooting animals that spend 100% of their life underwater will involve shooting through glass.

As a child one of the first pieces of advice I got regarding shooting through glass was "You absolutely cannot use a flash to shoot through glass."  That was probably oversimplified for my six or seven year old self at the time, but the fact does remain, it's hard to get a good shot through glass.

So of course it figures that some of the most colorful animals in the world are fish and various invertebrates that live underwater.

Who said plaid went out in the '70s?

Like this guy.  Seriously, a plaid fish.  It's a plaid fish!

If Key West could design its own fish

Or this guy.  Who looks like the result of letting an eight-year-old little girl color in the fish. Dotted lines?  In aqua and bright yellow?  (And I have to love that the ring around the eye is also aqua and yellow - though you may have to enlarge the shot to see that.  It makes the false eye on the tail even more awesome.)


Now, if you look at these shots, you can see that it is possible to get good shots through glass.  I wasn't jumping in their aquariums with my Canon or anything!

The first thing you have to establish is whether or not flash photography is allowed.  Most public aquariums are no flash zones.  This is for the health and safety of the animals, not to mention the people you're going to blind if you keep firing that thing.  Many aquatic life-forms prefer dark environments to help them avoid predators and in order to keep from stressing the animals, the aquariums will set up a dark viewing area and dim light in the tank so that you can see what's in there.  If you keep firing your flash and then it bounces off the glass, you're going to really annoy the other guests.  And the staff, who will probably have a few things to say to you.  I know that I always cringe when I forget to change my settings after moving from a flash-allowed area into a no-flash area and the thing goes off.

So, basically, if it's not allowed, don't be dumb and do it anyway.

But when it is allowed - it's your fish tank, or it's an area where they aren't worried that the animals are going to be harassed all day, every day by flashes - you can get some good shots.

I was at this absolutely massive tropical fish store called The Living Seas Aquarium last weekend for a tour and they allowed me to take photographs, flash and all.  Most people heading in there are there to actually buy fish and fish paraphinalia, not just stand around and stare the fish like they would be at, say the Shedd Aquarium, so they didn't mind a few flash shots.

So, what happens when you do shoot against glass and do it wrong?

First of all you can see the flash reflected in the glass.  You can even tell that my on-camera flash is rectangular.

You can also see any fingerprints and smudges on the glass.  If you're the one in control of the environment, a quick swipe with some Windex will solve that problem.  But most of the time we're not in charge of the glass and we'd look a bit silly whipping out a spray bottle and paper towel at the local zoo.  Though, they'd probably thank you for it. :)

If your subject is right in front of you when you fire directly at the glass you get the above two problems as well as obscuring your subject.

Additionally, as you can see well in this last shot, when the light is bouncing back at you, it's not going into the tank and the shot remains dark anyway.


So what can you do?

First, shift to a 45 degree angle or less to the glass.  Shooting at a 90 degree angle to the glass (straight at it), is what gives you the bounce-back.  So try something like this:

I've found that this can create a few different problems, but it solves the biggest problem of flash-bounce.  However, most aquariums are set up to be seen from right in front of it and if there are pumps or hoses or things that have to be visible they're often put on the sides or in the corners and many times these are now in your shot.

The pipe behind this fish drives me buggy, but it was the best angle I could get to see the fish clearly.  This isn't a shot I'd enter into an art show or anything, but if someone said to me, "What does an Emperor Angelfish look like" this picture would work just fine.

The other thing you can do is try to avoid using the flash.  Try turning up your ISO or widening your iris and see if you can get away with out it.  If you're shooting a crustacean like a lobster or shrimp or something else that sits still, pop your camera on a tripod (again, if it's allowed where you're shooting) and just go with a long exposure.

The one place I absolutely cannot shoot is the shark tank at the Shedd.  It's dark in the tank and since they're open water animals there's not even coral or rocks to give contrast.  And since they're sharks, they never. stop. moving.  So it's impossible to shoot down there since flashes aren't allowed.  So if you have a moving target, you may just be out of luck if they didn't give you enough light in the habitat to get good, quick shots.

If you've got good equipment, a flash diffuser would obviously help.  I've made a poor-person's diffuser out folding up a piece of wax paper and holding it in front of my on-camera flash.  It helps when shooting shiny things like some of my ceramic work, but it's not a huge help when trying to shoot into an aquarium full of water.

So, while not the most advisable thing ever, you can shoot through glass using your flash if you're careful with how you do it.

South Pond - 8.18.10 - Post 2 (The Birds, the Bees and the Fishies)

Okay, last set of shots from Wednesday, so that I can start going through my shots from today, before I got out again tomorrow.  :)

Wasp on Orange Flowers

A wasp on a flower.  At this size it's a little harder to see, but the stripes on his abdomen are almost green.

I may have mentioned this before, but photography has completely wiped out my sense of self-preservation when it comes to things that could puncture me.  (And that's just so wrong, given my huge phobia of needles and such).  But I no longer go, "Look, a wasp!  I should move away."  I go, "Look a wasp!  Hey sit still so I can get closer and get a nice clean shot!"  This is going to bite me in the ... uh... arm?  eventually, isn't it?

Bee on the Wing

I love that the bee's body is still and reasonably in focus in here, but his wings are moving far too fast for my shutter. And when I'm outside on a nice day, I'm shooting pretty fast.  This particular shot was at 1/400.  That means this bee flaps his wings faster than 400 times a second!  I also caught him with his 'tongue' sticking out. :)

There's Thin and Then There's This

Remember what I was saying about not having the sense to run the other direction in the face of puncturables?  I spent a good three minutes getting this thread-waist wasp.  Doesn't he look like he came shipped in two pieces?  I love the shadows in this one.  There's the shadow of his antennae and the fact that the upper-left corner leg is bent, but the sun is straight over it, so the shadow is straight.  And that stinger... I really need to start being afraid again.

Little Heron Waits for Lunch

 Here's another juvenile heron.  I guess they're getting big enough to fish for themselves now.

Goose Gets to the Core of the Problem

 This goose looks like he's freaking out over something, but he was fine.  A kid had tossed his apple core into the pond and the goose snapped it up.  He'd gotten it bitten into manageable pieces and was working on choking them down before anyone else could grab them.

Wood Duck, Almost Grown

A wood duck.  Where I grew up we had Canadian Geese and Mallard Ducks o'plenty.  But that was pretty much it for waterfowl.  So I'm loving the fact that Chicago has a population of different ducks, like wood ducks. This happens to be a juvenile male.  Juvenile males are colored more closely to and adult female, but they have a white neck patch (easy to see in this shot).  Adult males have red beaks, females have gray beaks.  All juveniles have gray beaks.  In this shot you can see where his beak is losing the gray and coming in red.

Algae Forest

The water was incredibly clear.  This looks like an overhead of a forest shot from a plane.  It's the algae plumes coming up from the bottom and not reaching the top.  Everything in the shot is under the surface of the water.

Fish in Algae

 


 
 A little further around the pond, the algae is a little browner and there are tons of fish in it.  Occasionally I'd see a Blue Gill, but they were jittery and would take off before I could get a shot.  There were tons of these clear guys though.  I think they may be X-Ray Tetras.  Which I do find kind of funny if they are, since I drove all the way up to Niles to take pictures of X-Ray Tetras in a pet store for my nephew's animal alphabet book.

Fish in Mid-Swerve

More fish.  I like how I caught the one on the far right side in-mid swerve.









Okay... now to sort the shots from the Lincoln Park Conservatory, the Lily Pond and the east side of the North Pond.  (It was a busy day today.)

Chicago Done Naturally (Post 7 of 10) - The Shedd Aquarium

The Shedd Aquarium

This is probably my favorite place in the entire world, but it’s a tough shoot.

The whole Shedd is a no-flash zone, which makes shooting moving targets – and most marine animals are constantly moving targets - really hard.

Technically, they’re also a no-tripod zone, but I’ve discovered that if you aren’t obnoxious and don’t try to set up in front of a really popular display or during a really busy time, the staff won’t bother you too much. The exception to that seems to be down at “Fanta-sea” – the dolphin/whale/penguin/etc… show. One time I went and set my tripod up so that I could use it while seated (so it wasn’t sticking up in front of people, and I wasn’t standing in the way) and they were fine with it, another time I was asked to take it down. So *shrug*. No one’s ever been nasty or threatened to bounce me out or anything, so I’d say, give it a try, the worst that’ll happen is they’ll ask you to take it down.

The Shedd has some wonderful opportunities to get in while there’s not a lot of other people. Check for events like “Jazzin’ at the Shedd” where you can be one of only a hundred or so people in the entire aquarium for a few hours. Events like this are not ridiculously expensive and can give you much better shooting opportunities.

Are you an educator? Show your ID and get in to everything for free!

To hit:
The penguin exhibit is lit fabulously. You’re shooting through glass, but it’s pretty clean and clear. You can usually get your tripod set up on one of the two observation levels.

Some animals are amazingly still for aquatic life and you can run a long shutter without getting noticeable blur. Look for the map turtle, the lobsters, sea stars and blue iguanas. (Though I think they’re still working on breeding the iguanas, so they’re on and off exhibit somewhat randomly.)

There’s a tank of eels in the Wild Reef that’s tons of fun. If the eels are being still, they’re easy shooting – decent amount of light - but sometimes they’re just too active.

This is a tough shoot, but look to see if they still have the live shark eggs up on the wall. These things are AMAZING. They have three shark cases with living embryonic sharks in them being backlit on one wall. You can see the sharks moving in their cases. It’s awesome. They’re pretty well hidden, though. You’ll almost be out of the Wild Reef exhibit and they’re basically on a wall behind you. Ask a docent if you can’t find them. They’re worth looking for.

To miss:
No matter how much I know the lighting conditions are awful, I always try to shoot in the Ocenarium. This whole area is backlit with Lake Michigan behind the large tanks, so there’s light bouncing everywhere. There’s a ton of light coming in, even on a cloudy day, and it’s really hard to shoot anything like that. Give it a shot, but don’t be surprised if it’s tough. Because, seriously, wouldn't this have been a great shot if it were properly lit?

The shark tank in the Wild Reef is great to watch, but we’re talking sharks – animals that never stop moving – EVER – and are in a huge dark tank. Go watch the animals, they’re fabulous, but shooting is nearly impossible.