A few people have e-mailed the Cichlid Page asking how I took the pictures of the fish. Since I know very little about photography and lost the one book I had for reference, I don't know if I should be giving anyone advice, but here it goes. My camera is a 15 year old, manual Yashica 35mm. I have a bounce flash attachment that has a swivel type head that can change the angle of light from 0 to 90 degrees. I use the flash on the manual setting. I usually use ASA 100 film.
I have found that room light or the tank lights are never enough for taking a picture. If you slow down the shutter speed you'll get blurry fish. Using 400 ASA or higher film results in a grainy image that doesn't show the detail you want even if you have managed to get it in perfect focus. I always use my flash because I haven't found a better way yet. Sometimes the flash can seem to wash out the colors. Recently a friend of mine suggested I try putting a layer of tissue over the flash to dim the light a bit. I haven't had time to try this out yet. All the tanks I take pictures from are similarly lighted with fluorescent tubes, so I use the same F-stop on most pictures, F-16. The guide on my flash recommends F-16 for objects 6 feet away, but the water in the tank and the tank wall absorb and distort some of the light. If I'm not sure, I'll take some at F-16, then move down one stop and take the same shots over. I have had more trouble with not enough light than too much. If I was more meticulous about recording the F-stop setting, the depth of the fish in the tank and which tank I was shooting, I'm sure would solve a lot of my lighting goofs.
There are three things I try to do as I take the pictures:
Keep the lens of the camera as close to the front of the aquarium as possible. I try to have it touching the tank. This to keep reflections out of the picture. Sometimes you have to move back to get the picture but try to avoid it. Usually you can look for reflections in the viewfinder and find a way to minimize it. Angling the camera in relation to the tank can sometimes help but it can also distort the image of the fish. Sometimes I can see it in the viewfinder, sometimes I don't see it until the pictures come back.
Aim for the foreground of the tank. I set my lens on it's closest focus and wait for the fish to come to me. I would guess 12 inches into to the tank is a good limit. The water tends to look cloudy and murky and the fish dull when you focus deep into the tank. (Any dirt or algae on the tank will show up in your picture too, so be sure someone has cleaned and polished the tank).
For each picture I aim my flash. I point the flash so that it will bounce off the underside of the water surface and reflect down to the area I plan to focus on. I guess the angle and it seems to work. Pointing the flash directly at the fish causes too much reflection.
Now, remembering this you select your shots. When I'm ready to shoot, I look through my viewfinder into the tank and figure out what are the places I'm likely to get a good picture. I focus on that area and wait for the fish to swim into view. This way I only make small focus adjustments, keep my lens against the tank and don't have to keep adjusting my flash. If the fish don't show up, move to another spot. Cichlids are pretty good about coming to check you out. This is where I succeed as a photographer, I'm very patient and I think that makes up for what I don't know about technique. My biggest problem is fish that want to come too close to me so that they are out of focus. If I back away I get a reflection of myself in the picture. My friend suggested I try a zoom lens for better picture quality, I will try to get him to take some shots with his camera and zoom. I also miss a lot of shots because I am slow at fine tuning the focus as a fish swims by. I still only get about 4 or 5 good pictures from each roll of film.
Well, I hope this is helpful. I would like to hear from anyone else who takes picture of their fish, and how they do it. Send an e-mail to the Cichlid Page.