I'm off to birmingham sea life centre on the 10th August just really asking for advice on how to take photos of the animals there as I've never done photography in such environments Thanks Lisa
It depends largely of the light and the behaviour of the fishes and other animals. Basically it's harder to photograph mobile or small fishes in dark environments, and the contrary for static, large fishes in light tanks. And it's needed to be very patient. Nonetheless I've managed to take pictures of much species when I went to aquaria, without any flash (personnally I don't like it, as it gives ugly reflects to the picture, when it isn't forbidden)
My experience with shooting indoor settings or aquariums come with a few factors. For faster moving subjects such as fish, shooting at higher shutter speed is a must such as 1/250-1/500. unless it’s a larger fish such as Sand Tiger Shark and Giant Sea Bass which can be caught at slower shutter speeds. Using a single point focus helps me not get it back focused due to constant movements of my subjects. Another is aperture: unless the aquarium has the strongest fluorescent/LED lighting, having larger apertures work in two ways. At minimum of f/2.8 but I think some lenses that are at f/1.8 would be better if the subject isn’t too far, or for smaller aquariums. It will not only allow more light in but also isolate your subject better. By shooting with larger apertures, the ISO levels won’t be the same and produce a more crisp photo. Newer cameras handle ISO levels much better but it’s best to keep those levels as low as possible. Lastly, at option of a polarizing filter and/or wear darker clothing. The polarizing filter will cut down on glare from external lights lighting walkways for guests that can sometimes bounce off the ground and hit the glass. The reason for darker clothing is that it will allow for light to also bounce less off yourself which can also cause a glare, it’s a problem I have and try my best to wear darker clothes when doing my trips.
I always liked using a collapsible rubber lens hood in these kind of places. It's flexible and allows you to basically seal the lens against the glass blocking most of the outside reflections, and permits shooting at slight angles to the tank. A black cloth wrapped or draped around the lens hood will work also, A bit more of pain to use.
Lots of good advice here, and I agree with almost all of it (except for the use of polarising filters which cut out too much light - particularly as the lighting is not very bright at Birmingham). I recommend that you have a good look at the photos taken there in our Gallery: you will see that the most recent are the ones I took last year. I found that I had to use higher ISO settings than I normally choose because the lighting in many places is quite dim - but I was prepared to do what was necessary to get a photo if it was possible. The first exhibit with the gentoo penguins is actually one of the brightest, so make the most of it Then you work your way up the building past a wide variety of pools and tanks: each one has its own challenges and I found that it was impossible to get worthwhile images in some of them with my equipment. I am sure you will want to take photos of the sea otters at the top of the building. It isn't easy. The spotlights seem very bright, until you actually try to use your camera and find that they are not nearly as bright as they seem - but they are very contrasty, which makes things difficult. Adjust your camera for low contrast if you can. For more details look at my post Sea Otters at Sea Life Birmingham [SEA LIFE Birmingham] For the sharks, rays, guitarfishes and the turtle in the main tank, I found that the widest angle setting of my zoom lens was the most useful. I could not get any decent photos through the curved plastic of the tunnel through the tank; I took all my photos through the flat windows by the stairs and the lift at the start of the tunnel and round the corner from the penguin window by the entrance to the gift shop. Enjoy your visit!
Thanks for all advice it's been a very busy day here at the sealife centre but I did manage to see thr otters which I really wanted to see
