New reefer starting

[mkoop]

Hello everyone! I have been lurking around the forums for quite some time and recently decided to join as I purchased my first ever tank.

I have been a photography enthusiast for a few years, mainly working with a Nikon D200 and doing macro photography.

I recently ordered a 180g tank and am waiting for it to arrive. I plan to document everything for a blog from set up through cycling and stocking.

What I am not overly sure about is photographing the actual fish/corals once the tank is stocked. While I have done a great deal of macro photography, vary rarely has it been done through acrylic or any type of glass for that matter.

This brings about a question - as higher levels of macro require more and more light. I have an SB-910 but am unsure how to properly bounce the flash for a tank. (Or are you relying on the tank lighting? Does it provide sufficient lighting?)

The other option of course would be setting up external lights which may be the better idea over the flash anyway. I am fairly certain a direct flash would be bad for the fish - but does bouncing it off the ceiling through a disperser work?

I will be primarily shooting with a Tamron 90mm f/2.8 SP AF Di Macro Lens.

Any tips would be appreciated - thanks!

 

[IslandCrow]

Your thinking is essentially correct. For corals, you can rely on tank lighting if you choose, because most corals aren't going to move, so you can compensate for the limited lighting with long shutter speeds. For fish, you either need to shoot at rather high ISOs or use off camera flash. There are a few ways to do it. You can use on-camera flash (a real flash, not the built-in flash of course) as long as you keep the lens close to the glass, but getting the flash off camera is certainly the way to go. I haven't owned a tank for awhile, so I didn't get to really refine my technique, but I'd usually either position the strobe(s) on the sides of the tank, or I'd position a reflector above the tank to the front and about even with the lights and have my flash positioned beneath the lights and bounce it off the reflector. Then, I may have some fill light coming in from the side to add some depth, as this approach produces somewhat flat lighting.

Shooting through glass and water definitely has its challenge, but with some practice, I'm sure you'll do fine. The other big things are to clean the glass, turn off your pumps, and eliminate any extraneous outside lighting (turn off overhead lights, close curtains, etc.).

 

[Misled]

Remember, the D200 has a Remote Commander built into the camera. I use it for these guys,

I also use the on camera flash at times. As long as the lens is right up to the glass, there's no reflection.