Taking Good Pictures

[driverdale1]

Unsure which category to ask this so if anyone knows a better one then please advise. However the question is...i have a 3 year old Nikon Coolpix L110 camera...not the greatest i know but its what i could afford. Id like to take pics of my tropical fish but the pics are not very colourful and sometimes blurry....would someone in the know please advise the correct and best settings for this camera to enable decent pics of the fish?...camera in general takes decent pics outside the fish ones, thanks in advance

[Buenchico]

Blur comes about through two reasons. Either the subject isn't in focus or too slow a shutter speed has been used. To ensure that the camera doesn't choose a low shutter speed you need lots and lots of light. (Alternatively you can force the camera to use a fast shutter speed but you'll then have a very limited depth of field which, with the fish swimming towards and away from the lens, will be difficult to handle and probably produce 'out of focus' results).

So, initially at least, forget about the camera settings and work out how you can maximise the light in the tank. If it's a very small tank (or you can temporarily move the fish into such a tank) you can move it close to a window or, far better still, actually take it outdoors. Otherwise take your pictures on a bright, sunny day, with the curtains in the room open as wide as they'll go. Then try to add to the light by pointing every available desk lamp at the tank. (That might slightly throw the colour balance out but Photoshop could probably correct it with just a couple of clicks anyway).

With all that external light you'll need to avoid reflections off the glass, so you'll need to get the lens of your camera right up to it. (That should also prevent your camera from trying to focus on the glass, giving you a better chance of being able to focus on the fish).

Unless you're very lucky (with the fish staying still just at the right moment), you won't get any decent pictures with a shutter speed slower than 1/100 of a second but 1/500 would be a better speed to aim for.

The foregoing, of course, assumes that you've not got suitable flash equipment available, as that would allow you to maximise the light and freeze the action.

Those are just my initial thoughts. This offers far more detail:
http://www.tfhmagazine.com/details/articles/fish-photography-secrets-full-article.htm

[gingejbee]

...and, in addition to Chris's splendid answer, you could tell the fish to keep still!

[bhg481]

Don't try to use the camera's own flash as that will just reflect of the tank and wreck your picture, although you might get away with it by having the camera at an angle to the tank.
The problem with compact cameras is the autofocus method used. A beam of infra-red light is bounced off the subject and the focus distance is set by the time taken for the reflection to get back to the camera. This is fine for most uses but, in your case, it will result in the camera focussing on the front of the tank. The solution, if you can, is to use manual focus but this option is rare on compact cameras. The next best option is to set a small aperture ie, a large F number, which will give you a greater depth of field, and try to photograph the fish when they are close to the front of the tank.

[bhg481]

The problem with gingejbee's idea is that fish have a very short attention span so, even if you could persuade them to keep still, after a couple of seconds they'd forget and swim off again. Better to put the tank on the freezer for an hour or two - the fish would keep still but you might have problems getting them to move again.

[Buenchico]

^^^ Some good points about focussing from Bhg481.

However I've noticed that if, say, I want to take a picture of my cats playing outside, through a window, my camera will focus on the window itself if I stand back from it but it will focus through the window (and onto the cats) if I put the lens right up against the window. Perhaps Driverdale1's camera will do something similar if he puts the lens right up against the glass side of the tank? (He'll probably need to do that anyway, to avoid reflections from the glass). Some experimentation might be called for!

[bhg481]

Another suggestion for improving the shutter speed & aperture that you use is to set the ISO to a large number - done either via the Menu or there is sometimes a dedicated button on the camera. Try using the highest ISO available and check the results; if it's grainy turn it down one notch - repeat as necessary.

[EDDIE51]

Reflexions can be eliminated by using a polarising filter. I would not attempt to take photos of fish in a glass tank or in water without a polariser. You can get them for all standard lens diameters , they just screw in to the filter ring on the lens.

[EDDIE51]

^ You do not have to use a higher exposure with a polarising filter , it only filters out reflected light.

[237SJ]

I was going to say the same thing re a polariser. It will cut out some of the surface reflection.

[bhg481]

I must admit that I didn't look-up your camera and, seeing "Coolpix", assumed a compact which don't usually take filters. Having now looked it up the recommendation of a polariser is good and I think the focussing will be fuzzy logic, not infra-red.

[EDDIE51]

You need an adaptor tube to fit a filter to the L110
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/261279604636?clk_rvr_id=1208009151528&rmvSB=true

[EDDIE51]

^ and a 67mm Polariser
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hoya-Digital-Circular-Polarizing-Filter/dp/B000KL5T9G

[driverdale1]

Ummmmm im thinking this is going to be costly.....Sooooooooo, ill give up with the pictures ( did manage to take a reasonable video with the camera the other night ) thanks to everyone for taking the time to help, much appreciated.