Today In The Fishroom ~ 1/24/11 More Managuense

I almost feel like I should apologize for posting so many photos of the same two fish.  :D   They're just so damn easy to take pictures.  I do strive to get "something different" when it comes to the pose...if you can say that fish are in fact, posing. 

There's only so much you can do beyond making sure any driftwood or plants are in the photo.  You are limited to the lens and the light...and to some degree...the angle.  This particular tank is on the upper rack in the fishroom.  Some of the photos were taken with me sitting three feet below the bottom of the tank shooting up. I have a standard tank light with two bulbs.  I turned one of the bulbs off...just enough for the D3 to auto focus.  Three flash units...two on top and one on the bottom pointing up from a bare bottom tank.  All of the flash units were diffused.

When the pair are breeding...which seems more often than not...it's easy to get them together.  If you take a look at this shot you can see how the female appears to be slightly separated from the male behind her....the caudal fin being clearly visible.  This was due to the placement of one of the top flash units.  The light was placed about half way into the center right (just about over the males caudal fin...while the other was in the front left of the tank.



One of the challenges when you take the photo is trying to eliminate shadows.  You can see that under the chin of the male.  I spent a lot of time trying to balance the lower light to avoid hot spots.  In the end it really all depended on how close to the bottom of the tank the fish were.



Sometimes you can get a dramatic lighting effect when one of the fish are swimming into the lighted zone.  By the way, last two shots I was sitting below the tank bottom line. (Nikkor 105mm macro lens)



Also below...and a good example of just being in the right place at the right time.  I really liked this shot.  If I had a do over I would have had more light on the bottom flash.



Another example of the right light at the right time.  The male was chasing the female.  Once again that top back light was in the right place to catch both fish.  The bottom flash was a little off casting the females lower face in shadow....still, cool action shot.  The fact that I was below the tank gives it a different feel.



Good example of the right amount of light...and the benefit of experimenting with different angles.  Shot from below.



The male is about 13"...give or take.  I wanted to get a few of these "heads up" poses from below.  Believe it or not I have a trick that works 90% of the time.  All I do is put the lens cap of the camera on the top of the glass.  their curiosity gets them every time.



Beautiful colors.



And while I can take great care in setting up the lights, sometimes it's just being in the right place at the right time.  Say Ahhhh.



I have more for later.  This was the best of the hundred that I shot.