Advice on aquarium photography

[peterv]

I have a planted freshwater aquarium that I wish to take some quality shots of and am wondering if any others here may have some advice.I'm using a high quality adjustable LED over the tank,but was thinking that maybe I should use flash over the water to get a better result.

Currently I am in the process of growing the plants out to where I wish to enter an international competition,so I need to start figuring how to achieve the best results.The equipment I use is listed below.Thanks.

[mudman]

can't help on the lighting but would suggest a dark cloth behind camera to reduce background reflections in the tank glass

[Redgums]

You'll need to match the colour temp of any additional lighting to rhe LED over tank lighting.

It is likely that you'll need fairly long exposures so ensure all water circulation (pumps, filters and airstones, as well as any CO2 injection) to keep everything still.

light fall off in water is different to air so you'll need more power, but reflections are your worst enemy - beware of reflections from rear and side panels as well as internal reflections in the glass front.

as there are a few specialist aquarium photographers around (most in Zgermany) a check with Professor Google should turn up some hints.

good luck and post photos ... Nothing like a well planted aquarium!

check the setup towards the end of this tutorial.

http://fish-etc.com/knowledge/how-to-photograph-your-fish-and-tank-part-1

[mpb]

The search function on ausphotography is also a good feature to use.

I found this old post http://www.ausphotography.net.au/forum/showthread.php?555-Some-advice-if-possible&highlight=aquarium (http://www.ausphotography.net.au/forum/showthread.php?555-Some-advice-if-possible&highlight=aquarium)
some good information there.