Oceans and Wetlands

Phil U. · March 21, 2005

My wife Leigh and I spent the weekend in Virginia Beach. While there, we visited the Virginia Marine Science Museum (what can I say, we like aquariums). Their website is: http://www.vmsm.com/index.shtml They cover everything from the ocean to saltwater marshes.

Here's a few from there. You can see the rest at: http://philu.smugmug.com/gallery/445933

While I complain about the parents unwilling to control their screaming brats, I am often entertained by the kids' reactions to standing in front of the big tanks...

I even found a bird for Harry... :wink

BridgeCity · March 21, 2005

I love the DoF in the first shot

And the slight motion blur of the shark in the picture with the little boy. Looks like you had a good time and got yourself some great pics.

Nice set, thanks for sharing

Phil U. · March 21, 2005

BridgeCity wrote:

I love the DoF in the first shot And the slight motion blur of the shark in the picture with the little boy. Looks like you had a good time and got yourself some great pics.

Nice set, thanks for sharing

Thanks - we did have a good time. The weather wasn't the greatest but it's always nice to get away...

Harryb · March 21, 2005

Hey Phil,

Outstanding shots

and you even made a contribution to Egret Fest

DoctorIt · March 21, 2005

this shot is great:

shooting through glass never gives me results this nice. Awesome

Steve Cavigliano · March 21, 2005

Good work Phil

These are great

So colorful and so sharp. Are you sure you weren't in the tank with 'em?

I have the same issues shooting through glass as Doc. They just never come out clear

Looks like you had zero problems with that. I'd have to pick the golden fish as my fav, but the rest are close behind,

Thanks for sharing these,
Steve

david_h · March 21, 2005

Great pictures, especially for shooting through glass. Makes me wish we still lived in South Jersey near the aquarium so I could try my hand at it.

Phil U. · March 22, 2005

Harryb wrote:

Hey Phil,

Outstanding shots and you even made a contribution to Egret Fest

Thanks Harry - When I saw it, I said to myself, "Oh yea, I gotta get this for the bird-nut."

Phil U. · March 22, 2005

DoctorIt wrote:

shooting through glass never gives me results this nice. Awesome

Hmm... when you have tried, how did you do it? This is the third time I've shot in an aquarium and have only had glass issues from couple of tanks (the ones where they have a second piece of glass sepearate from the piece I'm able to touch).

I got lucky at the first aquarium and found a technique that works for me. I grab the lens barrel and put it right up on the tank. This blocks out light and reflections from our side of the tank and makes small dust and smudges invisible since they're way out of the DOF. Yes, it minimizes your options for composition, but at least your image quality will be much better. It also steadies the camera for the slow shutter speeds. It's worked for me thus far...

Thanks for the compliment!

Phil U. · March 22, 2005

Steve Cavigliano wrote:

So colorful and so sharp. Are you sure you weren't in the tank with 'em? I have the same issues shooting through glass as Doc.

Thanks Steve!

See my response to Doc. How have you shot when you've tried? If you get a chance, try it with the lens barrel presed up against the glass and see how that works for you.

The 2 largest issues i've had have been the slow shutter speeds and color balance. I've only really gotten good results with the fish that will sit still for a couple seconds (enough time for me to line up the shot and hit the shutter). The color balance is tricky since you obviusly can't do a manual WB with a white/grey card. They use different lights in different tanks. Most of the time the "florescent" preset gets it close enough to adjust in post. Sometimes have to pick a different preset - I've used 'em all.

Phil U. · March 22, 2005

david_h wrote:

Great pictures, especially for shooting through glass. Makes me wish we still lived in South Jersey near the aquarium so I could try my hand at it.

Thanks! When you do try, share the results with us!

Oceans and Wetlands

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