Capturing the Art of Nature
The Undersea World
The exotic creatures of the sea are definitely not the easiest animals to photograph. Fortunately, the Vancouver Aquarium was there to help. This story takes place on March 24, 2007
Category
Macro Collections
2007
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It had been a miserable wet few months and I was getting far too trigger happy to stay at home and not get out somewhere to take some photos. Driving through the hills in the rain had lost its excitement long ago and though I needed to get out, the hills just weren’t appealing. Then it struck me that I hadn’t been to the aquarium in ages and I might be able to find some interesting shots there.
So Ethan and packed up and left for the Aquarium, unfortunately so did half the city! It was so crowded with weather grumpy people and families and screaming kids that it was difficult to move, and hard to get good positioning for taking pictures not to mention how hot it was. But we were there and though busy I was still able to find some interesting items to photograph.
One might think it would have been easy to get good shots in this setting but between the people and the glare off the glass coupled with the skittishness of most of the fish, getting decent shots was not easy. I had decided to take only my D200 to reduce weight, which was a mistake, the faster focusing of the D2x would have come in very handy.
Despite the negatives it was still a fun trip, viewing the many colourful sea creatures was well worth the bother. It always amazes me that the colours are so intense and varied between species. Some of the creatures are so intriguing and some are so ugly! The variety in the colours of sea life seems far more extensive than what is found among land creatures.
In the end, I did get a number of decent shots which I added to my published portfolio. I do plan to come back on a day other than a wet week-end so I can take more time to set up for each shot to get more of the faster moving fish. I first need to find or make a type of cloth tube for the front of the lens that will reduce the glare from the aquarium glass, and then the quality of the images will be greatly enhanced. And yes the outing did appease the growing urgency I was feeling to get and squeeze that trigger finger!