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December 19, 2006

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While I lived in Virginia for about six years, I never took the opportunity to visit the Baltimore aquarium. But while I was out there over the Christmas holiday, I finally went. I have to say that, although it was extremely crowded, it was still very impressive and a wonderful  experience. I have always been fond of public aquariums and have been to numerous ones from Texas to Oregon and to even Sydney, Australia. They all have their neat features and all are interesting in their own ways. But no matter how cool they are, I have always been a bit disappointed in my photography in these places. It just seems that there's so many factors that make it quite difficult in getting the best possible shots. 

While I was in the Baltimore aquarium I took more than 300 photos. But I must say that most of them are not very good, and I only was able to get a few good shots. The first problem, of course was the fact that the place was incredibly crowded, and it made it very difficult to get close to some tanks and try to take a picture within a reasonable amount of time and to allow others to get in close as well. 
Then another problem is that the lighting in these places is usually set for mood and best viewing of creatures and objects within the tanks and somewhat awkward for adequate and easy photography.
 So using a flash might seem to be the best option here. However, this obviously doesn't work when facing directly towards a tank, since the flash will simply reflect off of the glass, and blind the camera. So, like in many other cases with the similar situation, I then just adjust my position and angle slightly to the side so as not to be directly facing the glass. But when I do this while taking pictures through thick aquarium glass, and water, the images almost always come out very blurred, due to the very high ratio of natural refractions through the glass and water. Even facing directly towards the tank was difficult to get clear shots through all these variables.
Another problem was in trying to just take pictures without the flash and just use the ambient lighting in the tanks. This would actually be my preferred method of shooting them anyway because it would give a better and more realistic appeal. But for some strange reason, fish just don't often seem to stay very still, and with the longer exposures necessary, they are not easy to capture.
So then even another problem is in trying to get the best possible focus as well. Just as I would be having a hard time in getting a good clear shot, through the refracted glass and water, so does the brain of the camera's automatic focusing ability. Pardon the pun, but the camera keeps "fishes" around, trying to lock in on some sense of solid lines, when there really are none that are consistent enough.

So, all in all, the aquarium visit was a great experience. But trying to get any real good photos was quite frustrating and I sure am glad that I had a digital camera and didn't waste all that film. But I think I did manage to destroy some more of my brain cells and pushed myself just a bit closer to the brink of insanity. But then again, if I did go crazy, how would I know?

Anyway, I think for the next time I'm just going to get an underwater camera, grab a pair of rubber hip boots, and just jump in the tank with the fish. I'm sure I could get a handful of pretty good shots before security could catch up with me.

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