Trouble with Fish

DaveP

DaveP

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Edit My Images
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Could anybody help, i'm relatively new to photography and I keep Koi and have been taking photos of them for a while but i never seem to do them justice, every picture just seems to say Oh yes it's a Koi, can anybody give me a few pointers or tips to try and bring them to life.

Dave:bonk:

koi.jpg
 
do you use a polarizer filter?
would get rid of the reflections
 
Are they all in a pond - or could you put them in a glass tank for photography? I could give you some pointers then.
 
I did use a polarized filter but probably didn't use it to full effect, I’ve also tried taking the photos just above water level but the little bleeders just swim off, if I throw in food it's as though they haven’t been feed for weeks and I just get a picture full of blur and movement.
 
AWP thanks for the comment about the glass tank but the smallest fish i have is about 3lb in weight and the biggest is 8lb, i don't have a tank big enough to house them.
 
ah! pity - because if you could 'get down to their level' i.e. through the glass then it all gets easier - you can light from the top with diffused flash and the sand/gravel underneath reflects enough back to fill in the belly. It's always going to be difficult shooting down on them - not the best angle - as you've discovered - hard to light - and you have diffraction problems as the light passes through the water as well.
 
It's extremely hard to take shots of fish in a pond due to diffraction making them look very flat and less 3 dimensional. You may find the only way to get around the boring images are to make good use of other elements for the image composition. Try to focus not just on fish but other related elements which you think may add some interest. As always, best way to take images of fish is through glass, going to their level and/or as StuartH (above) recommended, get a wetsuit and an underwater housing for camera which usually cost bombs.

Your image isn't all that bad but you only really have one Japanese Koi fish in the frame with the rest being chopped due to them swimming out/framing/cropping or whichever. Maybe if you can get a few more perhaps showing full body length and being able to see the eyes would help.

BTW The D40 is a great camera. :) Ponds are just too hard to light unless you have lots of natural or artifical llighting, from the image you appear to have used ISO1600 which tells us of poor lighting.

Here's an image I took of one of my Goldfish in my little aquariam using a polarizer to remove reflections too:
1398301567_ab2e1263cf_o.jpg
 
Trouble with Koi is they have been bred to be looked down on and show best that way. You don't want to stress your fish by taking them out. I suggest you try and get higher and shoot them from above, maybe a step ladder? Don't fall in though ;)
 
Thanks all for the comments, i'll take them on board and post the results hopfully showing improvments
 
I agree with the best photos of Coi tending to be shot from directly above, and also that you may need to focus on other things aswell as the fish to get a brilliant photo.
 
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