Carnegiella strigata fasciata - Marble Hatchetfish

[benny]

Hi guys,

I was keeping quite a lot of these previously now I have only 1 of them left. [smilie=sad.gif]

Anyway, here are some pictures of them in 2 different colored backgrounds.

http://benny.clubsnap.org/gallery/albums/album16/IMG_3623R.jpg
Was trying to light the fish from behind to avoid the reflections on the scales. But not ideal in my opinion.
The yellowish/reddish background is caused by the flash hitting the Rotala indica. Background is blurred using a smaller F stop.


http://benny.clubsnap.org/gallery/albums/album16/IMG_1360R.jpg
Usual technique, flash from above, but in front of the fish. Hot spots on the scale is evident. Background is just narrow leaf Java Ferns.

Any suggestions on how to reduce hotspots/reflections on scales of small fishes?

Cheers,

[Finz]

Try firing the flash through a piece of white paper!

On the baby occelatus pictures I was using one flash above the tank and one in front about a foot away. The one in front had a white hand towel in front of it! The flash above the tank was firing through a tranlucent plastic tupperware container.

[CDM]

I like the green background one, though there are some hot flash spots.

[JerseyJay]

I definitely prefer #2 picture.

#1 picture looks a bit washed out while viewing on yellow background.

I agree w/ James, try diffusing the flash .

[benny]

Thanks guys.

For the first picture, I was trying something I read off Max's (from Sweden) site. He mentioned that to effectively shoot neon and cardinal tetras with out the reflection on the scales, the flash should be positioned slightly behind the fish. Obviously, I don't have much success with this technique. The background is usually too bright for my liking and the colors on the fishes are muted.

As for the second picture. 2 flash was used. One above to light the background, the other one at 45 degrees point to the front glass pane of the tank. Both flashes were already diffused with an omnibounce. I'm still struggling to get it right, but the fishes are so darn reflective!!

Cheers,