New to Aquatic photography

[Steve G]

I have Digital Rebel with the kit lens. I recently bought a 580EX flash and a ST-E2. I bought these so I could put the 580 on top of the tank. When I this it is over exposing the fish. I have tried bouncing the flash off of the hood on top of the tank and it does not help much. Most of the pics I have taken the fish are in the middle of tank. I have a 120 gallon tank that is 26 inches tall.

If you use the 580 with the ST-E2 you cannot put it on manual.
I do not mind buying another flash, to put on the tank if I know that the 580 will set it off and it can put in manual. I could then use the 580 in the hotshoe pointed up a little and the new flash on top.

Does anyone have any suggestions?
What flash to get?
Do I even need a second flash?

Thanks

Steve

[paradise]

Hey Steve

First of all, it will be very hard to shoot in a 120 g tank. A lot of room for the fish to swim and unless they are right under the flash, you will have exposure uneveness.

The 580 can be totally adjusted in strength, and also, you can control exposure by using higher shutter speed and lower aperature, if it's overexposed.

I am using STE2 and a 420EX for my photos. 580 is so much better.

And yes, you can use it in manual, dont know why you would not. I just played for 3 days with a setup of 2x580 and a STE2 on my 20D. Worked like a charm.

[hir0]

i'd suggest shooting in full manual mode. this way you can increase shutter speed and aperture together. also you can dial down your exposure with compensation.

[meriadoc]

yes, but the 580EX is an ETTL-II flash (the 20D is ETTL-II also), the Digital Rebel (NOT the Rebel XT) is ETTL. It will not allow you the same flexibility as the 20D for flash photography.

[Steve G]

Thanks for your reply’s. I figured out how to put it on manual when it is being used a slave, for what ever reason I was missing that part in the manual. When I get a chance I will take some pics and see how they come out. I know a 120 g is hard to shoot but I can wait for them to come into the shooting area. They are african cichlids so they are pretty active and moving around a lot. Am I going to be better off getting a second flash get some light from to front to fill in? If so which one would you recommended? I saw article on here were the guy was using three, one on top, one pointing up at a small angle and another small one from the side of his camera. I just got a Photoshop so I guess that is another whole process to learn. Again thanks for your help. I am new to the site and from what I can tell most of the people on here know what they are talking about and are willing to share that info.

Steve