A few sad attempts...

[~.:Olive:.~]

I am seriously trying here...these are from a 3rd tank...not the reef and not the seahorses ;)

I played with aperature, and ISO....even tried reading the hand book....I am going to keep trying and hopefully will soon by posting decent shots. Until then, I throw myself at your mercy to please try and figure out what I am doing wrong. I used a tripod as well but the pictures still seem "blurry"...maybe it is the tank...or maybe investing in a new lens is really what I need..I used the canon 18-55mm...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v681/soapyolive/IMG_3076.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v681/soapyolive/IMG_3083.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v681/soapyolive/IMG_3085.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v681/soapyolive/IMG_3089.jpg

[alanhill]

I don't think you're doing anything very wrong. You just need more practice.
Make sure the glass and the water are very clean (the puffer shots show some particles or bubbles in the water). Get as much light into the tank as you can - I guess you're using the tank's own lighting, if so I'd suggest a setting of 600 or 800 ISO, because the lighting is fairly dim in photographic terms. I'd try some shots at 18mm wide angle setting for general tanks shots and at 55mm for fish portraits. Sit in front of the tank, preferably with some support in front of you to rest the camera on (or to rest your arms while you hold the camera) - I sometimes use a dining chair turned round so I can rest the camera on the back.
I'm not sure how much control you have with your camera. I suggest a shutter speed of 1/125 second would be good (1/100 or 1/80 would be OK) and then let the camera choose the aperture if it can (shutter priority mode) - hoping that it will be something like f/5.6 or f/8 - larger numbers are better because you get more depth of field, so more of your subject will be in focus (look at the first puffer shot - only the little area round the eye is really sharp).
If possible, make a note of your settings (your camera will record them for you, but you'll need to read the instructions to find them) and post them with your photos, so we can diagnose problems in more detail.

Alan

[~.:Olive:.~]

I guess this tank isn't very "clean" it does have a lot of particles in it...puffers are soo messy!

Your advice will help....maybe tomorrow when I have free time I can work on it a bit more.

Thank you so much!

xxoo

[Ibn]

Also, consider turning off your pumps when you have another go at it. It'll create less movement/bubbles and other distractions in the tank and will be easier for the camera to attain focus.

[squidfish]

Hi Olive

Hope you don't mind but I took one of your images into photoshop for a few miuntes. I don't know if you use photoshop but there are some simple ways of rapidly removing the majority of particles in the water that have been captured by the photo.

http://aquatic-photography.com/gallery/files/4/9/0/cleanup.jpg

I posted a quick guide to doing this here...

http://aquatic-photography.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3955

You might find it of use someday :)

The only other thing I did was used the burn tool on the highlights of the over exposed rocks at the back and run the shot through a Fred Miranda Velia (which works very nicely for marine fish) and sharpening plugin.

Cheers

Rich

[~.:Olive:.~]

The article is amazing...just show me how much I really do need to learn! Seems rather simple as well....I will have a go at it with a few pictures this weekend!

Thank you...really makes a big difference, hopefully I can accomplish something similar.

xxoo