P3D Re: Aquarium photography

[Ronald Beck <ronald-beck@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> I think the reason is that the water absorbs the light. I don't 
> recall exact meter readings now, but it was pretty dismal.  I tried 
> putting my strobe head directly on the glass with a PC cord, but the 
> water absorbs light sideways just as easily.

You are correct that the water absorbs the light.  Colors fall off
quickly in the ROYGBIV the deeper (or farther away) you get.  Reds fall
out in as little as 7-10 feet.  That's why most of the u/w scenes you
see on TV are blue.

And, don't forget that the light has to travel out and back, compounding
the loss by the time you get back to the camera.  That's why I like
taking u/w macro photography.

> 
> I suspect the problem is that suspended particles diffusing and 
> absorbing the light, not to mention reflecting some back at me.  I 
> suppose this is more true of the slightly cloudy water one usually 
> finds at an aquarium.  I might get better photos in perfectly clear 
> ocean water somewhere, but that opens up another kettle of worms.
> 

Nope.  First, there's no such thing as perfectly clear ocean water. 
Especially when diving with a big group :-) :-)  Seriously though, it's
hard to get good u/w photos without background scatter and a strobe
tends to light up particles you might not see.

For aquarium shots, I would recommend placing the strobe at the glass as
you did and then wait for something substantial to swim near the glass. 
Keeping the strobe at approximately a 45 degree angle from the lens line
will minimize the illumination of the background scatter.

HTH,
Ron