A Horse of Different Color or They're and Swiming Off

Yesterday was the scheduled opening of the new Secret World of Seahorses.

This peek through the door shot was taken. I asked to take a walk though for pictures for my blog, they said no. Or Well. So I was just happy to see the Aquarium was still going strong after these years. A weekend trip to the California Coast is always an adventure for our family. So everyone, Get up off the couch, go somewhere with your family or spouse and take a walk.

One of the Things I have noticed is every public aquarium has at least one exhibit with Clown Fish. Disney's feature film Finding Nemo gave an entire generation the interests in these fish.

At least everyone that has visited with a camera has tried to take a picture of these fish. They are very photogenic.

They are good practice at this type of shooting.

The move slow enough you don't have to track them and move enough to be interesting.

Are these fish an ideal model fish, or is that an ideal fish model?

What I want to say, is some fish seem to move so fast they are nearly impossible to track in the low light/flashless conditions. While other fish don't seem to move at all.

No matter what your technique happens to be for taking good images of these creatures, it is a skill worth developing. No tripod, no flash and low light/usually a nice bulb placed above the tank to stimulate the native light conditions.

The Monterey Bay Aquarium has these impressive tanks which model the nearly the Monterey Bay from the waterline to about 50 feet below sea level.

Then if you get tired of fish watching. You can always people people watch.

Do you ever wonder what people are thinking when they watch fish?
It is almost as interesting as watching the fish. I asked one of docents about how the fish seemed to interact or react to some people and the colors of clothing they were wearing.

Step Right Up!

DSC_4486, originally uploaded by jestrbob.

Step Right Up Folks!

This was the cry of the circus barker, inviting people into the show tent.

And that's what this blog is about.

Going back to a recent theme of one of my older entries:

Where do you go to take pictures?

One of our club members answered: Zoos.

He had displayed a interesting picture of a young tiger taken at the Fresno Zoo. Shooting in a zoo often allows people to experience the excitement of taking pictures of animals with little cost and risk.

In this image and the next two images. I took my shots in an enclosed area at the Aquarium.
This is possibly the best chance most people could do, short of laying out on a beach in a blind.

It is good to practice these shots in low light without a flash. and will hone a person skill at taking the shots of birds or animals so they can get the best possible shot when they are in the blind.

These were shot back to back, with a few seconds between the shots. I shot about 30 or 40 shots in this enclosure alone.

An Aquarium or Zoo building is also a great place to practice shots with no flash, using the available lighting. Most Zoos dislike you using flashes as it tends to upset the animals.


Inside at the Tanks the goal is to avoid the reflections and ghost images.




































Can you see my reflection?

I didn't use a polarizing filter, which might have eliminated the reflection, but most polarizing filters tend to drop the amount of light available.

Then there are the extreme reason you can't use a flash.

This is a Amazing relative of the Seahorse called the "Sea Dragon"

They are very photosensitive and there are dozens of signs around on the wall "Not to use flashes" and "No Flashes" in the area.

I have a few more images, taken at the Aquarium which I still have to process and post.

A good reason for returning to your local zoo or aquarium, never forget there are new displays being built and opened.

It just so happens one will this very next weekend. I did manage to get a preview shot through the door.

I need to do a bit of post processing and will try to post the preview image tomorrow.