How do you all take such great photos?

[NewFishKeeper]

Mine are always blurred!

So whats your secret to great fish pics?

[MatsP]

Short summary:
1. A camera that has a good close-up capability (Macro).
2. Good lighting, either flash or lights in the tank - cameras record light, so there must be light to make a photo.
3. Patience.

--
Mats

[NewFishKeeper]

Ah thank you

typical really my digi cam doesnt have a macro setting

[Chrysichthys]

In that case set the camera to its highest resolution, take the picture from far enough back for it to be in focus, then crop and enlarge it.

[Mike_Noren]

One tip I don't think anyone's mentioned: take lots of photos and bin all but the very best. Even with my fairly fancy gear I typically take nine failed photos for every good one, and when I had a simple point-and-click it was probably closer to 99 failed for every good one. But even with a point-and-click it WAS possible to take good photos, it was just much harder.

But you really need a camera with macro capability.

[pureplecs]

As was said above, a macro is VERY helpful but along with that is definitely A LOT of patience and a large memory card...lol... I agree that you take a lot of pictures and pick out the very best! Patience, patience, patience. Everyonce in awhile you get lucky and snap and click and get a perfect picture the first time...

[Jools]

The most common mistake I encounter in terms of "hopeful" photos sent into me are getting too close to the fish with a camera that doesn't have the ability to get that close. This is usually done to get the fish to fill as much of the image as possible, but lose sharpness of focus. It's better to take the picture from much further away, meaning the fish is smaller on the photo but at least it is in focus and could be cropped into a decent enough shot to use.

If you take the step up beyond that, it's all about the stuff the guys have been discussing above.

Jools