How do you take pictures in to your tank from above?

[gmyers0203]

Hey all,

I tried searching everything I could think of to find this answer but apparently wasn't searching the right thing.

I have seen so many awesome pictures where the photo was (appeared to be) taken from above the tank. My understanding (and I swear I saw somebody mention something about it in a thread) is that you can place something on top of the water to increase the clarity, making it look almost as if the camera was underwater. What I picture is something like a magnifying glass, without the magnification.

Am I crazy or are there different items out there that people use to achieve this? Any guidance would be appreciated! :D

[Reef Bass]

Well, you can just turn off the pumps and shoot straight down. Not very complicated.

Just to be clear, nothing you place in front of the lens is going to increase clarity. Ok, maybe a polarizing filter when there's a lot of glare, but generally speaking.

Some people use an open end acrylic box. Box goes in water. Lens goes in box. You have to be super freakin careful not to push the box in too deep or water goes in box and water goes in lens. Bad.

The upside is you can get lots of interesting shots from angles you couldn't get shooting perpendicularly outside the tank. In essence, keeping the front of the lens on the floor of the box means you always shooting perpendicularly through the "glass", so you don't get the off angle distortion.

You should also make sure that your camera and lens is capable of focusing up close, or as close as you intend to shoot. Not all cameras and lenses will focus a foot or less away from the subject, even if you have gone to the trouble of securing a plexiglass box and have it in the tank pointing at your favorite coral.

[gmyers0203]

Cool, thanks!

You are definitely right about the clarity issue.. I think I used the word in poor fashion. When I typed that portion I was thinking clarity in the sense that the object would calm the water at the point you were taking the photo, which is essentially what you mentioned with the plexiglass box.

I'm also picturing cutting a 2" section out of a 2 liter bottle and placing it partially in the water, which would obviously calm the water inside the ring. But I think like you were saying, turning off the pumps would be way less complicated. I'd probably need 3-4 hands to accomplish what I'm envisioning.. maybe not.

Thanks though!