World Aqurium this Sunday

[Davidtxs]

Me being the great son that i am volunteered to take my mom. sister and niece to the State Fair Music Hall Sunday for Mamma Mia, also me being the not big fan of musicals lol has a few hours to kill while they are inside. I think im going to check out the World Aquraium in the West end.
Ill take
D70 28-75 10 20 and 50 1.8 p robably and the SB 800
any suggestions ? or anyone want to meet there ?

[bluevenus]

I've been to the Dallas World Aquarium several times and find it a fun but somewhat frustrating place to shoot. The one plus thing is that it's air conditoned...however it's very dark inside and the pathways are very narrow. They do not allow tripods but monopods are OK. I would suggest a very fast lense with a fill flash and omnibouncer for inside around the tanks..a longer lense for the rainforest area. I also would not suggest eating there because the service is slow.

Hope you have fun and get some good pictures

[gardener]

Went to see Mama Mia Tuesday night and it was a great show... That said, you won't have "several" hours to kill. The show is 2.5 hours even with the intermission thrown in so counting travel time back and forth to downtown, parking and what not, you may end up with only an hour or so to visit the aquarium.

[JohnT]

You might already know this, but when you're shooting the aquariums, put your lens as close to the glass as possible in order to cut down or eliminate the reflection. Also, some of them are rather dark so a flash will be needed (I see you've got that covered).

It's a fun place to shoot so enjoy!

[RaymondShay]

David,

I go there a lot I guess. For the mammals your 70-200 is what I used last time, although it gets pretty heavy after an hour or two. A macro of some type is pretty handy as well for the fish.

One mistake I made at first was to try and get only photographs of the animals and fish. I now believe the best photography is taking photographs of the people interacting with the animals.

I don't know whose kid this is, but thanks for letting me borrow him for 1/20 sec.



Just a thought. Anyway, I hope you and your family have a lot of fun (go early, 10 am).

[dsjsws]

Originally Posted by bluevenus

I would suggest a very fast lense with a fill flash and omnibouncer for inside around the tanks..a longer lense for the rainforest area. I also would not suggest eating there because the service is slow.

Hope you have fun and get some good pictures

I agree with the quote above. I take two cameras. I have an 85mm 1.8 for the fish tanks -my 50mm 1.8 works even better but it isn't as versatile for other interior shots. On the other camera, I use the 70-200 2.8. I always use a flash with an onmi bouncer for fill flash as well as additional lighting.
The DW Aquarium is not the best for photography, but they take very good care of their animals and it is air conditioned. I joined just for the last two reasons.

Photos can be seen at the link below:

http://www.photoarchive.tcu.edu/Main.../DWAindex.html

Donna