Dallas World Aquarium

[OpticalPrime]

wife and I have off work tomorrow and my son has been wanting to go there for 2 months now. Figured we try and make a little weekend out of it. Were thinking of getting a hotel and going to the Aquarium.... Couple questions...

anyone been there? love to see some examples of some pictures. This will be my official first "shoot" with my new SLR camera and still dont have that "eye" yet, but I can always copy

my son is 8 and my daughter is 2..... neither have ever even been to Dallas, any other ideas in area that we could do to fill in our weekend yet also get some good pictures?

[OpticalPrime]

ok, we figured out some things to do... now a more technical question for a newbie. My camera has a UV Hoya filter that I have on my lens, but Im wondering if I need another kind or do something special when trying to take pictures of the aquarium? Any tips with doing that? Thanks!!

[Wes]

I've been there a couple of times, but have never shot there. As for shooting into an aquarium I'm sure you'll get a lot of advice here. Never done it myself, but would imagine that you would shoot at an angle to avoid reflections.

On a totally different subject, what happened to your Trophy store? I needed to pick up some team trophies this past spring but you guys were not there anymore.

[OpticalPrime]

wow, how did you know I had a store? Are you the one I met about a year ago?

Anyway, had the store for about 5 years and finally had enough. Before owning one, I managed one for 3 years and before that worked for my grandparents who owned one... Needless to say, I was trophy-ed OUT.... Time for a change. I sold it back in Sept.... So far, been a great decision...

[JohnT]

I've found that the best way to shoot into an aquarium is to get as close to the glass as possible in order eliminate or minimize reflection. That's what I did three years ago, and it worked great. Of course, you'll need a fairly wide lens to do this.

[OpticalPrime]

well I only own one lens at this time, so it will have to work. Iv never been to this place, but hopefully I can get pretty close. Im imagining that it will be somewhat "dark" in there and I wont want to use my flash. So Im thinking I want 2.8 aperture.... And because fish and and other things are moving quickly, Im thinking fast shutter speed....

[raevyncent]

I would assume a poloarizer filter might help with reflections too.

[3n-Out]

Set ISO High (800 or higher for sure) if shooting without a flash. Lowest Aperture possible and as the others say put your lens against the glass if you can - that really helps if you are using a flash.

[Wes]

Originally Posted by 00bolt

wow, how did you know I had a store? Are you the one I met about a year ago?

Yeah, that's me.

[GUER03]

How did the shoot go? I'd love to see some of your shots. I've shot there several times and one thing I did was take a small flashlight to light up some animals like the Vampire bats and some of the frogs and spiders. It's kinda hard to shoot because of the darkness, the small windows that you have to shoot through, people waiting in line to see the animal, and the kids running around bumping into you and your equipment.

I love it there though. Here are a few shots from my visits.

http://g3pix.com/wildlife.html

[ShutteredEye]

Originally Posted by raevyncent

I would assume a poloarizer filter might help with reflections too.

My CPF cuts too much light to be of use at DWA, but it's a good thought. Anyone know of a CPF that doesn't also act as NDF?

[OpticalPrime]

here are a few pictures in my signature. I took alot of pictures, but these are my favorite. I still havent edited them in any way, trying to figure out which software I like the best. Been using Aperture, but to be honest, not crazy about it. Like the way Lightroom and Elements flow better. But not sure how to upload pictures to my mobile me account using those... lol

[mmcaleer]

Originally Posted by GUER03

How did the shoot go? I'd love to see some of your shots. I've shot there several times and one thing I did was take a small flashlight to light up some animals like the Vampire bats and some of the frogs and spiders. It's kinda hard to shoot because of the darkness, the small windows that you have to shoot through, people waiting in line to see the animal, and the kids running around bumping into you and your equipment.

I love it there though. Here are a few shots from my visits.

http://g3pix.com/wildlife.html

Nice waterfall shot!