More Seahorses at Monterey Bay Aquarium

tisun · April 22, 2009

Thanks to aktse and dadwtwins, whose recent threads (here and here) on the new seahorse exhibit at the Monterey Bay Aquarium motivated me to get off my comfy couch and visit the exhibit. Seahorses are tough to photograph as many of them are kept in dome tanks with thick glass that distort these little creatures. Some of them had so much distortion that I couldn't get a small seahorse in focus in entirety through the viewfinder. Stepping away from the tank probably would help but with people behind me waiting to get closer to the tank, that wasn't going to happen. I simply moved on. I do have a few shots, though.

1.

2. Head-on collision: These two were going fast and collided. It was a blast watching them trying to untangle themselves.

3.

4.

5.

6.

The weedy and leafy sea dragons are easier to photograph because they are kept in a big tank with a flat glass panel. Moreover, they float around and slowly move all over the tank.

7. Weedy

8. Leafy

9. Leafy

10. Leafy

11. Lastly, anemone

Thanks to aktse for her advices on how to capture these beautiful creatures.

Cygnus Studios · April 22, 2009

Great shots. The aquarium is a fun place to shoot. You captured the colors very well.

aktse · April 23, 2009

tisun wrote:

Thanks to aktse and dadwtwins, whose recent threads (here and here) on the new seahorse exhibit at the Monterey Bay Aquarium motivated me to get off my comfy couch and visit the exhibit. ...
Thanks to aktse for her advices on how to capture these beautiful creatures.

It's not my advice -- it's dadwtwin's advice. I *struggled*.

I was seriously going nuts inside that exhibit and needed a swift kick from him in order to get my head screwed back on correctly.

And I think you did quite well! The glass really makes focusing incredibility difficult

tisun wrote:

These were my favorite of the bunch! I think considering the conditions, you did an excellent job!

clap

And I found that I had the easiest time with the leafy/weedy sea dragons!

tisun · April 24, 2009

Cygnus Studios wrote:

Great shots. The aquarium is a fun place to shoot. You captured the colors very well.

Steve, thanks. It's a great place to visit... and shoot. I'm going back.

aktse wrote:

It's not my advice -- it's dadwtwin's advice. I *struggled*. I was seriously going nuts inside that exhibit and needed a swift kick from him in order to get my head screwed back on correctly.

And I think you did quite well! The glass really makes focusing incredibility difficult

These were my favorite of the bunch! I think considering the conditions, you did an excellent job! clap

And I found that I had the easiest time with the leafy/weedy sea dragons!

April, thanks for passing along dadwtwins' advice.

Now, after photographing these seahorses, jellyfish seems easy. The Outer Bay exhibit is another story. That tank is so dark. It's too bad there is no sunfish there now.:cry