I don’t like using flash with aquarium photography. Well-placed lighting sources such as spotlights or overhead lighting work better for me. Sometimes I even use side-lighting. But, that’s just my opinion.

Maybe you want to try it. I will share some tips to help you if you choose to use a flash.

If you take a picture using a flash straight on into the tank… you are going to be disappointed. You will get glare from the glass washing out your picture. The best technique to avoid this is to shoot flash pictures from an angle to the glass. This will avoid the glare.

Increase the lighting inside the aquarium to its brightest setting. This will eliminate unwanted shadows and will give your pictures a better perspective.

Eliminate Glare

You can use a hood for your camera lens that will eliminate glare on the aquarium glass. Made with soft rubber, these hoods will not scratch the aquarium glass or acrylic. Click here to read more about camera hoods.

If you decide you want to try flash with aquarium photography, make sure you take plenty of shots. In this age of digital photography, we are not limited like we used to be in the age of film. Remember that? For those of you that are too young to remember 35-millimeter film… Rolls of 24 pictures meant you had to choose your shots carefully.

Those days are behind us now. Shoot as many as you please, and delete the ones that don’t work out.

Experiment with your camera settings. Compare your shots with the aquarium’s natural coloration and adjust your camera’s white balance setting to a different preset.  (Sunny, Cloudy, Fluorescent, Incandescent, etc) This can help the color balance.

I wrote an article on aquarium camera gear and proper settings which may help you. Enjoy!