atomicphoto

We did a story on a local canoe livery, so I took it as an opportunity to break out the fish tank and swim trunks. For those who don’t know, putting your camera inside a fish tank can provide enough protection to partially submerge a digital camera under water. For this shoot, I wasn’t too concerned about what was going on under water. I just wanted a unique perspective to show the canoers and kayakers from a low angle.

I think the tank I use is actually made for crabs. It looks a lot like this one. With my 16-35 attached, I can sit my 1D snugly at the bottom of the tank. Sometimes I put a towel over the camera if I think there is a chance of splashing. I switched the focus to to shutter release priority and set the focus point to the top middle position. At f8 in aperture priority, the results are pretty decent. The tank is small enough so that I can maneuver it around easily while guessing at the composition and pressing the shutter button.

There are some drawbacks to shooting through a plastic tank. After the first time I used it, I learned that the jagged teeth of the UV filter scratch the plastic easily. There are now several circular scratch marks that I have to shoot through. You can see that there was some abnormal flare that the not-so-high-quality plastic created while shooting directly into the sun. I probably could have done a better job of avoiding it by keeping the sun more to my back.

I’d love to get some feedback on whether or not this shot works for you. Hit me up in the comment section.

CAPTION:
Josh Kauffman, 16, of Grove City takes off for a four-mile kayak voyage down the Darby Creek from Trapper Johns canoe livery on July 23. Kayakers and canoers can launch from Trapper Johns and get picked up down creek at several different stops.