We began accepting applications for IAPLC on April 1st.

In this contest, pictures taken with smartphones are also accepted. It is possible to improve the picture quality of aquascapes with a little technique and take sufficiently beautiful pictures even with a smartphone.

We are introducing some techniques to take beautiful pictures of your planted aquarium with your smartphone in this issue. Please use them as references.

 

Remove all devices except lighting equipment before shooting (Remove water from external filter). Don’t forget to clean inside and outside of your aquarium tank.

 

Install a colored board on the back of your aquarium tank in order to hide artifacts such as wallpapers. By setting the board diagonally, simple gradation can be made on the back of the aquarium.

An A1 size board is the perfect size for a W60cm aquarium tank.

 

Colored boards can be found at home improvement stores. Pick a color that suits your aquascape.

 

If light from lighting equipment directly enters the lens, the color of an aquascape fades. So you will need to shade the light source with a board. And if a board with a white back is used, the front side of the aquarium tank can be shot brightly.

4. Preventing something unwanted from reflecting on the aquarium tank surface

In order to prevent unwanted images of something from reflecting on the glass surface of your aquarium, turn off indoor lighting and shoot with only the lighting of the aquarium tank. By closing curtains and shooting at night, reflections can be further reduced. But, smartphones and photographers are likely to reflect when shooting. So try the following tricks.

① Wear black clothes

Images of light colored clothes and hands are easy to reflect on aquarium tanks. Therefore, wearing black clothes and balck gloves can help reduce chances of unwanted images to reflect on the aquarium tank surface. If a smartphone itself is in light color, put a balck cover on it.

 

②Step back from your aquarium tank

When there is no black clothes or gloves available, try stepping back from your aquarium tank and shoot from slightly diagonally above. It can reduce chances of unwanted images to reflect on the aquarium tank. Look for a location where images of a photographer don’t reflect.

 

③ Use a selfie stick (tripod)

Stepping back from the aquarium tank while using a selfie stick can reduce chances of unwanted images reflecting on the aquarium tank. And if releasing the shutter from a distance with remote control while using the selfie stick as a tripod, reflections can be significantly reduced.

Apply here for IAPLC.
https://iaplc.com/app/en/info.html