Photographing Fish...

Personally, I think watching fish is so relaxing, so naturally, I thought I would find photographing them relaxing also. It turns out, this is not true. It is so hard to get them in good light, and they so often hide behind plants or are obscured by random bridges in the tank. First off, I tried to take photos with the tank light off, but the glass would have reflected the flash, and I didn't want to stun the fish, so I then had to turn on the tank light, and wait for the utter panic of the fish to die down. Fish get unexpectedly panicky about light. So, the light was making them look very bright and vibrant, but with the light on, they are much more likely to hide, becuase they take a long time to get used to the sudden brightness. EVENTUALLY, they appear from behind the plastic plants, and I start to try to take some decent photographs. However, this proves difficult, as they are more interested in eachother than my camera, as they should be, so it is a very rare occasion that I catch one of them in a good position long enough for me to take the picture. It is more difficult than you would think, constantly tracking the exact positions of six fish simultaeneously. But, for all my moaning, I did get a couple of good shots of them.

 This is Romeo, my Mr. Grumpy Gills. (I swear I've never seen finding nemo :P)

 This is Priscilla. My mother named her after Priscilla Queen of the Desert, because she looks like she is wearing lipstick.

 Here, from left to right-

Romeo (big one at the back)

Priscilla (orange + white)

Oliver (Orange)

Annie (Yellow + white)

Pip (orange + white hiding at the back)

Sandy (all yellow)

Yes, I name my fish after book/film characters. It used to be just Romeo + Juliet, but Juliet died, so we got Pip, then we got the others. :)

 Pip. (Named from Great Expectations.)

Annie, looking decidedly grumpy. 

Ok, I know I'm weird, talking about my fish as if they were people, but people misjudge fishes' intelligence. They have a reputation for being forgetful and thick, but my fish all have personalities, and they know what time of day we feed them, what the noise of the opening of the cupboard means (food), and they throw pebbles at the glass if you dont feed them at their feeding time.

Yes, fish are smart, and one day, they're going to take over the world.