Good settings for shooting fish(canon xti)

[colorfan45]

I have a canon xti with a 100mm macro.I am not good a taking pics at all or with cameras. What are some good settings to take pics of my fish. Should I shoot with everything on full auto. Thats what I do now and it just isnt what I was hoping for. Any input in as simple as possible terms would be helpful. Thanks

 

[gparr]

I usually use ISO 400, f/8 or f/11, flash, and the fastest shutter speed I can get. I shoot everything in manual mode, including manual focus. Auto focus is too easily fooled. With practice, you can learn manual focusing. ;) Your goal is to keep the eyes in focus. I put my flash, in manual mode, on the camera hot shoe and tilt the flash to the first angle stop. The main blast from the flash will go to the ceiling, but the fringe light will go into the aquarium, lighting the fish without the glare. If you put a white card on your flash you'll drive more light into the aquarium. I put the flash in manual mode so it will always discharge a full blast of light. Sometimes I'll only use half power. If you leave it in ETTL, it'll often cut off the light and underexpose the shot. You have to play with settings to get the correct exposure for your aquarium.

You'll probably find that 100 mm is too long for fish shots. I usually use my 24-70 zoom, but currently am having good results with my 85 f/1.8 and an extension tube.

Gary