Photographing hippos?

[bigyankfan]

Why don't hippo tangs photograph in the correct color? I thought maybe it was me (or my camera) but I noticed other people's pics of hippos also show them a washed out blue. Everything else in my tank is the right color so I am confused? Do I need a blue filter to correct for this? Thx for your help?

 

[finksmart]

I had the same problem and after hundreds of shots found the trick is to not use Flash and get custom white balance by placing a white object into the tank water and use that as a reference for white balance on your camera.

 

[regal]

Mine seems OK.

 

[marki24]

it has to do with the actinic lighting cause a neon reflection

 

[Pedro Nuno Ferreira]

Why don't hippo tangs photograph in the correct color? I thought maybe it was me (or my camera) but I noticed other people's pics of hippos also show them a washed out blue. Everything else in my tank is the right color so I am confused? Do I need a blue filter to correct for this? Thx for your help?

Hi bigyankfan ;-)
I took this picture on August the 7th 2006 of my then baby Hippos (Paracanthurus hepatus) when they gathered for sleeping, so there was almost no light other than the one from the last two actinic lights to go out, the blue led moonlight and the flash from the camera, a simple Konica Minolta Dimage 50

Is this the blue you are complaining of?
What camera do you use?
What settings do you set?

Cheers
Pedro Nuno ;-)

 

[Alex]

don't know what camera you have, however if you have under and over exposure ( the + and - symbols) you can adjust the exposure by half or whole stop.

if you did not understand what I said and you are going to the swap sunday, bring the camera and I will help you out.

 

[bigyankfan]

First, thanks to all of the people who responded.

Pedro, that is exactly what I am talking about.
Kenny, I tried with no flash and didn't even have to manually adjust the white balance. BTW, in the top picture you can see the pygmy angel and he is the correct color.
Alex, wouldn't over-exposure cause the colors to be even more washed out? Would underexposure make the blues bluer?

With flash (top) and without (below):