My First Visit to the Tennessee Aquarium

I had a great time visiting the Tennessee Aquarium today. I had heard nothing but great things about it, and it did not disappoint. Of course I took a camera, and I decided to take my Olympus E-M5. It’s a small mirrorless camera and I’ve been using it a lot lately. It’s also a micro four thirds camera, and it has a 2x crop factor. So if I use a 20mm lens, it’s really like using a 40mm lens.

Here is a link to the entire set of photos from the visit.

Photographing an aquarium is not easy. You have to deal with a wide variety of lighting conditions. Some of the exhibits were in rather dark rooms, while others were like being outside. Also, since you’re looking through a lot of glass you will often have to deal with light reflections.

For this outing, I only used two lenses. One was my 20mm f/1.7 pancake lens. It’s really small and the large aperture makes for good shooting in dark conditions. The other lens was a 12-50mm zoom. The aperture isn’t very large, but in the brighter exhibits I was able to zoom in tighter than I could with the 20mm.

Here are a few of my favorite shots.

Red-Shouldered Hawk Silhouette

There are quite a few red-shouldered hawks in the Kennesaw area. This guy was waiting near an area where I’ve seen lots of rabbits.

Mockingbird

I love photographing animals, and I am fortunate to live in an area where there are many species of birds for most of the year. Mockingbirds have always amused me. Not only are they great singers, but they have a lot of attitude. They have no fear chasing off cats or even large hawks. They definitely have personality.

Seeing Double

I spotted these two youngsters over near Kennesaw Mountain back in August.

Buck Fight at Berry College

I am a proud graduate of Berry College, located in northwest Georgia. There are herds of deer all over the campus, and I was fortunate to see a fight between two bucks on my last trip up a few weeks ago. The camera is a bit shaky because I was shooting at a very high zoom without a tripod. I just didn’t have time to get set up.

Photographing Nature

I probably take more nature photographs than any other kind. I’ve always been interested in animals and landscapes, and I’m always on the lookout for photo opportunities. Birds are especially abundant around here, so expect lots of photos like this one.