Photo etiquette?

[chichimom79]

I came across this paragraph in an article that was linked a few years ago and wondered how you all feel about this or if you've even heard of it...

"A second guideline for taking aquarium pictures deals specifically with taking pictures of fishes. When displaying a picture of a fish it is proper to take a picture of the left side of the fish. In other words, the fish is facing left. This isn’t always possible, and in general a picture of a fish facing right can be flipped and mirror image is used. There are of course exceptions to this rule including: never flip a picture that has a human in the photo, never flip a picture of a non-bilaterally symmetric fish (i.e. flounders), and internal dissection pictures are taken on the right sides of the fishes."

I borrowed a pretty nice Nikon to try and get some cool shots and was looking for pointers and came across that. My thought is, wtf does it matter if I take a picture of the right side of my fish??

 

[kbuser92]

Must be aesthetics..?

 

[Big K]

Some people have to have rules for everything. Even really stupid rules. Think of it as a mental security blanket.

Also, someone should really tell Live Aquaria these rules, as their photos are from either side. lol

 

[mariobrothersleeve]

+1 big k. If i ever turn left..... I must turn right too or my weight will be unbalanced.

 

[FishyReef]

If I can actually get any clear image of my fish at all, who the f* cares what way its facing!

 

[chichimom79]

I agree!
So I keep messing with this camera and I'm getting a little discouraged. My father had no manual or software to show me how to use it and I can't even figure out how to turn off the flash! :frustrat: I press the flash button and it... does nothing! Anybody with a Nikon that might be able to help me out? I would really appreciate it. This is a Nikon D40

 

[BL1]

How to Turn Off the Flash on a Nikon D-40 | eHow

 

[chichimom79]

Thanks BL1!

 

[chichimom79]

Except it's not working... I knew I wasn't just an idiot :(

 

[bjohanson1234]

Have you check Nikon's web site for a manual? Many manufacturers publish the manuals in pdf format.

And BTW, the left side is a more slimming picture. You don't want your fish feeling self conscious :mrgreen:

 

[chichimom79]

Have you check Nikon's web site for a manual? Many manufacturers publish the manuals in pdf format.

And BTW, the left side is a more slimming picture. You don't want your fish feeling self conscious :mrgreen:

Yes, the manual has barely anything in it. I think it came with a DVD that my father is currently looking for. I'm going to start searching youtube as well. I'm a visual learner lol

 

[BL1]

I'm not sure if you have the same manual but page 34 is use of the flash. http://www.nikonusa.com/pdf/manuals/noprint/D40_noprint.pdf

On another note, I have a Nikon cool pix that the flash button doesn't work anymore but everything else works just fine. Could be the same issue.

 

[chichimom79]

Nope, not the same thing I found. Very helpful. Thank you!

 

[RockStacker]

Those guidelines might be more in line with scientific photographs to aid taxonomic tasks, not with photography in general. (ie. some scientists do not know the front end of a species if they have never encountered it before, so they try to keep orientation consistent).