ABQ Bio Park Aquarium & Botanic Garden Visit

On May 18th, Barbara and I volunteered to serve as chaperons for grandson Jim’s 7th grade field trip to the Albuquerque Bio Park Aquarium and Botanic Garden. I knew that my duties as a chaperon would prevent me from taking the time necessary for capturing properly composed quality photos, but I took my Nikon D7100 DSLR camera and Nikon 18-200mm zoom lens anyway. I rationalized that I’d capture what I could and treat the visit as a scouting mission for a subsequent visit. I’m glad that I did, and will share what I observed and what learned about capturing photographs there in the following paragraphs. Let me add that I heartily recommend that you visit this attraction, and that you take your camera!

Jim’s teacher organized the visit for all 21st Century Public Academy 7th grade classes. We used to call these type events “field trips”, but 21st CPA calls them Out of School Instruction (OSI) and they make these off campus visits about 20 times per year. What’s different about my experience with field trips and the OSI is that 21st CPA students are given specific learning objectives for each OSI, and they are required to submit written reports after each visit that demonstrate the achievement of those objectives. The OSI began with a guided tour of the aquarium which included the shark tank, aquatic life in the Rio Grande River below the Central Avenue Bridge in Albuquerque, a trout stream, salt marsh and gulf coast, coral reef, eel cave, jelly fish, South Pacific gallery, and a shrimp boat. Shown here is the teacher and the tour leader, together with the class, getting ready to enter the aquarium. Also shown (click on the first photo to see other photo) is the class sitting in the aquarium as they write information in their work sheets.

Next are several photos taken of fish viewed through the glass walled aquariums. In hindsight, I chose the wrong lens. Due to the low light conditions, I could have captured better quality photos using my faster (larger aperture and thus more light) f2.8 17-55mm lens. I chose my f3.5/5.6 zoom because I have a circular polarizer filter that fits this lens, whereas I don’t have a CP filter that fits my f2.8 lens. What I learned is that for these type of photos, a faster lens is more important than reducing the glare and reflections that sometimes occur when shooting through glass. This is true because a slower lens (smaller aperture and therefore less light) requires slower shutter speeds and or higher ISO settings – thus greatly increasing the odds of reducing sharpness and increasing “noise” or adding a “grainy” look to the photo. Of course, if I spend some money on a good CP filter that fits my f2.8 lens, then I’ll have the best of both worlds! Here are the results of some of my photos; most are shot with an ISO setting of 6400 – acceptable quality for small print size, but not an enlargement.

After exiting the aquarium we proceeded to the beautiful botanic gardens with sunshine, pretty blue sky, but increasing wind (read faster shutter speed, and therefore the likelihood of a moderately higher ISO speed). Here are some photos taken in and around the Botanic Garden.