Toronto Aquarium

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Mary Ann's nephew Bryan, wife Sandra, and kids Lauryn, Nolan and Cameron were in Toronto for a few days this week.  Mary Ann and I met them at the Toronto Aquarium on Wednesday evening.  We had not been there yet, and it was something I was interested in photographing.

Photographing at the aquarium presents many challenges.  The Aquarium is a new attraction in Toronto, and being there during summer break for school kids, meant that the crowds were heavy, even at 8:00 at night.  In addition, the lighting was very dim and uneven, not a great combination photographically.  And I understood that tripods were not allowed.  In any event, a tripod would not have helped much with the fish moving all the time.  Using a flash was a no go, to avoid the reflections off the glass.  Speaking of glass, many of the tanks were rounded, so that meant diffraction.  And the glass was at least an inch thick.  So... that meant handholding the camera, ISO in the 3200 range, shooting wide open at slow shutter speeds.  A recipe for disaster...

Having said all that, the Aquarium did have some interesting features.  Here is a shot of Bryan's family in the Dangerous Lagoon.

The Dangerous Lagoon is a series of glass tunnels that you travel through on a moving sidewalk.  The tank is the largest on the site, and filled with lots of interesting fish including many species of sharks.

Here is another shot of a shark.

There are other large tanks with rays of all sizes.  Very graceful...  This guy caught my attention, with his big smile.

There are many other interesting exhibits.  This is a tank of alewives, shot from below through a glass bottom in the tank.

One of my favourite tropical fish has always been the lionfish.  Very poisonous, except to other lionfish.

Another interesting area of the Aquarium is the jelly fish exhibit.  Here are a few of my favourite shots.

Given the incredible challenges photographing at the Aquarium, I was happy with a few of these shots.  I would love to go back on a weekday, during the school year, and try a few more.

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Thanks for reading...

Mark