It’s late evening in the fishroom (OK, it’s 2 AM in the fishroom), and I’m staying up late to take photos of a couple bettas that I’m planning on breeding.
Once they come together, there’s no doubt that their pristine fins will be shredded in the typically abusive, torrid Betta splendens love affair.
So I place the male, a “Mustard Gas-type” Halfmoon Plakat, in the photo tank along with a “Fighter” male that’s isolated in a specimen cup to help him put on his best display.
The fish are flaring in no time. As I’m shooting, I start seeing this strange pink cast showing up in my shots…
A pink cast on the face?
Glowing pink along the back?
Another strange pink glow on the head?
This could have been “the” shot…but what the heck is wrong with my camera?
It took me about a hundred photos to realize what I was seeing; flash was reflecting off my right hand, used to hold the camera and control the shutter. That pink glow is my skin. But what to do about it?
A stroke of luck—I keep nitrile gloves in the fishroom, mainly for fragging corals. Nitrile gloves happen to be black.
Nitrile gloves to the rescue!
Problem. Solved.
Goodbye pink blur!
All images by Matt Pedersen
