I love aquariums. They have fascinated and delighted me for as long as I can remember. So I’ll jump at any opportunity to visit one.

I don’t actually remember the last time I went to the Two Oceans Aquarium in Cape Town, because I was very little. But apparently I liked it so much that I had to be taken back there, so it must have made a good impression!

This time around we paid a brief visit and Dad and I happily snapped away with our little cameras – I used the Canon PowerShot S90, and he used his Fujifilm X100 (I would steal that camera if I could…)

Aquariums are fantastic places to take photos, because you can get some great pictures of aquatic creatures without getting wet! (Or having to purchase expensive underwater housings for your camera). To cut out reflections, get your lens as close to the glass as possible. Depending on your preference, alter your white balance to bring out the colours you want. You can also do this later in post, but I like to try and get as close as possible in-camera.

This is probably my favourite photo from the morning. Moray Eels are comical and also slightly terrifying. This one was an absolute giant.

Patterns and colours make for some striking images, and be mindful of what is in the background of your image – is it distracting from the subject?

Pipefish! They’re basically unravelled Seahorses. Speaking of Seahorses….

I wasn’t sure about the vibrant green of their tank, but it made for an interesting ambiance with the gnarled black seaweed.

I cannot articulate how much I’d love to go diving in one of these tanks. Snorkelling is one of my favourite things, and I hope to learn how to dive in the future. I’d also like to try my hand at underwater photography at some point…