March 11, 2008A primer on how NOT to shoot fish pictures
Some of those bad pictures could have been a lot better had the hero and the photographer followed a couple basic rules. When pointing out mistakes, it's much easier when you have a good (bad, really) example. But I'm not going to publicly ridicule a reader who sends me an awful picture. Unless that fisherman is my brother, Greg. Greg is capable of good fish pix. I'll post a great one later today. He also has a good sense of humor, so he laughed heartily when I told him the picture above may have been one of the best examples of bad redneck fish photography that I've ever seen. I mean, you have a fence in the foreground, a shrub on one side, a house in the background (complete with what appears to be a vacuum cleaner on the porch) and a random 5-gallon pail in the middle of the yard. Then, by raising the fish above the fence, Greg put his face in a shadow. The only way this could have been better (worse) is if Greg had a cigarette dangling from his mouth and a can of Hamm's in his right hand. But he doesn't smoke (or drink Hamm's). So, let's dissect the image, which may help some of you achieve better results the next time you're taking a hero shot with a nice fish. 1. The setting. Back yard? Not ideal. Take the picture where you caught the fish, if at all possible. If you have someone with you when you catch a pig, it's simple. You have the other guy take the pictures. (And I mean, PICTURES. Yeah, you want to get back to fishing. But take at least a half-dozen just to make sure you get a couple decent ones.) So, what if you're fishing solo, as Greg was when he caught this 11-pound steelhead? Ideally, you'll be carrying a small point-and-shoot camera with a small tripod. Use the camera's self-timer function and get at it. It might take a few attempts to get a well-framed image. If you are solo and plan to immediately release the fish, that might not be possible. In that case you might just have to shoot the fish next to your rod and then release it. 2. Making the most of a less-than-ideal setting. Greg asked his neighbor to help him out, and the neighbor kindly obliged. Greg didn't want to put the guy out so he just had the neighbor snap a couple quick shots and that was it. Hence, we have the fence in the foreground, the house in the background, etc. If you must shoot the picture at your home, find the "cleanest" background" that you can. If necessary, kneel down and have the standing photographer shoot down so the only thing in the background is the ground. 3. Sun and shadows. You want the sun in the face of the angler and at the back of the photographer. But the photographer must be careful not to cast his shadow on the subject. This isn't always easy. Also, if the sun is high and the hero is wearing a ball cap, there's a good chance his face will be shadowed. In that case it can help to turn on your camera's flash to fill in shadowed areas. 4. Fill the frame. A really common mistake is for photographers to shoot from too far away. The angler and fish turn out to take up just a small part of the frame surrounded by lots of useless space. Yes, you can crop photos with any basic photo-editing computer software. But why not crop when you shoot the picture in the first place? It's simple: get as close to the subject as you can without cutting off key elements, such as any part of the fish or the angler's head. (Admittedly, a pro like Dusan Smetana can get away with interesting cropping in the name of art. But we're talking snapshots here.) Again, we're not talking about a quest for perfection here. Just a quest for good. And it's something well within the reach of every fisherman reading this. Keep those shots coming. Even the bad ones! |
About this blog
While growing up in rural Southern Oregon, Mark Taylor developed a passion for the outdoors while he and his younger brother tagged along with their father on fishing, hunting and camping adventures. Graduating from Northwestern University in 1988, Taylor spent four years as an officer in the U.S. Navy based in Norfolk before moving into journalism. After five years writing about the military for a Norfolk-based publishing company, he became the outdoors editor at The Roanoke Times in 1998. He lives in Roanoke with his wife and twin daughters. .....Advertisement.....
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Comments
[March 25, 2008 1:24 PM]
Innkeeper Shellie at The Claiborne House B&B : →http://www.ClaiborneHouse.netThanks for the HOW NOT TO Shoot Fish pictures article. I sent it to my Father who loves to hunt and fish and will come back with a moose head mount from Newfoundland and lousy photos. But it is NOT him, it is whoever he hands his camera to and that "moron" takes 5 steps backward. (Usually puts a thumb over the lens too)
You KNOW where the pic should be taken from, no matter where you go on this planet, they take 5 steps back. Almost as if THE BACKGROUND is more interesting than the subject. I take "a fence" to that! ha ha
This is the digital age, take 10 and maybe one will be worth saving. I tell Dad to bring me along as his photog on these big game hunts or fishing trips. He scored big time on Mahi Mahi/Dophin fish off the Outer Banks and had not one decent photo to show for it. Shaemful isn't it.