Follow these 10 tips to increase the quality of your fishing photos.
In most cases, photography “tricks” are simply good photographic techniques combined with experience that result in amazing fish photos. By practicing some of the following tips, you can dramatically improve your fishing photography with your digital point-and-shoot or your cellphone. The key is to plan before you shoot. And expect to sacrifice some fishing time to capture meaningful, memorable, and excellent images.
1. Wet The Fish
A fish out of water, even for only a few minutes, starts to dry and lose its sheen. A sparkle makes the fish look lively. If the fish is small, instruct your angler or “model” to dunk it in water just before snapping the shot. If the fish is large, fill a small container with water and put it aside. Position your model and fish, then pour water over the fish just before taking the picture. The dripping water also gives the photo some action.
2. Create Action Shots
In-the-field action photos are the most difficult to take. Try to tell a story with your pictures, not just show the result. Backgrounds should be where the fish is caught. Take your camera on the trip and, if possible, get shots as the fish is leaping, thrashing, being netted or released, as well as when proudly displayed. Pictures taken at home in the yard or in front of the garage are not interesting, and by then the fish has lost most of its color. Action shots require practice, ingenuity, and commitment. A time comes when you need to decide which you want to do—fish or take exciting pictures.
3. Look Beyond Your Subject
Be aware of what’s behind and around your model. Is the top of someone else’s head or boot stuck in the picture? Does the angler’s rod appear to protrude from the fish’s mouth or through the angler’s head like an antenna? Watch for shadows, crooked horizons, and rods, hands, or other distracting objects intruding into the frame. Only include objects you want people to look at. The best way to check for problems is to first look at your subject through the viewfinder, then without moving the camera, briefly search all four sides of the image for flaws.
4. Try Unique Angles
Rather than always having the angler’s eye at the same level as the camera, make your pictures more interesting by varying the angle you photograph from. Kneel on the deck and shoot up at your subject, or stand on the bow platform or a seat and photograph downward. If you’re ashore, stand or kneel in the water and photograph the angler up on the beach. Remember to include vertically and horizontally framed shots.
5. Follow The Rule Of Thirds
For close-up shots of fish when you are leaving part of it out of the frame, it’s more aesthetically pleasing to cut either the back third or back two-thirds off the fish. The human eye likes it better. Never cut a fish in half or cut off just the tail. People want to see the whole fish, if possible.
6. Use A Fill Flash
A “fill flash” is a camera flash used when there is enough existing light to take the photo without a flash. It “fills” in shadows created by glaring sunlight. Without this technique, anglers wearing caps will have blacked-out faces from the shadow of the visor. A fill flash also rids other distracting shadows on your subject and makes fish sparkle. When you must shoot in strong overhead light always use a fill flash. And, when feasible, take pictures with the sun at your back. If you can’t activate your camera’s flash in daylight, ask your models to remove their caps.
7. Hold The Fish Properly
Don’t hold fish upside down or by grabbing a handful of gills. Posing it upside down makes the fish look unnatural and detracts from the quality of the shot, while grasping the gills may show too much blood-red color and injure the fish if you are releasing it. Shun the overused and harmful “jaw-breaker” shot, so popular with freshwater bass anglers. Also, hold the fish broadside and head towards the camera, a back or belly profile doesn’t display much of the catch. Best of all, hold the fish in or very near the water. And don’t straight-arm the fish towards the lens—everyone knows that’s intentionally deceiving.
8. Be Creative
Photograph the angler and fish in non-standard, interesting poses. For example, shoot them interacting with other anglers, holding the fish in the net, setting the hook, fighting the fish, lifting the fish from the water, releasing the fish, or selecting a lure or fly. Try close-ups of the angler and fish, then move backwards or zoom out to incorporate the whole scene. Take advantage of “mood” shot opportunities, such as the fisherman driving the boat at sunset or sunrise.
9. Look At The Fish
By directing your angler to look at the fish’s head, rather than at the camera, it draws the viewer’s eye away from person and to the main subject, which is the fish. Otherwise, the resulting photo says, “this ‘hero’ is having his picture taken.” This one technique can raise the quality of the photo from amateur to professional. And leave the lure in the fish’s mouth—it adds interest.
10. Clean The Fish
Wash off blood and hide gaff holes or rips—emphasize the sport, not the kill. Dip the fish in water or use a wet rag to wipe off loose scales and blood. Tuck in a protruding vent or innards. If you want appealing and natural photos, take them before gutting the fish. If possible, keep the fish alive, which is also an incentive to release it. Hold the fish in water until the photographer has his or her camera ready, then lift it dripping wet.
