In the first part on this subject, we covered composition, framing, scenery and variety as ways to improve fishing photos. Now, let’s move on to a few more concepts.
One way to change the perspective of a photo is to climb a bank.
Perspective: Years ago, I knew a professional fishing photographer who took some of the most amazing fishing photos. His work graced many magazine covers because they were such unique images. What made them unique was the perspective of the photos.
What my friend did was change the angle from which he took the photo. In his case, he was usually shooting bass fishing images from inside the boats of tournament anglers. To get this unique perspective, he carried along a short stepladder.
He was no small man and you can imagine what this must have looked like to the other boaters. Here was this big man up on top of a ladder shooting down on the angler in the front of the boat while a bass splashed alongside. As strange as this sounds, his photos usually made the magazine cover.
What this taught me was that standing on level ground with my subject looking straight across is not always the best way to shoot the image.
You can change the perspective of a photo in many ways. For instance, on a trout stream it’s easy to get higher and look down. I’ve done it from bridges, high banks, and on top of rocks.
Of course, many professional shots are taken these days with drones. This only highlights how perspective can influence a photo by the trouble and expense someone will go to pursuing such an image. But you can find ways to do something similar with a pocket camera.
With a waterproof camera you can also take the perspective underwater.
Perspective can also be interesting by going lower. When I photograph youngsters fishing, I try to at least get down to their level. Sometimes, it helps to get even lower. Looking down from my eye level at a subject that might be half as tall tends not to be very interesting.
As an aside, I’ll add that if I’m photographing puppies or small woodland creatures, I might lie on the ground to get their viewpoint. Of course, with puppies, they soon are jumping on my head but that can be fun in itself.
Since I bought the waterproof pocket camera, I also find that I am shooting more of my fish pictures underwater. This can take a little practice since I can’t look through the viewfinder, but I’m no longer paying for film so I just shoot a lot of photos and delete the bad ones.
This has several advantages over other fish photos. For starters, it’s better for the fish if they are in the water reviving rather than out of the water while I’m taking multiple photos.
Also, I find these fish images unique since not as many people are taking underwater photos. The lighting underwater also can be dramatic as is the reflection of the water surface when viewed from below.
The view a fish has of a topwater lure.
I once shot a bunch of lure photos for a story and wanted something more exciting than the lure on a table top. So I went to a local pond, floated the lure close to a dock, and put my camera below the lure looking up. When I later viewed the image I was amazed at the perspective a fish would have. The lure reflected in the surface and the light bent coming into the water so the background in the image was far up the bank.
Taking underwater photos of fish can be a little extra work but they are some of the most interesting fishing photos I have taken.
Getting the eyes of the subject in the photo adds life, especially when you get a little light reflection.
The Eyes Have It: One of the other photography tips I got years ago from an outdoor photographer was to pay special attention to the eyes of the subject. The eye is what conveys life in the image and it needs to be visible.
If you are taking a photo of a friend posing with a fish, just having them remove their sunglasses will give the image more life. I tend to forget this myself so it takes some conscious effort. But in the end it’s worth the trouble.
When you are shooting close-ups of fish, getting the reflection of light in the eye will improve the image. This is one of the techniques wildlife photographers use to make their images more interesting and it works just the same for fish.
Don’t forget the unusual sights on your fishing trip, such as this hellbender munching on a piece of fish.
The Odd Photos: If you want to capture all the pleasures of your fishing trip, remember to take photos of the things that surprise you. This can include fish, wildlife, or people.
On our trips, we cross paths with many critters and these can make interesting photos. Usually each spring, I will notice a hellbender creeping along by my feet on one of my trout streams. When I do, I stop fishing, lower my underwater camera to the level of the hellbender and start shooting photos. These have been some of my favorite fishing photos.
Once at home, I send an image and the location of the photo to the state wildlife biologist who tracks the range of hellbenders. She then adds the data point to her map and has a feel for range and population based on these sightings. It’s an easy way to contribute to citizen science.
Anytime you change locations, shoot a sign photo. Then you will know where those photos were taken.
Storing Photos: Once you get a growing library of images, you will start to wonder how best to file them. In my case, I want to tie the image back to a specific trip. I have kept fishing logs for the last fifty years, so I store my photos in folders titled by month and year. That way, I can track down the images I need simply by cross-referencing it with the date in my fishing log. Plus, if I ever have any questions about the fishing conditions, I can quickly pull up the photo file and take a look.
Over time, it’s also easy to forget where certain photos were taken. One tip I picked up years ago was to shoot a photo of signs or landmarks when I pass by. Since all the photos are numbered, everything in the sequence after the sign photo was taken there. Then the next sign starts a new sequence.
Fishing trips provide a lot of pleasant memories; but if you want to share those memories, the best way to do it is through the photos you took on the trip. And with a little effort, these photos can be a lot more representative of the good time you had.
Jim Mize has learned that if he’s going to fall in, he might as well take a photo or two while he’s down there. You can purchase Jim’s award-winning book, The Jon Boat Years, at https://uscpress.com/The-Jon-Boat-Years or buy autographed copies at www.acreektricklesthroughit.com.
