A Guide To Better Angling Photography

Better angling photography: Revisiting an old article with some new details

In the good old days of hunting and fishing bringing back trophies were the norm and done thing. That era of hunting and fishing is long gone and people these days are a lot more aware of the often precarious position wildlife is in around the world. Angling has for long led the way of unsustainably managing fish stocks, by becoming a multibillion dollar industry worldwide. Catch and Release fishing is practiced by a vast majority of anglers around the world who go out on fishing trips looking for that trophy fish or catch of a lifetime. In today’s world where communication has become so easy and everyone has the need to stay in touch, a new breed of anglers are travelling the world where now sharing their trophies has become so much easier and all, thanks to the digital camera.

Over a decade ago one had to rely on some ‘skill’ to take good photographs that captured the moment and kept it as realistic as possible to the actual event. The film then had to be kept often for weeks before it could be processed and then the final print developed before an angler was able to share his images with friends and family. Now, with the advent of digital cameras, taking a good photograph of one’s catch has never been easier.

Most compact point and shoot digital cameras will deliver excellent results even with the camera on auto mode. For most people, messing about with manual settings, aperture, shutter speeds, ISO, etc. has become a thing of the past. With one’s camera set on ‘auto’, all an angler has to do is concentrate on framing that special picture that may go up as the center piece of his living room wall.

For charter operators like us, catching or knowing where to catch trophy fish are just the beginning in a long list of services we need to provide to the tech-savvy visiting angler. It does help greatly if one can take decent photographs!

A few pointers to taking good photographs are listed below to help future clients ‘capture’ their fish of a lifetime before they release it to swim back in to the ocean where it belongs.

Taking better pictures

1. Fill the frame with the angler and fish, avoid standing too far back which loses focus on the main
subject.

2. Get in the habit of using a flash while shooting in broad daylight. You may have to manually switch the flash on to activate it. What the flash does is eliminate harsh shadows from the sun that usually is quite high up in the sky. Also, many anglers wear caps in the hot sun so the flash will help light up their faces.

The difference can be clearly seen with the images above.

3. Avoid objects growing out of the subject’s head or body i.e. trees, rods, structure, or railings. Take your time to get a well composed picture by preparing your surroundings before you take the
picture.

4. Hold the fish right! Make sure you’re holding the fish upright and well supported so one can actually see the shape and size of the fish. If you don’t know how to do this our guides and skippers will position the fish for you and take an awesome picture as well.

5. Do not let the fish slant so one sees mainly the belly of the fish rather than its side. Pictures like this often make the fish look smaller or quite strange and lead to an angler sitting in an awkward position. Worse still, a fish can be dropped, causing
it serious injury.

6. Try and keep the eye of the fish in focus as shown above. Pictures of fish often take on life if the eye of the
fish is in focus.

7. Keep the fish in focus! Everyone wants to see the fish. Take a second to see your camera’s auto focus hasn’t locked on to the railing of the boat or some distant object.

8. Keep an eye on the coloration of the fish. Fish are spectacular creatures and come in varied textures and colors. Make sure your photograph translates that in the truest sense.

9. Make the angler smile. Often you can get the mood on the boat across to someone, sitting miles away from the event, that is looking at the photograph. Try and capture the emotions, joy and fulfilment on the boat through your photographs.

9. Make the angler smile. Often you can get the mood on the boat across to someone, sitting miles away from the event, that is looking at the photograph. Try and capture the emotions, joy and fulfilment on the boat through your photographs.

10. Boats have limited space. Often there’s a lot of excitement and activity on a boat while a fish is caught. There also is a sense of urgency as the fish has to be returned to the water as soon as possible. With all these things in mind please don’t cut the poor anglers head in half!

11. Similarly with fish. Try and compose your picture with all fins and tail intact. Composing pictures with all fins etc. intact make the fish look a lot more spectacular.