Lee
Fishers guide to self taken carp fishing photography
This
is the method I use for photographing all my fish and is very simple
and guarantee's perfect results every time. You need a camera with a
power winder, which most camera's will have, a tripod and a bulb air
release. Also you will need a long adjustable bankstick.
The
most important part of taking the picture is the composition. By this
I mean finding a suitable spot to take the picture. I usually favour
a background of tree's or bushes to give a nice backdrop to the picture
which makes you and the fish stand out. There's nothing worse than getting
your photo's developed and finding a telegraph pole sticking out of
your head or all manner of things in the background like the clutter
of all your tackle and bivvy and even worse, other people. I try to
get the light (sun) coming directly into your face and not from behind
you or from the sides. Avoid having the lake in the background as you
will get a nice shot of the water but the foreground, ie you and the
fish will be dark and shadowy. Try to avoid gaps in overhead tree's,
especially in strong sunlight as you will get shadows across your once
in a lifetime fish. I also like to wear green or dark drab clothing
as I think this also makes the main subject, the fish, stand out more.
Once
you have found a good spot, lay down the wet unhooking mat and put your
bankstick in the ground in the far centre of the mat. Extend it to the
level the top of your head will be at. Then position the camera and
tripod in front of the mat, aiming at the bankstick. The distance away
from the bankstick will depend on the lens on your camera, but roughly
5 - 7 feet is a good starting point. What you want to see though the
viewfinder is the bankstick perfectly in the centre, with the top of
the stick at the top of the frame and the bottom at the bottom. You
should also just be able to see the left and right of your unhooking
mat as this will ensure you will not crop the head and tail of the fish,
assuming you have not got a fish longer than your unhooking mat, see
FIG 1.
I like to then move the camera and tripod about 1 foot closer to the
mat so I can get right in close to the fish and get nice sharp detail,
see FIG 2.Now
focus on the bankstick, attach the air release, which is a long piece
of tubing and connects to the camera at one end and has a rubber bulb
at the other. Lay the bulb on the ground where your knee will be and
remove the bankstick and you are all ready to go.
Go
and get the fish, which should be laying quietly in your net in the
water. Gently lay on the mat, the fish, not you, pose in a suitable
manner, you and the fish, with your knee resting gently on the bulb
air release. When the fish is still, gently press your knee on the bulb,
job done, perfect results every time. The beauty of it is there is no
rushing back and forth to the camera to wind on or set the self timer
and you only take the pic when all is ready, unlike 10 second delay
timer when the fish will always struggle at the wrong moment.
At
night time I do exactly the same as above, aided with a torch to set
it all up, and use a flash gun of course. I will add that I use a standard
35mm SLR camera which is quite old now and use Kodak print film and
cant fault the results. I do have a digital camera which is ok for conveinient
holiday snaps but never use it for my fishing as the quality is just
not good enough. When I get my photo's developed I always get a photo
CD done which I can then email to my friends out there, but the quality
of these files is rubbish compared to the contone prints I get, but
its ok for conveinience. Hope all this helps.
Lee
Fisher
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