If you missed part 1 of Fish Photo Tips click here. We are giving some suggestions to make the most of your big fish photos. So you are correctly holding the fish horizontally and the boat is positioned so the sun is shining on the angler and the fish. What else can you do?
Tip 3
Have your camera or phone ready to go. Make sure the camera is accessible and your boat partner knows how to use it. Keep a fish towel handy so the photographer can use dry hands to operate the camera. It’s much easier to relay your phone passcode and camera instructions without a big fish wriggling in your hands.
Tip 4
Hold the fish toward the camera. This will naturally make the fish appear bigger. You don’t need to straight arm the fish which can be difficult to do, but there is a big difference between holding the fish against your body vs. holding it out a couple feet toward the camera. You can also try angling the fish toward the camera.
Here is a great example by Mercer of making a big fish look even bigger by extending it toward the camera.
Phil’s 42″ pike looks even more massive angled toward the camera.
Tip 5
This tip pertains to the photographer. Fill the frame with the fish! We frequently see pictures encompassing much of the scenery on both sides of the boat with the fish taking up a small portion of the picture. Scenery is great, but the fish is the star of the show. Get as close as you can either with the zoom or by moving closer in the boat. Fit the fish all the way across the frame without cutting off either end of the fish or the angler’s head. Take more than one picture too! Catching someone in a blink is a big bummer if you only take one photo. Snap a few while the angler tries holding the fish toward you or angling the head toward you. In this day and age you’re not wasting any film and then the angler will have a few photo options available to select the best one!
Hopefully these tips will help maximize the photo of your next catch. We aren’t professional photographers, but we collect thousands of pictures each summer so we have seen plenty of poor and superb examples. Give these tips a try on your next fishing trip!