We travel thousands of miles in coach, stuff ourselves and gear into a 60 year old radial aircraft, perfectly present a green stone fly to a feeding trout, land it and snap the shutter. Only, the image is out of focus. The mountain behind the angler’s shoulder is crisp and sharp yet the prize, the trophy, is hard to distinguish from your ecstatic grin. Not to mention the fish. “It just doesn’t quite look like it did in real life.” It seems less colorful, flat and the picture just doesn’t pop out at you. We do not need pictures of every fish we catch. Many of us though desire an image to preserve the memory of that one fish, or as Alaska’s prolific water’s produce, those fish. We desire a good image and the fish deservedly so for putting up with being hoisted from the water. Proper preparation, knowledge of light, fish placement and composition all equate to an image which helps preserve that memory. Trophy shots are not taken as an artistic expression, but adhering to certain artistic principles will produce an image to be proud of. We are talking about a simple “trophy shot” here. The beauty of photography is the vast array of techniques and compositions which produce incredible images but the “trophy shot” is a simple composition of angler and fish. Expand your photographic horizons after you master this relatively simple shot.
The trophy shot. 'Doc' with a big fall rainbow.
Preparation. This is the critical step in the capture of your trophy shot. This is both the responsibility of the angler and photographer. Position yourself and the angler to produce the lighting effect you desire. Without the proper technique, flash equipment or photographic knowledge it is often NOT desirable to put the angler between your source of light, namely the sun, and the lens. This rule does not hold true for every situation and photographer, but the average photographer capturing that image for their friend or partner should heed this principle. Put the sun behind or quartering behind the photographer. Make sure the fish is in the water when positioning yourself and angler. As the angler cradles the fish in the water direct them where to stand, how to hold the fish for the shot and where to face. Anticipate where shadows will fall. By preparing all aspects of your image before actually lifting the fish from the water will pay dividends for the fish’s health. In addition to all the composition preparation look at your camera. Is the shutter speed fast enough for the available light? What is the aperture set at? What the hell is the aperture? Without including a dissertation on this topic which can be found available in many resources, we’ll set some general guidelines for the simple trophy shot. An aperture setting of f8-10 is generally sufficient to keep the fish’s eye and the angler’s eye in focus. Shutter speeds of 100 or more will generally give you a crisp enough image barring any movement from angler or fish. The greater the shutter speed you can get while still keeping your aperture setting greater than f8 the better. The automatic setting on many cameras works sufficiently for a simple trophy shot but watch it. The angler’s face may be soft and undistinguishable while the fish is sharp. The greater the fish’s eye distance is from the angler’s eye the greater aperture setting you’ll need to keep both in focus. This is your depth of field. What is the White Balance set at? Make sure you are on a setting relevant to the available light. The WB setting from the bar the night prior will overly ‘cool’ your trophy shot. These are all things to think about and prepare before the fish ever leaves the water.
Compose your shot. Focus on the fish’s EYE and then recompose. If nothing but the fish is in focus the image is not entirely lost but if the image shows a grinning fly fisherman holding a blurry blob, delete it. Remember the fish is the main subject here. Ideally both angler and fish are sharp but if one must be sacrificed we’ll let it be us. Unless you intend to include the mountain or river, or any other subject in your shot, keep the shot TIGHT. FILL THE FRAME. A trophy shot where the angler takes up a tiny portion of the center frame with a multitude of dead space surrounding, is not what we’re looking for. Utilize the frame space you have. Take the shot, take two, and get the fish in the water. 90% of a great trophy shot is preparation. If properly prepared for the shot the fish should only spend a few seconds out of the water.
Don't forget to try vertical shots. Adhere to the same principles as a horizontal shot and FILL THE FRAME.
Once this basic shot becomes second nature you can expand your depth of composition, creating more unique shots which ascend past simply fisherman and fish images. John
