Pro Tips

I have never met an angler that hasn’t said out loud, or at least under his breath, “boy, I wish I had a good photograph of that HOG”. You can get “lost” in a good photograph, but you don’t have to be an expert photographer to take a compelling image. With a few tips in your vest pocket and a little practice you can get beyond the typical “grip and grin” photograph and bring home better images of your next fly-fishing trip. This is the first in a series of tips for high impact fly-fishing photographs. Practice and experiment with these tips and you will be on your way to super charging your fly-fishing photography.

Super charge those “grip and grin” photos

Okay, so you’re bored to tears looking at all those standard “grip and grin” photos you have in a worn out album lying on your fly tying bench. Here’s how to super charge photos from your next trip

First, when you look through the camera’s viewfinder train yourself to “see” in a different way. Be conscious of what will be in the image when you press the shutter button. What you leave out of the image is as important as what you leave in. For example, you don’t want the big tree in the background or a fly rod to appear as though they are protruding from your subject’s head. Those little details can really detract from an otherwise great shot.

A powerful technique is to get in close to your main subject so that you fill the frame with the main subject(s) while at the same time cleverly cropping out all the extraneous clutter from the image. Have your subject kneel down low in the water, momentarily lifting the fish only a few inches out of the water with a couple of fingers around its tail and the other hand gently supporting its belly. Don’t wrap your hands around the fish in a death squeeze ….you want a picture of the fish, not a pair of hands. Above all you want the fish to survive the experience. Minimize the time the fish is out of the water, a few seconds should do it.

In most “grip and grin” shots the angler is looking straight into the camera with that killer grin. You can give your photos another “look” which can make them more interesting by having the angler peer admiringly at the fish rather into the camera.

Another option is to avoid the grin altogether by zooming in on the star of the show–– remember you already have a drawer full of pictures of yourself. Get in tight, focusing on the fish’s eye and let the background simply be the river in soft focus or the anglers vest with dangling paraphernalia.

Another simple technique for high impact images is the environmental portrait. This “style” helps paint a vivid story not only of the angler and the fish, but also of your surroundings. Looking through the viewfinder there is an overwhelming urge to stick that angler smack dab in the middle of the frame. Resist the urge. Turn the camera a bit, placing the angler to one side or the other of the frame. Get in close so that your main subject fills about a third of the image, leaving two thirds of the image to complete the story.

Get out there and fish. Leave the fish where you found them, but bring home high impact images of your experience.

Mark Lance, a Scott Pro Staffer, is a freelance photographer, writer and fly-fishing adventurer from Centennial, Colorado. Visit his website at
www.riverlightimages.com