Fishing Photography - A beginners guide - 5 things to avoid

We look at 5 key things to avoid/remember when photographing carp, whether snapping your mates first 40 or your kid's first double. I have doctored a number of photos purely for illustrative purposes so apologies to those I have mangled.

1. Bad Composition. There's a number of sides to this. To state the obvious trophy shots are about the angler and the fish so as a general rule these should dominate the composition, i.e. be in the center and fill the frame. Now as a flipside to this it is always worth snapping a few different shots, the other people present, the fish being returned etc. but the shot the guy usually wants on his wall is the standard one seen in all the mags and consequently is the most important to get right.

Most common on beginnery trophy shots is to stand too far back and have the angler and the fish too small in the center. By the same token avoid getting too close and chopping heads and tails off. You want the entire anglers head and fish in the frame. It is worth noting that some developing companies will crop your image slightly so always leave a little bit of space at the sides to avoid this disaster.

This leads us on to:

2. Bad Background. For most purposes a blank canvas of greenery a couple of metres behind the angler gives most prominance to the subject. Complicated backgrounds generally take something away from the composition and the things to definately avoid are bivvys in the background, other people, cars etc.

This is one area where there are some notable exceptions. Flowered bushes or grasses can add some colour and look stunning without distracting from the angler, and in certain shots, such as the famous horton church shot there is historical interest in the background.

3. A black silhouette/Underexposed shots. Especially common with the returner photo this shot occurs when a bright background fools the camera into underexposing the focal point of the shot, i.e. the angler and fish. Depending on the camera there are a number of ways to avoid this. On many cameras you can lock the exposure on the subject from more zoomed in or closer then recompose with this preset exposure. On others you will find a exposure compensation button. This is a trick definately worth learning as it will improve not only your fishing shots but the shots of your missus in the sea on holiday etc.

4. Giant Fish Syndrome. Wide angle lenses, such as the 35mm lens on a standard compact, exaggerate distances. This means that objects nearer the lens look proportionately bigger then further items. Getting in really close to the fish with a wide angle lens will make the fish look proportinately bigger. Now some people like this personally think looks a bit silly. A 50mm lens is close to the natural eye view so gives a realistic fish size and is a popular focal length for people who take their fish shots seriously.

5. Camera Shake. Obviously awful to get the shots back and find they are all blurry. There are a few things you can do to avoid this. First up is a stable shooting position. With a heavier slr type camera a good position is down on one knee with your left hand under the lens and elbow propped on the other knee. Sort of a human tripod. Another trick is to gently squeeze the button rather then push it. Often people push the button quite hard and jog the camera in the process!!!

And finally - take good shots and others will do the same for you!!!