Pictures of Fish

[SciGuy]

No...I don't have any.  I would, however, like some advice.  I just bought a digital camera (Canon PhotoShot A610) and plan on bringing it to the river in a few weeks.  So, for all of you that take great photos, what settings should be used for close up shots of fish?

[nick]

Normal still picture mode for no closer than 6inches away. Within 6in use macro mode. In the daylight, turn off the flash.

[zonker]

Hey Bill,

Good to see you're still hangin' around from afar.

Check out this link to "Flyfish Radio."

http://www.flyfishradio.com/


Scroll down to Episode 4 and you'll find a broadcast on taking fish photos.

zonker

[Fish]

Thanks Dave I'll have to give this site a check when I get home, it won't down load completely at work?

[zonker]

Now John, Ya ain't supposed to be downloadin' at work anyway.

z~

[Fish]

I know Dave, but this is such a great, Tip I couldn't wait

[Andrew]

What an amazing shot! 

If that guy caught steelhead the walls of my apartment would be plastered with his work. Even those little trout look alright. 

I'm kind of holding out on upgrading from my 2.0 MP camera until the 5-6 MP are "affordable." Under the current 2.0 MP situation,  I'm not sure there's much I can do but make sure the lighting in the picture is optimized. I try to avoid using the flash as often as is possible, as in almost all cases, the flash takes away the natural color of the fish and instead just flashes back off of the scales into the lens.

On the plus side, a big flash makes most all of your fish look like chromers. 

Andrew

[SciGuy]

Great info fellas...thank you.  I've been burned in the past by not covering the flash (see below)...lesson learned!




Andrew: I'm sure how much you are budgeting for a digital but my 5 MP was only $244 from beachcamera.com.  You might want to check out the links below to find the camera that is best for you.  On the second site click on buying guide -> features search.

http://reviews.cnet.com/Digital_cameras/2001-6501_7-0.html?tag=cnetfd.dir
http://www.dpreview.com/

[zonker]

Turning off your flash is not always the best thing to do. The pros recommend using the flash mos of the time even in daytime pictures, to fill darker areas and shadows that aren't noticable until after you've taken your picture. Obviously though, from Bills picture, you don't use flash when you're shooting directly into the water or directly into a window or a mirror. I'm just a duffer repeating what I've been told, though I'm gradually starting to get better.

z~

[bugnuts]

I'm always excited to get home from a successful outing to see the pictures I shot on my big, flat-screen computer monitor.  Over the years, however, I'd have to say that for every twenty pictures I've taken, only one or two qualify as album-worthy.  So I take a lot of pictures (always keeping the health of the fish in mind of course), and only those very few shots with good lighting, color and focus even make it to step two: editing.

The ability to crop digital images and to adjust the brightness, color saturation and sharpness is huge.  Editing my fishing pictures is like a whole other hobby, and it can be fun with the right Photoshop or Print Shop program.  The idea is not to make the fish any bigger or better than it really was, but to try and make the final digital image accurately represent the way the fish looked to me on the river that day.  For example, here's a raw digital image that I downloaded from my camera last year:



And after a little magic, it became one of my favorites:



The brightness, color and sharpness of the original photo were adjusted, I was able to zoom in by cropping out some of the extra stuff, and then I added a border.  This process only works with a file that is pretty good to start with, and there are limitations as to how much you can sharpen or colorize an image before the picture turns grainy and artificial.

If I have time, sometimes I'll shoot one picture with a flash and another without and then work with the better shot at home.  I don't think there are any concrete rules about when to flash and when not to flash, but this is another reason why I take a bunch of pictures to be sure I'm going to get the one I like.  Here's a raw underwater shot that actually came out better with a flash:



And because the original .jpeg was decent, I was able to produce this other favorite:



My camera is a Pentax Optio WR33 that is waterproof and capable of shooting underwater though I'm afraid to actually use it that way.  One reason I get good shots from such an average megapixel camera is because it has a really good autofocus system that allows me to hold the button until the camera beeps indicating it's fully focused, and then shoots the pic by continuing to depress the button.  This setting, rather than the "snapshot" setting, produces much better pictures since I can steadily hold the camera in place until just the right moment with the focus already established.

Occasionally, when I get really lucky, I'm able to shoot a picture that comes out so good that no editing is necessary...just add a border and put in the digital album:



 Happy shooting.

[Fllyfishy]

you're my hero

nice explinations boys

[Fish]

I was wondering why your pictures are always worthy of being in an Art Gallery Matt, I guess I better look into some Photoshop's, I to have that auto focus feature on my camera, guess I need to do some reading.

[bugnuts]

Of course, there can be some odd results if the editing process goes bad.  Take for example this work I did for B Mac:



 

[Redhook]

 

 

[Fish]

Now you did it Bug's you blew his cover, Brian was planning on that disguise to keep from being recognized