As a fly fishing guide I take lots of fish photos each year. The majority are classic grip n' grin poses due to sheer necessity. When you have a cold, wet, slimy, uncooperative model you often take the quickest and most reliable photo possible.
Creative and artistic shots are great, but trout are a challenge to deal with even for experienced anglers and despite my personal desire to get the best photos, I have to keep in mind that trout much prefer being in the water and I try to get them back there quickly. As a result I have hundreds of the same photo; tightly cropped angler holding trout a.k.a the "grip n' grin".
It's the easiest pose for both angler and fish and it usually goes something like this: Net the fish and remove the hook, put the trout back in the water in the net while the camera comes out, position the angler and frame the shot, bring the net to the angler and have them get their hands wet, get both hands behind and under the trout lifting it up, snap several frames while keeping the net under the fish just in case, put the trout back in the net for the release. If all goes well the whole process takes less than a minute and the trout is only out of the water for 15 seconds or so.
As you can see by the photos, all doesn't always go well. Trout have the uncanny knack of springing into action as soon as the shutter is pressed. These are some of my favorite shots. I love the expressions on the anglers' faces and seeing the trout in motion. It's also why I bring a big net, makes the slimy buggers easier to catch when they're jumping around.
Next week we'll take a look at the do's and don'ts for good fish pictures and some alternatives to the classic grip n' grin.
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