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I've been lucky.
Wanting to work
on a few brown trout paintings, I've been in search of opportunities to shoot
good reference photos... a deceptively difficult task given the nature of brown
trout. Even when conditions are ideal, the task of underwater photography has a
multitude of challenges to overcome.
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| About as good as it gets most days. |
Where I live,
browns tend to live in some less than pristine places. The water is often murky
and dark. The streams can be choked with silt, so every movement stirs a cloud
of debris into the water. Brown trout,
especially big ones, most often feed during low light periods... sometimes the
really big fish can be nocturnal (perhaps a brown trout nocturne painting in
the near future? Hmmmmm...). Dark overcast skies, rain, snow, and general
crappy weather can make fish aggressive and result in some outstanding fly
fishing. None of these things are good for aquatic photos.
Related to the
item above, the best photos I get always seem to come during bright sunny
conditions. Water quickly defuses light, so color and contrast quickly fade as
the point of view moves deeper into the water column. The midday sun on
cloudless days makes for remarkable patterns of light and hues really pop.
Unfortunately, trout can be spooky and all but impossible to catch on these bluebird
days.
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| Nice shot, Sparky. |
Aside from
dawning snorkel gear and submersing myself in 45° water (which there's no
chance in hell I'm going to do), aiming the camera to get the fish in the frame
is a crap shoot. It's always a little easier if I've got someone along to
wrangle the fish while I concentrate on the camera. Understandably, my fishing
buds aren't nearly as interested in getting these shots as I am and tend to be
off doing their own thing. So most times I'm left to handle this on my own. My
photography technique consists of holding the line with one hand (after I'm
lucky enough to catch a photo-worthy fish), jamming the camera into the water
with the other, and trying to guide the fish and the camera in coordinated
movements. It's akin to the old barroom 8-ball "poke and hope"
method. When the fish are particularly frisky, this can lead to some comical
mid-river dance moves and lots of fishing line wrapped around my legs. I've
looked up on occasion to find I have a puzzled yet amused audience watching
from the stream bank. I'm actually amazed every time I manage to get a great
shot. There are literally hundreds of clunkers for every good one.
All that being
said, I've managed to get some absolutely outstanding material in the past
week. The water has been unusually clear and the fish surprisingly cooperative.
LUCKY! LUCKY! LUCKY! Oh... and I get to go fishing and call it work. HA!
Oh, and if you were hoping to see my VERY BEST shots here... FAT CHANCE! There are enough lazy "artists" out there using to web to rip off the work of others. I think I'll keep those pix for myself ;)
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| Okay, I'll probably paint a version of this shot soon. |
