Friday, 05 August, 2011 08:40
Written by Huskey
Playing with exposure and getting in really tight can reveal some great features otherwise missed.
For fun times snapping your next catch, explore the macro feature on most any “point & shoot” camera for great close up images. With most of these types of cameras having flip out viewfinders, it’s easy to keep the fish in the the water and get the lens right up in the grill of your catch. Practice getting the camera settings changed over and holding the camera with one hand with the viewfinder arranged so you can get the camera low and see the screen. Then get familiar with the focus range in the macro (flower icon on some cameras) setting. It’s amazing how close you can get in this wide angle setting, getting lots of fish and interesting background elements like reflections in the mix too. Play around and practice with the auto focus, getting a feel for how your camera likes to focus in this mode.
Having a net is a big advantage to keeping the fish happy and recovering in the water for cool photos. I like to hold the fish by the tail, trying to orient the fish in a natural position. The side and top of most fish is better looking than the bottom or belly, so keeping the fish upright and the camera pointing slightly down is ideal. Keeping the fish in the water or at least wet is not only crucial for survival of the fish, but also keeps all the colors glossy and vibrant. (Unless you are harvesting the fish, please don’t ever allow a fish to have contact with anything dry, as the protective slime will be damaged and the health of the fish will be greatly compromised.)
To get a little “techy” I seem to have good luck adjusting some manual settings, so if your camera allows try adding manual to the mix. With low to mid priced cameras, I like to set the ISO at 100, or 80 if available. Then set the aperture as wide as it will go, around 2.8 the adjust the time of the exposure to work with whatever lighting is available. Not really rocket science, just play around getting focus sharp and exposure balanced and your fish will look great!
