For some reason or other I end up fishing alone most of the time. Whats the best way to take a good picture of a fish when you have no help? Or yourself with a fish?

My pics are mostly of my hand and a fish.

finsfeathers wrote:

QUOTE:
My pics are mostly of my hand and a fish.

Good topic... Mine too. Either that or a fish laying next to my rod as a size reference. I have a tripod, but it's kind of a hassle.

I usually set the camera on something relatively level, set the timer, and hope the fish cooperates for a few seconds.

There are a couple pics in my gallery that were taken that way. The front seat of my Jeep, a fencepost, and a stump are all represented. I'm not entirely satisfied with any of them, but it's the best I could do by myself, while holding a fish.

I almost always fish alone... seems like every time I take someone else along, we get skunked.

There has been lots of this talk. Take a look at many of my photos and guess if they are by myself or with another person taking it. Many times it is hard to tell but I usually know.


The key is patience and being prepared. Castandblast and I do this kind of thing all the time. Last year during the June contest I caught my river carp sucker by myself and had that challenge but I was prepared.

To be Prepared


1 Know your camera especially the timer feature. Prefer a Digital camera.

2 Have an appropriate tripod.
when I am packing in light I often take my Little Tripod that Folds very small and extends to about eye level.

3 Set up your camera with a background that will enhance the photo of your fish such as where you are fishing in a creek, a grassy meadow, Brush.....whatever you like to see. I personally try to avoid bridges and roads. Also think about the sun angle to avoid over exposure or glare.

4 Know where to stand to not cut yourself out of the photo.

5 Take your time make sure you can hold the fish well without covering the fish.

6 Take a quick look at your photo on your digital camera to see if you like it.



Happy photos
Aaron

here is a suggestion for a tripod

I love to fish alone at night in my boat and the pic above of me was one of those nights that I caught 4 cats over 5 pounds including my 2 PB channel cats 8 pounds then 9 ponds 8 ounces.

When I have a little more time I will try to type a better post.

here are a few more pics by myself.









I pride myself on taking good photos and I hope they live up to my standards for some time. Like before! Happy fishing!!!!!!


Sorry for not resizing. I did it on the site but it should change here too. SOON I HOPE!

Wow, those are some nice pics. I would never had guess some of them were taken alone. Are you sure you're not in tripod sales? I think I might have to be getting one of those compact ones!

Outdoors4life, I think your pics are great. I never thought those were solo shots. I enjoy fishing alone very much too.

I definitely need to work on this. My wife got me a Canon Powershot for my birthday last month, so I'll need to practice with it. Anybody have experience with the gorillapods? ARe they really trust worthy to hold in place? There are a few spots where I know I could use it, but I'm not sure if I want to put a lot of faith in the mount, especially if it is on a fixed object that over hangs water.

POWERSHOT!!!! In my opinion that is the most durable camera. My wife and I have gotten 2 of them and both are working great. One is 5 years old and the newer one is only a year or so but they are so good I will not switch from them. All of the photos I put up were from those 2 cameras. I am trying to get a new one so can have
the newer one my wife hides from me.



But like I said before I will put together a post with better details on taking good photos. I see that there is much interest in this so I will try to take the time this weekend

i set my camera on self timer with enough time to pick up the fish. i have the camera ontop of my tackle boxs and hig enough so i can get all of me.

Yeah, this is my second Powershot. The first one is an S1 IS from 2004, with 10x optical zoom. My wife got a good deal on a S3IS with 12x optical zoom for my bday, since the S5 models are out now. The flip out LCD screen should hopefully help with getting the image lined up. So do you prefocus the camera to the area you will pose before you set the timer?

The Timer feature is important. A girlfriend bought me a really high-end Fuji for $800, and while it really takes good pictures, the maximum timer setting is TWO SECONDS.

Now, You guys know I am legendary for my fish-handling skills. However, clicking the button, then moving into the camera's field of view, and then displaying the fish for the shot - this takes more than two seconds.

It's really entertaining looking at the shots. But you end up with a bunch of really bad pictures.

Seriously, the Gorilla Pod looks nice, but a simple pocket tripod works almost all the time. The cost difference is pretty small ($40 versus $15) but the pocket tripod will fit in your camera case or a pocket.

I have a Slik tripod for one of my camcorders that folds up to about fifteen inches long and two inches wide and weighs about half a pound. That means you can take pictures standing up and get more landscape and fish habitat in the shot, which is essential.

I haven't taken very many pictures with a self timer, mainly because I don't have a tripod, and the self timer function on my previous cameras were a pain to get at (they required flipping through multiple menus). With my new camera (a Canon PowerShot that I picked up two weeks ago), I can activate the self timer with the push of a button, and I can have it preset for the length of delay and number of shots that it takes. So I may look into picking up a tripod now.

I still like to take pictures of smaller fish without being in the picture myself. Usually I just set the camera to 'macro mode', and then try to take an interesting picture by using different angles and working with what is around me.

Here are a few examples that I think turned out good:

SK Justin wrote:
[quote]I haven't taken very many pictures with a self timer, mainly because I don't have a tripod, and the self timer function on my previous cameras were a pain to get at (they required flipping through multiple menus). With my new camera (a Canon PowerShot that I picked up two weeks ago), I can activate the self timer with the push of a button, and I can have it preset for the length of delay and number of shots that it takes. So I may look into picking up a tripod now.


quote]

You will love the new camera.

Doah now I am a drum.

the macro and supermacro mode on the camera is amazing. I've only used it so far to take photos of my flies. Thanks for the tip Justin, it should work great on my fish pics too.

I fish solo most of the time too. I used to sit my camera on the ground then use the self timer. A lot of those end up being a fuzzy silhouette of me against a bright sky. I really like the powershot cuz it will take a few pics at a time on the timer mode. You can pick the least goofy looking one or get a nice sequence of a fish flopping out of your hands. I recently found a little flexible tripod that i like. I think its called a gripton. It's got bendy legs to wrap around branches, oar, etc.

oops. heres a pic

looks like the gorillapod

A couple years ago while floating down the Mississippi river for smallmouth. I was in my trusty canoe that never leaked before. I had my wives digital camera behind me. My dad had caught a nice fish and I wanted to save the moment. I turned around to see the camera and small plano tackle box floating in a puddle of water. Fried it. Ever since I have been using my camera phone. It works but not good.

I also used my camera phone a lot because I was too paranoid about raosting a digital camera. I'm probably going to start bringing my powershot along. I don't plan on leaving it unattended unless I'm shore fishing; I'll just keep it strapped to me. It might be worth considering a drybag for the camera like an aquapac or .

Quick questions...

What am I looking for in a camera when I'm trying to get those "macro" modes?

What should I look for in a camera anyways?

What IS macro?

A little off topic, but can anyone find/know about a camera that'll take high quality pictures underwater (without being ruined, of course)?

Be gentle, I'm not that smart in technology...explain it in layman terms, please.