Wintle's World - Self-take Photography

Angling photography - the art of self-takes One of the essentials for angling articles, aside from good stories, are good pictures. They must be sharp, well-lit and properly composed; ideally the angler should be looking at the camera (how I hate anglers staring moodily at fish) and smiling. The fish should be displayed well without fingers in the way and at the right angle, ie, not tilted away. Picture 1 Picture 2 It is all easier said than done but if you ever get a good angling photographer behind the lens then they will carefully direct you towards a suitable pose before pressing the button. That's all very well when you've got a fishing mate on hand who knows how to use to use a camera. But when you venture out alone at short notice, as I often do, then you need another method - self-take pictures. Now you really are on your own! This particular challenge - remotely triggering the shutter on your camera - has been a bugbear to keen anglers for many years. It is all very well taking a picture of a fish in a landing net or next to a rod and reel - there are many classic shots of that ilk - but at some point, you need shots that include the angler/writer. Traditional cameras had remote cable releases using a bulb or push button. Their use was more complex than it seems. In the days before autofocus, you had to work out how to get the camera focussed and yourself in the frame before you lifted the fish and simultaneously operated the cable release. There is much to go wrong, and it isn't helped by the fact that you've got a fish on the bank gasping away. Time is of the essence for the health of the fish. Picture 3 Picture 4 A further disadvantage of film cameras is that you can't even check the result until the film is developed, so many anglers took several shots to try to ensure that at least one was spot-on. The digital revolution is now upon us and the quality of pictures achievable easily sufficient for books, magazines and the internet. In addition you can check the quality of the shots you've taken and allow the fish to rest back in the water in the landing net. And then a new electronic gismo started to appear on cameras - the ten second delay timer. This gives you time to press the switch and dash back and hopefully get back into position holding the fish. These are fine if the camera is able to autofocus as part of the ten second delay, and the framing is still left to chance, Better still, learn how to use manual focus and pre-focus on an object placed where you intend to kneel with the fish. Some Canon compacts got around many of the problems of self-takes with a swivel screen that allows you to see how you're framed whilst in position with the fish. A wireless got rid of the cable. With good quality, for a compact anyway, it seemed the problem was solved. Picture 5 Picture 6 Perhaps it was but I want to use a digital SLR for my photography. I have yet to upgrade to the latest models and my Canon 350D might seem out of date but a decent lens on the front, a proper flash gun and a remote make it a formidable combination. I have learnt that setting the lens too wide certainly gets me in the picture but distorts the scale of the fish especially if held out towards the camera which I'd prefer not to do, so I try to set the lens to about 35mm (50mm in traditional 35mm film terms, which is known as the standard lens or focal length because it renders perspective that closely matches that of the human eye). I switch the flash on if necessary and try to get the fish into the right position as well as remembering to smile - though the high incidence of grimaces is still irking me. Other problems have been where I have been too far away from the camera, badly framed, out of focus, needing flash, or the main one where the fish is held badly so that it is obscured. DSLR with live view and swivel screen I well remember seeing all sorts of methods for setting up self-take shots, including artificial frames made of bank sticks to get some idea of the best position both laterally and in distance from the camera. Now that 'live view' is available on some dSLRs a few are appearing with swivel screens, notably the Olympus E-3. What would make remote controls a great deal better is if they would work on a 5 second or longer delay instead of 2 seconds which isn't quite long enough for an old codger like me. Picture 7 Picture 8 I am finding some fish much more co-operative than others; grayling - forget it! Chub are OK; as are roach and bream but carp can be a right handful. It is still early days but I shall persevere and one day I might get pictures as good as the ones Terry Lampard manages even if my fish are half the size! I've included a selection of pictures; all you have to do is guess which ones involved a photographer and which ones were self takes. I'll post the answers after the article goes up on the site and you've had a few guesses.