Photographs of Captures

Have been thinking about this for some time .
When you first start out any fish over about a pound gets the Trophy hunter treatment, and this continues as your captures either get larger or the bags get bigger .However at some point in your life do you cross the threshold and become an angler. By this I mean is it that the photo of a fish just doesn't do the justice of the "moment".You still feel compelled in taking photo's but they just don't mean the same or they are staged with other items in the picture.
I think there is a sort of journey involved here as sometimes it gets to a stage where you either dont because it is not a "big one" or you can't be bothered .
Or is it just a case of the digital age where there are so many photos that you can take for little or no cost and store , and after a while the act of being a "David Bailey" starts to wear a bit thin.
However there is the matter of weighing fish as well as taking a picture, but thats a different kettle of fish as they say

i take very few photographs of fish nowadays, if i do take one its because the fish is one i would like a reminder of and its not the size of the fish that determines wether i take a photo or not its mostly down to what the fish looks like.

I am not a photo angler, in that i mean i dont take pictures of all the fish i catch, infact i doint always take a camera.

Like Blanker, it dosent always have to be the biggest fish, i do know one thing, i am fishing a water the season and if i get one of the Tench, then i will take a picture, just as it will be a first for that venue.

Photography is a central part of my angling - in fact, if I forget my camera or scales I will turn back and get them!! my photo album acts as a record come fishing diary.

Mind you, only special fish are pictured - normally fish captures are recorded in a paper diary.........

I photograph many fish purely as a record and for bigger stuff(when it comes along-so thats about six times a year!)for identification....

Only recently I caught two reasonable fish from oposite sides of the lake some weeks apart and it turned out to be the same fish-I wouldn't have believed it but the photos proved otherwise!!

(Actually,I was blo**dy cross about it!!)

I'd say that I probably take photos of about 25% of the fish I catch. This does not always go on size.

If a fish is a good example of the species I'll take a photo. The venue also has an influence i.e. the other day I caught a couple of bream from the Wharfe of 8lb 9oz and 6lb 13oz - on some waters I fish, I wouldn't even have weighed them never mind taking a photo. Those bream were good fish from that water - I'd also targeted them, so catching them was all the more enjoyable.

I've returned doubles on other waters with no thought of a photo or weighing.

Mind you - I've only ever returned one 2lb+ roach without a photo - still regret not taking one to this day.

Photograph everything for identification purposes, its surprising how some carp turn up in different locations sometimes