J Sikkila photography ???

[Fish Chris]

John, first off, your fish photography is absolutely awesome ! And this, coming from a guy who would like to consider himself a pretty avid photographer himself.

 

I'm assuming your using a DSLR for these ? What brand / model ? {totally understanding that it's the "photographer" who takes the photo, "not" the camera. Just curious). Oh, and of course, what is your go to lens ?

 

Do you use any filters ? A circular polarizer, maybe ? 

 

Anyway, I'm totally awed and inspired to try and start mixing some "art" into my fish shots. For 1 thing, especially with a smaller species such as a Sunfish, you have shown me how much prettier the shot might be > without having my big, ugly mug in the shot, to kill the mood ;)  LOL

 

It's kind of funny.... I've been a hard-core angler all of my life. I've also been into digital photography pretty seriously for about 10 years...... But ironically, their hasn't always been a huge overlap of these two passions. Oh sure, I try to make my fish photos look technically good (contrast, exposure, saturation, etc) however, I haven't even thought much, about trying to make my fish shots artistic......

 

.....that is, until I saw yours !!!!!

 

Keep up the fantastic work !

I just love it !

 

Fish

 

PS, I'm very anxious for your reply..... but leaving in less than 12 hours for a trip to Louisiana. Probably won't be online for about a week. Will be sure to check back then though :)

 

 

[John Sikkila]

Thanks for such a wonderful comment Fish Chris....to answer your question(s) briefly here(Just found this posting this morning)...I have for years mixed wildlife/nature photography with fishing (also both passions of mine....and birds)...All my cameras are point and shoots or "bridge cameras" resembling the "big guns " if you will....I've never owned the big DSLR's....My true honest opinion is one can get very good image results with the SLR's  along with some post processing....I usually inspect and examine each and every image that I might be interested in posting or keeping for future use whatever that may be....I do own a few different point and shoots since the advent of "Digitals"...My latest ,only a week old, is the Canon Powershot SX30 IS latest technology with the 35 times zoom,great clarity(14 megs)....wonderful color as you can see in some of my photos within the last week or so.But my older point and shoots are nothing to sneeze at either.....Older cameras "all" have worked very well and provided excellent images also....The Fuji S5000(3.2 megs),The Fuji s9000(9 megs),The Panasonic DMC-FZ-18 (8.1megs).....All great "Point and shoots" set entirely on "Auto" mode for my images....Yes auto mode......One can certainly get some quite good results with the point and shoots....It's definately "How one takes and puts together" that image rather then the camera itself albeit a decent camera certainly does help....No special lenses,no polarizers.no diopters for macro,no add on's whatsoever....Just the camera in auto mode....No time to change a lens in the middle of a good "fish bite"....These "bridge cameras" are really designed quite well and one one just needs to be able to "put the image together" and think out what that image will look like before one snaps the shutter....So important!...of course a lot of the images on the camera are not "that" good and are deleted when dumping them onto the computer.....Some I like,some I don't....Just get a "feel' for that image after a while I guess....Know in a split second when to hit that shutter when the fish is next to the boat...how the sun hits the fish,is it to shady? to much light? for "blown out " areas from the sun....camera has to focus quickly as the fish is moving...Backgrounds,lighting, water droplets, etc.....Keeping the moving fish in the frame .....don't forget you are holding the rod in one hand and taking the photo with the other at the same time.....Get pretty good at it after a few years...lol!.....For the "still shots" just keep in mind the whole "look or setup"...experiment here I guess.....Some of these shots even surprise me after all these years....A lot of personal taste and technique going on here of what a good image should look like and be.....All in all, it's the person behind the camera and not so much the camera itself to get a decent image....Visualizing what the image just may look like just before you hit the shutter.....Hope this all helps!.....Will be off again later this morning!

[Fish Chris]

John, much thanks for your reply. {of course now I'm really close to running for the airport, but....}

 

You might be surprised, that I'm "not surprised" that you are shooting with a bridge (non-DSLR) camera. I also shot for years with a bridge camera (a Fuji S7000, to be precise) and took a lot of great shots with them. I still use a Fuji S6000 for certain things.

But mostly, for my fish photos, I've been using my Canon A650is (which I absolutely love) I also own the A630, and A640, for backups.

 

Anyway, again, I just wanted to stress that "the art" in your shots is really striking. I'm going to be thinking more about this, with my own fish photography, especially with smaller, more beautiful species, such as Sunfish. I mean, we know it wasn't 10 lbs... (like, "Look ! It's as big as my fat head" ! :) LOL) but regardless of how big it was, compared to myself..... Look how beautiful it was !

 

Oh, of course I'm bringing a little fishing tackle, and 2 cameras to Louisiana ;) Maybe I might have something to post when I get back :)

 

Peace,

Fish

 

Oh hey John, you mentioned you were also into birds. Me too ! :)

 

 

 

 

[John Sikkila]

Thanks once again Chris....I'm more taken by the beauty of these bluegills and sunnies then by the actual size.....They all make great images!........Also,Great bird images!....I really like to pursue the winter owls during the winter months.....Great grays,northern hawkowls....

[Jen Nayfly]

Outstanding photos and some great fly tying material!