Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Evaluating and adjusting fish populations Photographing fish while they feed

What tips/tricks do you have to photograph feeding fish?

Does a tripod help you? Do you focus on a particular area and take rapid shots?

I'm just curious what people typically do to get good photos of their fish that are feeding. I've got some VERY large catfish that have not appeared at feeding time before and I suspect with warmer weather they are making their way up from their usual murky holes in deeper depths.

I'm a decent photographer but I have yet to figure out how to get a pic of fish without surface reflection/glare. I think one of the best ways is to have the Sun behind you and shinning into the pond. If you have a Digital Camera you could try that, I sometimes use it for moving objects I just play it on my PC, pause and screenshot in order to get pictures. If I learn any thing else I will let you know.

These pics will show what I mean about surface reflection.

If you have a digital camera, you might be able to take a video of them feeding.

Depending on the camera, I wonder if a polarized filter would work to cut surface glare?

The filter made a huge difference on my pics.

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I may try a video to see if I can take some stills out of it worth using. My pond is oriented longways in a north/south direction and I am typically feeding from the west side. If there is little wind of any kind, I can normally get a fantastic view of the fish if I feed around noon time when the sun is almost directly above the pond.

I do not have a filter, but that might be a possibility. I know polarized glasses make a difference for my eyes when looking into the water, so I would suspect it would have similar effect on the camera.

I use a polarized filter.

here is an example:



I cannot see them when I don't use a filter.

Coach, the plants look like they are doing very well!

Wow Coach... That photo with the filter was fantastic.

I took a few yesterday and haven't had the time to downsize them and upload here yet. It's windy here at the moment so I don't think I will get any good ones at feeding time today.

I finally got around to taking some feeding photos that were decent. These were without a filter, but they work nonetheless. Most were taken 4-6 feet away, standing on the bank.

This is one of our "big boys." There are some bigger but this guy is a regular.


There's a fairly large fish in here we are assuming is one of the CC we stocked. You can see it's light color compared to the other catfish.


Some of these are Blue cats that we did not stock...Clearly holdovers from a pond we were told was "fished out."

Have you caught any blues out of the pond?

Clayton:

What are those plants that are in your pictures?

Looks like a cultivar of pickerel weed to me?

What kind of fish are in each of your pictures?

What type of camera do you have and where did you get the filter you are using?

Pickerel weed. I have a hard time keeping it at bay....

I use a polarized filter on my camera also....MY POLARIZED SUNGLASSES in front of the lens!

Thanks. I tried starting plants from seeds with only 1 out of 50 making it. I bought a dozen plants last week and got them in the pond. Hopefully they can learn to live in my fluctuation water level pond. 27" below full pool as of today. They are planted at the 12" below full pool level.

Glad to see I am not the only one who does that!

I tried that also but the pics always looked yellow and fuzzy. So I bought a polarized filter. Because it is attached it focuses with the camera. I take much better pics now.