How To Take Fishing Photos You Can Publish Or Sell: On Location What Images to Shoot?

On Location, What Images to Shoot?

On location at a salt water or fresh water fishing site, a range of images from close ups to scenic overviews will be useful. Try shooting at different angles and from different heights. Take portraits, group and individual shots of un-posed people. Photograph the food, facilities, products and people. Keep an eye out for splashes of color, interesting scenes, unusual clothing or situations. Don’t forget to get close-ups and images of species indigenous to your particular region. Remember the fish head in a bucket I posted earlier? Look for dynamic visual imagery that “grabs” your eye like that.

Inquiring minds want to know
In your enquiries to editors, if you offer a selection of photos and graphics, you’re going to start getting much more of the editor’s attention. Don’t send any photos yet, just mention that they’re available. You’ll know what format the publication uses from reading the Photographer’s Guidelines. Usually six or eight photos should do it. That means if you have around a dozen items available to send in for review and approval, you have an excellent chance of making the pitch sell. My first few months doing this more than tripled my success rate without changing anything else.

How, what and where
A Google search for “fishing magazines” will yield hundreds of titles and website locations. Go to their websites and look under photographer guidelines for more info on how and where to submit your pictures. Stop by a local newsstand or two for copies of fishing, outdoor and sports magazines you can contact for your area. Don’t forget the local and regional newspapers either. Some other Google – searchable themes include:

• Fishing publications both online and print
• Outdoor magazines, periodicals and websites
• vacation magazines, newsletters and websites
• travel websites, online and print publications
• blogs on fishing, nature, vacation travel and the outdoors
• e-zines from sporting goods suppliers and fishing, outdoor and travel specialists
• newsletters and web-content on fishing and any related themes
• websites for any fishing, nature, outdoor or related topic

If you need a virtual “kick-in-the-pants” to get you going in the right direction or have an additional question, please feel free to e-mail me.

So get out there and start taking a few shots with your next fishing trip already in mind. Dogs bark, birds fly, and fishermen fish – and offer their photos (and articles) to their local newspapers and favorite fishing, nature, outdoor and travel magazines for extra income. It’s what we do, right?


Prof. Larry M. Lynch is an English language teaching and learning expert author and university professor in Cali, Colombia. Now YOU too can live your dreams in paradise, find romance, high adventure and get paid while travelling for free. Need professional, original salt or fresh water fishing related content or articles for your blog, newsletter, e-zine or website? Have a question, request, or want to receive more information or to be added to his articles and information mailing list? Contact the author at: lynchlarrym@gmail.com/

How to Take Fishing Photos You Can Publish or Sell: What kinds of photos to Take

What Kinds of Salt Water and Fresh Water Fishing Photos to Take

To learn about photographic composition and types of photos, look at examples of what your target fishing, outdoors, vacation and travel publications are using. Take a short photography course. Many community colleges offer them. You could also check at local photo shops or try one of the several good ones online. Take photos of signs, nearby historic points, close-ups of your finny friends and good, tight shots of the day’s catch and the fishermen who got them. Be sure to get names and contact information for everyone in your photos. Okay, so go ahead and get the “usual” type of photos to have that out of your system, but then think and go for a few “extra” shots that will help round out your photos submissions.

Digital or film?
In today’s market there are a wide variety of choices for shooting your article photos. Films differ in format, speed and sensitivity. There are choices of from less than 100 ISA up to 1600 ISA or even faster for specialty films in 35mm format. Color, black and white, sepia tone and infrared films are also available for adding special effects. You needn’t chain your brain with these options if you’re not interested. Just stick with 100 to 400 ISA film in 35mm format. Shoot prints or slides depending on what the publication photography guidelines say. Another thing, use one of those “disposable” camera models or a special “all weather” or sports model camera if you’re worried about damaging your expensive 35mm out on the water.

Have it BOTH ways
Another point: film pictures can be scanned and digitized. Many photo shops offer to burn film negative photos onto a CD for a small additional fee, so you can have it both ways. Take them up on it. Find out from two or three different photo shops, what cross-media services they offer. Selling one good photograph can pay for months of photography.

The debate over digital vs. film cameras might rage on but the world is becoming an increasingly digital one. Call me a wimp, call me a cop out, call me whatever you want: I use both when shooting on location. So whether I find a market that asks for photographic prints, film negatives, photographic slide formats or high resolution digital images, I’m covered. So go ahead and snicker at me all you “purists”; you can follow me all the way to the bank.

In the next segment, we’ll look at exactly what kinds of scenes and images to shoot that will be saleable to potential fishing, outdoor, vacation and travel websites, blogs, e-zines, newsletters, and websites, to mention a few market possibilities. See you then.


Prof. Larry M. Lynch is an English language teaching and learning expert author and university professor in Cali, Colombia. Now YOU too can live your dreams in paradise, find romance, high adventure and get paid while travelling for free. Need professional, original salt or fresh water fishing related content or articles for your blog, newsletter, e-zine or website? Have a question, request, or want to receive more information or to be added to his articles and information mailing list? Contact the author at: lynchlarrym@gmail.com/