Big fish stop motion photography: a view from above and below the water

[bluewaterjon]

The above fish are called Dorado, or mahi-mahi. East Coasters call them Dolphin. Thus far they have proven to be the trickiest fish for me to capture on camera, because their jumps are so lightning quick and unpredictable.
When shooting from a boat, you not only have to deal with the fish that are jumping every which way, but you have to add a whole bunch of shutter speed just to account for the constant movement of the boat as it maneuvers around the fish, and through the waves. Plus you have the salt water spraying every which way! One time a boat went in such full throttle reverse that the cockpit was knee deep in water and my nylon camera bag floated right by me (Since then it's either in the pelican, or it's inside the cabin) Picture photographing birds in flight from a speeding Land Rover on safari!]

Perhaps not surprisingly, it's much easier to photograph these fish underwater. It's fun swimming with them in clear water, as their brilliant colors give off near flourescent hues of alternating yellow, blue, and yellow.

Hope you enjoy the shots!
Jon Schwartz

 

[Robin Usagani]

Nice.. I have caught one of those in Hawaii. Good shots!

 

[bluewaterjon]

Thanks for the kind words. They are delicious, no?

 

[Robin Usagani]

Unfortunately the boat owner kept all the fish. We paid him lots of $ to be on his boat, we catch the fish, and he kept them.. sounds like a good deal dont you think?

 

[Trever1t]

yummy. We call them Dolphin in the Caribbean too. Nice work, you got the feeling of the action captured well.

 

[Trever1t]

Unfortunately the boat owner kept all the fish. We paid him lots of $ to be on his boat, we catch the fish, and he kept them.. sounds like a good deal dont you think?

This is standard. I would usually give some cuts to the charter if they wanted but most often the fish is sold to pay the bills.

 

[bluewaterjon]

Schwetty,
Yeah I hear you. Different places have different policies. In Hawaii, it's fairly common for the boats to keep the fish, because they sell the fish to pay for the charter, as Trever1T said.
In Mexico and Panama, and most places I have traveled to except Hawaii, the fish is yours. That being said I have fished mainly outside of the continental US so what they do in the East Coast, South, etc, I have no idea.
Lots of charters make it a practice to tell you outright, on their website and in conversation prior to the fishing, that they will keep the fish unless you make prior arrangements, and I think that is the best practice for sure.

 

[Robin Usagani]

On the top of that, they asked me to eat the eye.. wth? Ill eat the meat raw if you give me soy sauce, not the eye LOL

 

[Trever1t]

Fishing the Coast of Northern CA I'd ask customers to eat the beating hearts of their first Salmon...it's a rite of passage. Taste good too

 

[Unrealorange]

cool shots, especially the last one!

 

[SHaller]

Thats a nice looking bull!

 

[bluewaterjon]

Thanks guys! I have a ton of great marlin and sailfish pics
but relatively few decent jumping shots of dorado. One of these
days maybe I'll luck out with another cooperative model. Definitely the type of fish where you are flowing on burst and just hoping something comes out right.
Another issue I've encountered is the RAW buffer. They tend to
go aerial in a series of leaps and being economical can cause
you to miss shots.
Jon