5 Mat Shots, Better Than Nothing

When fishing alone, it's not always possible to get desired photos of our fish using a proper pose. In those cases, a mat shot of your carp is better than nothing.

Rather than a straight above picture orientation, try taking the photo from a lower level or at different angles. It can help create some drama and interest in an otherwise mundane photo.

Instead of straight above with the fish square in the frame I took this one above at an angle.

Here's one from a lower level and angle to add some more interest to the photo.

Most modern Smart Phone's have a camera and many of those phone cameras allow for voice activated photo captures. It's as simple as activating the phone camera and propping the phone against a can of corn on top of a bench (or 5 gallon bucket in my case), or something similar. Then, pose the fish and (on my Galaxy S9) give the command "cheese".  It works like a charm.

If your phone doesn't have built in voice activation for the camera try searching for a voice activated camera application in the app store. There are many free ones that will do the job very well. Alternatively, try taking a video of you posing the fish. You can always take a screen capture of the fish later on.

Sometimes the fishing is so good, you don't have time to be creative and you just take whatever photo you can get at the time. This "triple" run tested my carp fishing abilities to the max. If my wife hadn't been standing there on a lark, the 3rd fish would have certainly spooled me.

I like to take tail shots. It really gives an unusual perspective for just how large the fish is.

This mat photo gives perspective for how long this fish was. The mat is 36" and the fish was at least 41" or possibly 42" based on how the tail extended past the edge of the mat. This fish weighed 37#.