Bad Photo etiquette

[JustinW]

Why is it that so often us fishermen/women and spearfishermen/women pose with our prize is such a horrible pose. I'm talking about when you see someone hold the fish out with their arms outstretched and the camera at such an angle that the fish is made to look larger than it is. Why not be proud of what you caught. Why do we take pictures that give the illusion of the fish being larger than it really is. All this does it make it more difficult for people to put into perspective the actual size of the trophy, this also seems to be repeated with deer etc. Are we actually supposed to believe that the rainbow trout you caught really has a larget head that the angler? Are we really supposed to think that the surfperch is twice the size of your chest? If you are one of these photographers/posers I ask, Why do you do this?


Here is an example of what I am talking about. Faces have been blurred to protect the "innocent"

Now am I really supposed to think that this bass has a larger head than this man? How am I supposed to take this catch seriously, how can i appreciate what he caught. How can the angler preserve an accurate memory of his catch. I just don't get these pictures.



Here is a more respectable picture, sure the fish isn't pressed against his chest, but at least I can see that his arms are folded and the viewer can get a more realistic idea of the beauty of the fish, This guy seems to not have quite the napolean complex of the guy in the first photo.

This is just a huge pet peeve of mine.

 

[whalerkyle]

It's officially called the "Fisherman Pose For Picture" syndrome.

FPFP

Kyle

 

[Mike Veitch]

trying to get the bad smell of dead fish further away from one's nose?

 

[TropicalDiver]

Kind of think that it's a "if you can't have four engines on the back of your boat to compensate...do the next best thing"

And a lot of inshore fish are small compared to offshore fish - most poses like that are with fish like Bass, Redfish, etc. and not with Mahi-Mahi or Cobia - don't need photo techniques to amplify those pics - LOL !

 

[JustinW]

Thanks for the replies from everybody that has responded, haven't heard from anybody defending the small man.....big fish pose. The topic has just always been somthing that has irked me, and wanted to find out why people do that. What originally sparked the thread for me was looking at the pictures of people with lobster, the most impressive photos are those with a huge lobster clinging to the guys chest, while i was not impressed with a small lobster being held out to look like an alien.

 

[pennypue]

Justin, I had never given your pet peeve a thought, and it's not gonna get a second one! I could care less about the size of their fish. But the thread did make an amusing read for a Saturday morning.

 

[Aquadoc68]

WOW nice Amber Jack TD did you spear it. They really are dummies hehe spear one and the whole school swoops in to see whats up hehe. but I have never hit one that big Nice!!

 

[TropicalDiver]

Thanks aquadoc - yep, he was speared - freeshafted actually - he just kind of stopped swimming and rested on the ledge, probably wondering why he had suddenly gotten about a pound heavier (48" spear through gill area). Think he was around 30 lbs...he was good for dinner Those fish have to get the Darwin award for being so stupid but they are strong!