Pacific Sailfish

Gallery: WildlifePosted December 27, 2009286 views7 comments

I'm really curious if this is an appropriate post for this gallery. Besides furry predators and raptors, my other favorite subjects are jumping billfish. Not many animals can compete with them for sheer speed and athletic ability though about the only way to consistently witness their speed and grace is to fish for them, hence the question. As always, comments and suggestions are much appreciated.

Canon EOS40D, 100-400L IS @ 350mm, F9, ISO 500, 1/1,600 sec.

Comments

7 comments

Comment posted by Luke Ormand on December 27, 2009 at 10:39 PM

Pretty much any "animal" that doesn't have wings is acceptable in this gallery. Great shot, tons mof action and I love the open bill - too bad it's attached to a hook. . .

Registered on February 4, 2009, 1093 Posts, 7035 Comments

Comment posted by Joe James on December 27, 2009 at 10:51 PM

Thanks Luke! If it makes you feel better we use circle hooks exclusively which satellite tagging studies have shown produce nearly a 100% survival rate. javascript:%20x() It's easy to post these to fishing oriented sites but I've yet to get any worthwhile photographic feedback which is why I decided to take a chance and see what happened by posting here.

Registered on November 20, 2009, 89 Posts, 808 Comments

Comment posted by SandyRichardsBrown on December 28, 2009 at 3:25 AM

Excellent action shot - I love fish, and we don't get many good shots posted here, so KUDOS for this one!
Great colors and water action.

Sandy r

Registered on November 24, 2003, 3937 Posts, 12909 Comments

Comment posted by bill meikle on December 28, 2009 at 8:17 AM

Great shot, great subject Joe.

Registered on May 21, 2006, 173 Posts, 663 Comments

Comment posted by Brad Hill on December 28, 2009 at 9:24 AM

Hi Joe,

A-Ok to post fish shots here, including ones that are hooked. The generally accepted guideline is that if an animal is not free-ranging and/or shot in it's natural habitat (so this would include captive animals, baited animals, etc.), then the shooting condition/situation should be disclosed (which you did). So...A-Ok to continue posting them here. I suppose it could be argued that if the fishing apparatus was very visible in the shot then the image should probably be posted in "Man & Nature", but I don't think you'll have anyone here complaining. And - on a personal note - I'm very glad to hear that the fishing method you use has minimal effect on the survival rate of the fish...

Back to your image - nice capture! You've frozen the subject very nicely and, at least at this size, it looks very sharp. Your exposure looks very good as well. If the image were mine I'd be tempted to crop out a little of the foreground and thus lower the subject slightly in the frame (and also bring it a little closer in terms of depth into the frame). My biggest nit here (and it's really no nit at all), is that I'd simply like to see a larger version of this image - primarily to see more detail...

Cheers...thanks for sharing this...

Brad

Registered on May 29, 2007, 431 Posts, 6061 Comments

Comment posted by Paul Marcellini on December 29, 2009 at 9:15 AM

Great work on timing and action. I can also vouch for circle hooks. Only nit, and its more a personal thing is I like more diagonals, so it would have been great if the sail had been going up more, but still a very strong dynamic image.

Registered on November 27, 2007, 250 Posts, 2468 Comments

Comment posted by Sally King on December 30, 2009 at 10:47 AM

I love the colors, open mouth, and splash. Well composed image too.

Registered on December 2, 2008, 416 Posts, 4450 Comments