Northwest Fishing and Photos

[John H]

I did a two-week trip to Oregon and Washington recently. I have done this trip a few times and posted on it. This year I fished a litlle less and spent more time working on photos. I actually did some landscape photos which I never do so it is kind of new to me. The trick seems to be finding a composition. All the YouTube photographers say composition is the most important thing, but it is a little tricky to spot it when you are out walking around. I think you have to take bad photos for a few years before you are able to see composition.

Of the 14 days I was up there the rivers were only fishable for three days, so it is good I had something to do other than fish. I caught a couple of fish on the day I drift boat indicator fished in Washington. I caught one fish on the two days I swung in Oregon. The swing fish was 35" as best I could measure it on my rod and was about 5 miles above the reach of tide so a pretty nice steelhead. I was out in the middle of the river and there was a deep and swift spot to cross to get back to the bank so I had to get what I could for a photo. It is hard to believe that will not be the best fish I catch in 2025. The photos are in the order I took them.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Amazing John

This is one of my favorite posts of yours.


Just for another chance to hook a large, wild winter run Steelhead close to the ocean would be special.

I was fortunate to fight some of those majestic fish on the Gualala, Garcia, and Eel rivers in the 1970s.

It was even exciting when someone else hooked a fish near you, and you witnessed the battle.


John, you are fortunate to have past knowledge of those rivers and can still physically chase those fish.



Fall Steelheading is better for consistency and old farts like me.

As you implied, winter Steelheading is very unpredictable, especially today.

[DLJeff]

I like the running Western Sandpiper and the harbor seals. That one on the left is a porker.

I halfway agree with you JOhn about the composition in landscape shots. But I think lighting also plays a critical role. For example, this shot of a rainbow in Clark's Fork Valley doesn't have much in the way of composition, but the dark clouds and sunlight irrigation wheel combine with the bright rainbow to make it cool.


This shot of Queen's Garden in Bryce certainly has some drama with the hoodoos and all, but to me what makes it really interesting is the little section backlit by the rishing sun..


Now this shot of Mt Eolus looking south from a trail off Hwy 550 in Colo is solely interesting based on the composition, showing the vast majesty of the Rockies. This was taken with a little point & shoot too, nothing fancy.


Maybe that's all included in "composition" so maybe you're right.

I remember reading a book about Ansel Adams and he would set up a shot with his gynormous box camera and then sit and wait....and wait....and wait sometimes for days for just the right clouds and sunlight. Of course he took all black & white so for him dramatic lighting was crucial.

Oh, and that's defintely a bragging rights steelhead for sure.

[tdrfishoot]

Awesome photos and narrative. Thank you John.

[John H]

One YouTube guy said you have to find a subject then figure out a composition to put it in then wait for light or weather to do something special. The YouTube guys are pretty good so they want all three but if you have good light that can be enough. I feel like I need to work on the composition part. Those guys seem to just walk around looking for compostions and subjects. The rainbow with the dry wheat field is beautiful. Lots of color contrast to set off the rainbow. Bryce is so colorful. I went there once but it did not look that good.

Steelhead are great. It is like a miracle when a big one grabs your fly. I wish I could get it to happen a little more but I will take what comes.

Those harbor seals are really something when you get kind of close. They look like they are inflated and could be popped with a pin. I walked three miles to get to their beach and then did a very slow crawl up to get as close as they would tolerate. They are beautiful animals. I find most animals are beautiful when you get a good picture. I saw the elk on the way to the seal beach.

[Vaughn Willett]

John,

I especially like the photo of the offshore wind ripping the tops off the waves--and the steelhead pics, too.

Vaughn

[John H]

That wave photo is good. From the beach all you could see was the smaller waves in front of you so I climbed up on a rock to get a view point. From the rock you could see the bigger isolated ones further out and I liked that big rock behind them. The ocean was a churned up mess. Big waves from a storm were coming in and the wind was blowing them back. I had to sit down to keep from getting blown off the rock. It was kind of crazy.

[DLJeff]

One YouTube guy said you have to find a subject then figure out a composition to put it in then wait for light or weather to do something special. The YouTube guys are pretty good so they want all three but if you have good light that can be enough. I feel like I need to work on the composition part. Those guys seem to just walk around looking for compostions and subjects. The rainbow with the dry wheat field is beautiful. Lots of color contrast to set off the rainbow. Bryce is so colorful. I went there once but it did not look that good.

Steelhead are great. It is like a miracle when a big one grabs your fly. I wish I could get it to happen a little more but I will take what comes.

Those harbor seals are really something when you get kind of close. They look like they are inflated and could be popped with a pin. I walked three miles to get to their beach and then did a very slow crawl up to get as close as they would tolerate. They are beautiful animals. I find most animals are beautiful when you get a good picture. I saw the elk on the way to the seal beach.

Sometimes it's just luck, being in the right place at the right time with your camera in hand, although one still has to recognize the potential. I had a lady photographer tell me one time she liked to find something to draw the viewer's eye into the photo. I tried to get that with that rainbow photo. I could see the dramatic lighting and the color contrasts, etc. So I purposefully tried to set up to get the fence and irrigation line to angle into the photo more than they are. But if I am remembering correctly, there was a house or power pole or something off to the right I didn't want in the photo so I couldn't get the angle I needed.

Then I also remember the "law of thirds". You see your subject and frame it with the lens. Then you divide that view into thirds both horizontally and vertically. Then you move the central subject around but rarely ever put it directly dead center in the photo. So essentially you use where the lines intersect to center your main subject. But where that get's difficult to me is when your camera is set on single point auto-focus, that point is usually dead center in your view. So especially for birds, people etc you have to set up dead center, halfway press the shutter to get the auto-focus locked, and then slide the camera off to put the subject into the third you want. All before the camera resets or the subject moves or the light changes, etc.

If it were easy I guess all photos would be awesome.