227. Fish - October 22-28, 2017
Kevin-
We all have a place in our house, or in our garage, or in a shed out back which becomes the resting place, the temporary depository if you will, of all the hazardous things which must be carefully disposed of. Old oil, or solvents, paints, glues, weed killers, bug sprays, etc. Miscellaneous objects and chemicals that one would never touch or consume, and that should be kept as far as possible from food preparation areas. Cans of fish fall into that category. What could be more hazardous than putting salmon, or tuna or sardines near your mouth? This is what hazardous waste sites are designed for, though there is often a significant disposal fee involved.
Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy catching fish. But the purpose of catching them is to then quickly release them. But to eat? Why would one do that? Yes, I know that with billions of people in our world there are those who deliberately consume fish, and claim that the dishes can even taste good. But remember, there are also people who mainline heroin who claim that it makes them feel good.
Nikon D4s, mounted on a Manfrotto 055CXPRO4 tripod with a Acratech GP ballhead, 24-70mm f/2.8 Nikkor lens, one Nikon SB-900 series flash in a small softbox place high, ISO 320, f/11 @ 1/250th of a second (flash sync).
We all have a place in our house, or in our garage, or in a shed out back which becomes the resting place, the temporary depository if you will, of all the hazardous things which must be carefully disposed of. Old oil, or solvents, paints, glues, weed killers, bug sprays, etc. Miscellaneous objects and chemicals that one would never touch or consume, and that should be kept as far as possible from food preparation areas. Cans of fish fall into that category. What could be more hazardous than putting salmon, or tuna or sardines near your mouth? This is what hazardous waste sites are designed for, though there is often a significant disposal fee involved.
Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy catching fish. But the purpose of catching them is to then quickly release them. But to eat? Why would one do that? Yes, I know that with billions of people in our world there are those who deliberately consume fish, and claim that the dishes can even taste good. But remember, there are also people who mainline heroin who claim that it makes them feel good.
Nikon D4s, mounted on a Manfrotto 055CXPRO4 tripod with a Acratech GP ballhead, 24-70mm f/2.8 Nikkor lens, one Nikon SB-900 series flash in a small softbox place high, ISO 320, f/11 @ 1/250th of a second (flash sync).
Paul-
It was made clear to me at the outset (by powers beyond my ken) that I would not be bringing home a severed fish head or two to photograph this week. That was my plan. Really. Unfortunately, my plan met an unanticipated gale-force push back at home, so I grudgingly fell back on Plan B.
Which I did not have. When you really love Plan A (and I did), everything else is relegated further down the alphabet.
As a result, I dredged deep inside my grey matter to see what kind of piscine ideas might surface. The result: nothing. For some reason, this week’s theme found me tapped out and clueless. Odd—it’s not like this is some narrow, obscure topic like the dreaded “Petrichor” (Year 1/Week 22). That still gives me the willies…
My solution (such as it is) came from rooting around in one of several boxes of oddities that have been accreting in my basement over the years. And there it was…my kitsch, object d’art destined after all these years of neglect to find its purpose—that of gracing the WPOTM gallery.
Yes, this is exactly what it looks like: a hokey, peanut-shaped fishing lure. But, one which stands as an essential historical and culture artifact for hokey, peanut-shaped fishing lure enthusiastic or collects. For this is the (not) touted, (unlikely) rare, (almost certainly not) costly, and (in no way) resplendent “The Prez” Jimmy Carter bass fishing lure which was released in presumably small numbers sometime in the late 1970s. I don’t know who gave it to me, where, or when. I certainly I didn’t buy it. For fun, I searched for out a price trend graph on this item and actually found one. If it’s to be believed, the lure originally retailed for about $6.00 and over the last thirty days has increased in average-price-value to $35.00.
You will notice the plastic tab at the front of the lure—unless you’re a hungry bass, in which case it’s the back of the lure—a plastic tab that is supposed to represent buck teeth. I will say no more about this. From a collector’s perspective (huge market that it is for this kind of tchotchke) I guess you could have considered this NIB until I opened it to take the picture.
Fish Facts: Nikon D5200; 18-55mm lens focused at 50mm; aperture priority; ISO 1250; 1/30 sec. at f/6.3; +2 EV; center-weighted metering; WB set for auto. I used a piece of white, semi-slick canvas for the background which I clearly did not light uniformly. My bad. The slightly out-of-focus box was intentional. Light came from one overhead (but not directly so) source and the camera was hand-held. Cropping and touch-up was done in Lightroom.
It was made clear to me at the outset (by powers beyond my ken) that I would not be bringing home a severed fish head or two to photograph this week. That was my plan. Really. Unfortunately, my plan met an unanticipated gale-force push back at home, so I grudgingly fell back on Plan B.
Which I did not have. When you really love Plan A (and I did), everything else is relegated further down the alphabet.
As a result, I dredged deep inside my grey matter to see what kind of piscine ideas might surface. The result: nothing. For some reason, this week’s theme found me tapped out and clueless. Odd—it’s not like this is some narrow, obscure topic like the dreaded “Petrichor” (Year 1/Week 22). That still gives me the willies…
My solution (such as it is) came from rooting around in one of several boxes of oddities that have been accreting in my basement over the years. And there it was…my kitsch, object d’art destined after all these years of neglect to find its purpose—that of gracing the WPOTM gallery.
Yes, this is exactly what it looks like: a hokey, peanut-shaped fishing lure. But, one which stands as an essential historical and culture artifact for hokey, peanut-shaped fishing lure enthusiastic or collects. For this is the (not) touted, (unlikely) rare, (almost certainly not) costly, and (in no way) resplendent “The Prez” Jimmy Carter bass fishing lure which was released in presumably small numbers sometime in the late 1970s. I don’t know who gave it to me, where, or when. I certainly I didn’t buy it. For fun, I searched for out a price trend graph on this item and actually found one. If it’s to be believed, the lure originally retailed for about $6.00 and over the last thirty days has increased in average-price-value to $35.00.
You will notice the plastic tab at the front of the lure—unless you’re a hungry bass, in which case it’s the back of the lure—a plastic tab that is supposed to represent buck teeth. I will say no more about this. From a collector’s perspective (huge market that it is for this kind of tchotchke) I guess you could have considered this NIB until I opened it to take the picture.
Fish Facts: Nikon D5200; 18-55mm lens focused at 50mm; aperture priority; ISO 1250; 1/30 sec. at f/6.3; +2 EV; center-weighted metering; WB set for auto. I used a piece of white, semi-slick canvas for the background which I clearly did not light uniformly. My bad. The slightly out-of-focus box was intentional. Light came from one overhead (but not directly so) source and the camera was hand-held. Cropping and touch-up was done in Lightroom.
Jerry-
Years back I lent a camera to a friend who was going to Brazil. As a token of thanks, she brought home this cute little piranha which I still have to this day. The photo was taken with my Sony A6300 with 50mm lens set to f16 @ 1/200, ISO 6400. Light was from the side via a LED bulb.
Years back I lent a camera to a friend who was going to Brazil. As a token of thanks, she brought home this cute little piranha which I still have to this day. The photo was taken with my Sony A6300 with 50mm lens set to f16 @ 1/200, ISO 6400. Light was from the side via a LED bulb.
Don-
The fish in a bottle.
24-70mm 2.8 lens on a D810 Nikon
Focal was 45mm. Exposure was 1/1250 sec; f/4.5; ISO 72; Aperture Priority and Pattern Metering.
The fish in a bottle.
24-70mm 2.8 lens on a D810 Nikon
Focal was 45mm. Exposure was 1/1250 sec; f/4.5; ISO 72; Aperture Priority and Pattern Metering.
Byron-
Deron and I do share some DNA. Fishing is not a favorite pastime for me either. Deron had 2 Grandfathers that enjoyed fishing. I think that trait ended with his father and didn't get passed down. I was befuddled by this weeks theme. I have nothing fishing related to draw from. This is where networking comes into play. By mentioning the theme to enough people, one of theme will will have an idea or in this case an object. I didn't relish the idea of plopping a newly caught carp on a table so I could photograph it. Luckily one of my friends had this metal framed, mother of pearl covered fish.
I used a soft box overhead about 1 foot above the 5" long fish. The exposure was f5.6, 1/200sec. The background was enhanced by using the Photoshop blend tool.
Deron and I do share some DNA. Fishing is not a favorite pastime for me either. Deron had 2 Grandfathers that enjoyed fishing. I think that trait ended with his father and didn't get passed down. I was befuddled by this weeks theme. I have nothing fishing related to draw from. This is where networking comes into play. By mentioning the theme to enough people, one of theme will will have an idea or in this case an object. I didn't relish the idea of plopping a newly caught carp on a table so I could photograph it. Luckily one of my friends had this metal framed, mother of pearl covered fish.
I used a soft box overhead about 1 foot above the 5" long fish. The exposure was f5.6, 1/200sec. The background was enhanced by using the Photoshop blend tool.
Darin-
This is a 40+ year old, hand-carved lure my Grandpa Lien made and used while ice fishing on Lake Lizzie in Northern Minnesota. You can see its eye has been carved out and painted, the fins are made of metal and embedded into the body of the fish. The white paint had been covered in red glitter, which, over time has fallen by the wayside. This guy, amongst others he made, used to hang down through the hole in the ice. where you'd wait in the ice house, spear in hand, looking for an unwitting Northern Pike or Walleye that took notice of this swimming mannequin. I'm kind of glad I was never able to "catch" a fish.
This is a 40+ year old, hand-carved lure my Grandpa Lien made and used while ice fishing on Lake Lizzie in Northern Minnesota. You can see its eye has been carved out and painted, the fins are made of metal and embedded into the body of the fish. The white paint had been covered in red glitter, which, over time has fallen by the wayside. This guy, amongst others he made, used to hang down through the hole in the ice. where you'd wait in the ice house, spear in hand, looking for an unwitting Northern Pike or Walleye that took notice of this swimming mannequin. I'm kind of glad I was never able to "catch" a fish.