Ice Fishing picture dilemma

[leech~~]

As you can see by this picture I tried to take this weekend of a Laker I wanted to released I have kind of a dilemma i'm sure many have when by themselves and trying to take a half decent picture of a fish. Here are some of the issues I have. 1) How to take a picture by yourself. 2) How to setup "mount" a camera and get a nice fish back in the water fast enough so it survives. 3) How to keep a camera warm so the batteries don't die. 4) How to keep the camera from fogging up because you kept it in your coat pocket to keep it warm so the batteries wouldn't die! I have a cheaper digital Canon Power Shot that I bring with me. But, I just can't seem to put everything I need to take a half decent photo of fish together fast enough and get them back in the water by the time I get the camera out and try and get a shot. This mess of a shot was this weekend and the lens fogged up as soon as I took it out. Was I in to much of a rush to get the fish back in the water or what can I do? Ideas? Thanks.

[goose89]

Check out a Pentax Optio (freeze-proof) along with a Gorilla tripod.

[MN Shutterbug]

The lens won't fog up going from warm to cold temps. It fogs up when you move it from a cold environment to a warm one, just like eye glasses. The batteries shouldn't die when they get cold. Everything might work slower and the batteries won't last as long. If you start the day with new or fully charged batteries, you should be fine. I'm not sure about sub zero temps, though. If I was in your situation and worried about the batteries, I'd just keep the batteries in my pants pocket and then put them in when needed. Keep the camera in a constant temp and you should be fine.

[Cyberfish]

Thats weird. i use a powershot for ally ice fishing pics, just pull it out of my pocket and click away.

Now, going from outdoors into a well heated shanty would give me those issues.

Your canon should have a timer on it. set it on a tripod, keep your fish in the water til it the timer is about to release, then pick up your fish and smile

[leech~~]

Thanks guys, maybe i just get a little to hurried to get the fish back in the water to setup a good shot?

[Steve Foss]

The only way to dependably set up a shot of you holding a fish when you are alone is to set up the camera/tripod in advance and get all your settings right. There's just no time to fool around with that when you've got a fish on the ice that you want to release. If it's all set up outside beforehand, all you do is walk out, press the camera timer, stand on the mark you've already made in the snow, hold up the fish and smile.

With a DSLR, all that is easy. With a point-and-shoot, maybe it's not easy to put it on manual focus and manual zoom so you have the pic framed right and focused right and can draw your line in the snow to stand on. Some P&S cameras have that ability, some probably don't.

[Cyberfish]

another idea that is good for the fish too is get a shot of your fish in the hole!

here is one hole shot I got last weekend

[MN Shutterbug]

another idea that is good for the fish too is get a shot of your fish in the hole!

here is one hole shot I got last weekend

Now that's a purty pic.

[LPCrowRiverFisherman]

Have a camera case with a strap that you can put around your neck, keep the camera on the timer setting, use a bucket for the camera mount, and sit on another bucket or chair and take the picture, that's how I do mine.

[leech~~]

Cyberfish that is a great shot, nice color. Not sure how it would work on more then just the head of a 30+ inch Laker? Steve and others some good ideas. I have been thinking about trying to rig up a mount on my sled some where that I could put the camera on and have it ready when needed. Getting the shot setup with a Sure Shot camera would need to be done ahead of time and have the spot maked that is a good idea as well. I have two photo albums filled with all my fishing and hunting memories and some of the best memories left years later are only in a photo. So, I do want to try and do a better job of it. It's kind of funny or sad looking back at some of my very first deer hunting pictures. I have one in which I was maybe 20 years old and my friend and I had both got two deer nice bucks and does. The picture setting is in a farm yard and no one noticed, took the time to notice, or just didn't care that there was a large fly wheel off a truck on the ground between the four deer and us! I know that I will never have the time to devote or skill level to take as good of shots as most people on this site, but I do like nice shots! Thanks again for the help!

[Steve Foss]

You can get mini tripods with bendable gripping legs (think of Gumby) that will clamp right around a handlebar on a sled or anything similar. They work great with the lightweight P&S cameras.