Largemouth photos (fishing solo)

[Tom Wilson]

Here's a couple of photos I got the other day when the big ones were biting good and the sun was out. Kind of hard to get these photos when you're by yourself holding a rod in one hand and a 9lb camera and lens combination in the other. They're not quite good enough for a magazine, but I like them nonetheless.

[Dbl]

Nothing like a good action shot. Nice work Tom.

[Mark Christianson]

Wow Tom.

Those are outstanding!

[buzzsaw]

Cool! Now I know what you Bass fish with!

[kslipsinker]

Very nice pics Tommy! I was very lucky to have Buzzsaw pull up to catch that little muskie jumping a few weeks ago.He should have cropped it so I wasn't in the pic. He must have had a wide angle on to get me in the pic.

[Tom Wilson]

I was wondering myself if he suffered any lens damage from that

I was down that way not too long ago, but you apparently had the day off. Give me a jingle sometime, maybe we can get out and go catch a couple.

[Griggs]

very very cool pics, especially for doing two things at once, not even sure how you got such good pics, nice work!

[Fishin4Life]

Tom those are awesome pictures. I can imagine what the camera cost to take those, but I will ask anyway. What did you use to get such crystal clear pictures?!

[Tom Wilson]

Fishin,

I have been into photography for a long time, and in the last couple years I have put a lot of time and money into it, and I do have high end professional equipment. With that being said I have far, far, more money and time invested into the knowledge and the tools I need to catch those piggies to take pictures of. If I actually took the time to add what fishing costs me per year, I would give it up. Instead I realize that my equipment for both of these things are somewhere between an absolute necessity and a very nice convenience.

With film, you could have taken this exact same shot with a $50.00 camera bought at a pawn shop. With digital, it just doesn't work that way.

My point is that you can catch a 5lb bass on a snoopy rod and reel, but to consistently catch 5lb fish, and horse them out of heavy cover, you need the proper tools and equipment, and the knowledge to be able to find and catch them consistently.

So to answer your question of "what did I use to get such crystal clear pictures?" I used years of knowledge, experience and some really great (and yes expensive) tools. Please don't take that in any way as being cocky, because that is absolutely not how I meant it, but I felt it needed to be said, to make the point that it isn't just equipment that gets the job done. I also want to make sure that I don't give anybody any information that would make them run out and spend too much money on something that wouldn't be necessary for them. This section of the HSOforum has grown a lot over the last year, and now a lot of guys are looking for camera advice. I just wanted to take the opportunity to let everyone know that it isn't a camera that takes pictures, its the photographer. The camera (like a boat) is just a tool.

I shot those photos with a Nikon D2X and a 70-200 AFS VR 2.8 lens.

Thank you very much for the compliment.