THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Sunday, January 29, 1995               TAG: 9501260159
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST           PAGE: 18   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: Ford Reid 
                                             LENGTH: Medium:   64 lines

THE TRICK TO GOOD PHOTOGRAPHS IS MUCH THE SAME AS GOOD FISHING

You probably have stacks and stacks of fishing pictures in a drawer somewhere.

To many anglers, a camera is second only to a rod and reel as a vital piece of fishing equipment. Unfortunately, many of your pictures might be disappointing. They simply don't show what you saw.

Photography, like fishing, is mostly a matter of paying attention to the details. In fishing, the little things - such as tying knots properly and keeping the line tight as you play a fish - make the difference between success and failure.

In photography, too, it is the little things that determine whether you get a good picture. If you are seeing one thing when you take your pictures and seeing something else when you look at them, you are probably making a few small mistakes.

First of all, know where the light is coming from, then use it to your advantage.

You may have been told to always have the light coming over your shoulder and this is fine if you want pictures of people squinting from the sun.

Try it with the light coming at an angle. But make sure that what you want to show - the fish, say, or a friend's face - is not in a shadow.

Most important, be sure that you are seeing what is really in the viewfinder and not what you want to be there. Your mind can trick you into thinking that the picture is perfect, but the film will not record what you think you see.

The same is true of composition. Make sure that what you want in the frame is what is in the frame.

You might take what you think is a great picture of Uncle Charlie surf casting. But when you get the pictures back old Charlie is a speck in the center of the frame, surrounded by acres and acres of sand and water.

When you snapped the shutter, you were so interested in seeing your uncle that you ignored the rest of the picture.

Make sure your lens is clean. Any dust, fingerprints or other smudges on the lens will reflect light and adversely affect your pictures. If you are consistently getting pictures that appear to be slightly out of focus or mushy, you are probably shooting through a dirty lens.

Be careful of your equipment. The places where we fish are brutal on cameras.

Keep your camera out of the sun when you're not using it.

Never change film on the beach. One grain of blowing sand can instantly ruin the best camera in the world.

When I go fishing, I leave my good cameras at home and take along an ``idiot-proof'' one designed for light underwater use.

I've never used it underwater. The beauty of it is that if it is covered by salt spray or sand it can be washed off under the faucet.

I can wade into the ocean up to my chest to take pictures of a friend landing a fish without worrying about the camera.

For fishing snapshots, a disposable camera is one alternative. They take decent pictures and you never need to worry about abusing them.

Whatever kind of camera you take fishing, a little attention to details will give you pictures that will make you proud, pictures that will put you back in that place every time you look at them. by CNB