The fish
Lukas Bammatter - Matthias Bammatter - Phil Steffen
I got in contact with Swiss Lukas Bammater through his fellow countryman and colleague Daniel Luther, who contributed an article. Lukas dropped me a mail saying "I would be happy to share some of my fishing pictures and experiences with other GFF-readers too".
He continued: "I'm 32 years old and a passionate flyfisher since I was little. I studied fish biology and made my master work about the behavior of lake dwelling brown trout that spawn in small creeks. In the last four years I worked as chief-editor for the Swiss fishing magazine Petri-Heil together with Daniel. The work as a fishing editor sparked my interest in (fishing) photography. In the last four years I've spent a lot of time to improve my photography skills. I love to travel, see different places and fish for new species."
He was an obvious contender for our series of fishy photographers, and I sent him my list of questions and he replied like this:
a) How did you start photographing - and what made you choose fishing related photos in particular?
Initially, when I started to work for fishing magazines, photographing was just something I had to do. Since I am very ambitious it didn't take long before I was no longer satisfied with the quality of my photos. With each job I realized how much fun it is to work with the camera and photographing became a passion.
Fly fishing and photographing have a lot in common for me. It is all about being at the right place at the right time. And sometimes, you need a bit of luck to succeed.
Today I often switch from rod to camera when there is a nice photo subject. I love the reward of good pictures after a day at the water. In fact, that feels even better than a big catch…
Alpine impressions
Lukas Bammatter
b) Do you have a particular subject, region or a style of pictures that you mainly shoot or are you more all-round?
I think I am still on my way to find my own style and preferences. I always try new techniques and styles, but sometimes I need to pay more effort to break boundaries and try totally unconventional things.
c) Where are your photos used? Books, magazines, brochures, ads, web sites, prints, gallery exhibits or other places?
My photos were published in different fishing magazines and were used for commercial campaigns. From time to time I also have some photo-jobs that have nothing to do with fishing. I have already executed portraiture, architectural photography and reportage. My most recent work is a book about dry fly fishing (Das grosse Trockenfliegenbuch, North Guiding Verlag). The book is illustrated with many of my pictures.
d) Is photography your main source of income - if at all a source of income - and do you do other jobs as a supplement?
I wished it would be, but I am happy that I can earn at least some of my income with photography. I also work as writer, offer fly fishing courses and guided fishing trips. In addition I am employed as a scientific assistant at the national fisheries department.
Magazine work
Lukas Bammatter
e) Can people buy your pictures and if so, then in which form and where?
Yes, they can. I sell my images for commercial purposes, but also if someone wants to use a subject privately.
f) Where do you currently live and work?
I live in Switzerland, in the beautiful city of Zurich. The little big city offers every thing you need but is not far away from beautiful trout and grayling waters.
Lots of subject variation
Lukas Bammatter
g) What's in your bag? Preferred cameras, bodies, lenses and other gear?
Most of the time I'm shooting with the Canon 5D Mark III. My latest acquisition is a high quality macro lens (Canon EF 100mm, f/2.8L IS USM). I have mainly used it for gear pictures but I can't wait to use it at the water.
The equipment that I usually carry in my Lowepro Dryzone Rover backpack is:
- Canon EF 24-105mm, f/4 L IS USM
- Canon EF 70-300mm, f/4-5.6L IS USM
- Canon EF 16-35mm, f/2.8L II USM
- different Polarizing filters
- different Neutral Density filters
- extra batteries
- extra memory cards
From time to time I use the Ewa-Marine U-B100 underwater bag, different reflectors and a Manfrotto tripod.
Fishing waters
Lukas Bammatter
All Fishy photographers
Croatian photographer Aleksandar Vrtaric has a slightly different photographic style compared to many other fly fishing photographers. He likes to go close and often uses very tight compositions. We asked him the same questions as we usually ask out Fishy Photographers, and Aleksandar kindly relpied.
Angus Drummond is a Colorado based guide and photographer whose images have been used in magazines and books as well as on web sites. Angus' images are also available as fine art prints. We summoned Angus as a part of our Fishy Photographers rally and asked him a few questions.
Barry Ord Clarke is an Englishman living in Norway. He is a well known photographer and writer - both in Norway and internationally. We approached Barry with our usual set of fishy photographer questions, and here are his answers.
While scouting for photographers for our series on Fishy Photographers, I bumped into Corey Kruitbosch's name a couple of times, and found his beautiful images on Flickr. Corey has almost 2,000 stunning images in his stream.
Like before I approached him with our usual set of questions and he cordially replied and sent some samples of his work.
I noticed Dennis's images through his numerous contributions to our user's image galleries, where he has uploaded quite a few photos. I mailed him and asked him our usual set of photographer questions, and here are his replies.
How did you start photography - and what made you choose fishing related photos in particular?
Finnish photographer Harri Hytönen was brought to my attention through Facebook where he inquired about our Fishy Photographers series and referred me to some of his excellent work. We hooked up and I sent off my usual set of questions. Even though most of the summer passed due to busy fishing schedules and vacations, we finally got together both a set of great pictures as well as Harri's replies, which you can all enjoy in this article.
Henry Hegeman contacted me because we had a common photography background: shooting film with Minolta gear. He turned out to be an avid fly-fishing photographer, and what was more natural than to include him in our ongoing series of fishy photographers?
I sent him the usual array of questions and he kindly replied.
When I started my series on fishy photographers I was recommended to contact Isaias, who is a professional fly-fishing photographer based in Patagonia. Isaias agreed to participate, and even though we both took our time, we finally managed to put together replies and photos for this article.
This is the first article in a new series on Fishy Photographers built over the same template as our long-running Fishy Artists series.
This premier article is about Jim Klug, known by any for his participation in the DVDs Drift and Rise and the recent Connect as well as his activities in the Yellow Dog Adventures fly fishing booking company. We have summoned Jim in his capacity as a photographer specializing in fly fishing, and presented him a row of questions.
While I was researching for the series on the recently started Fishy Photographers, I simply searched the web for fly fishing photographers, and Jim Levinson's web site popped up, showing some beautiful pictures from the US north east. I contacted Jim, and he agreed to participate and answer my questions.
How did you start photographing - and what made you choose fishing related photos in particular?
One single image from the camera of Danish Jonas Høholt has burned a lasting impression on my mind: the fantastic image of a small frog swimming over the open mouth of a rising rainbow - a Jaws goes Lilliput moment captured with great skill and drama.
Researching a bit further on Jonas I found numerous great images by him, and I of course contacted him with our usual set of fishy photographers questions.
I got in contact with Swiss Lukas Bammater through his fellow countryman and colleague Daniel Luther, who contributed an article. Lukas dropped me a mail saying "I would be happy to share some of my fishing pictures and experiences with other GFF-readers too".
I stumbled over Marcel's web site and his excellent pictures while searching and browsing for potential candidates for our Fishy Photographer series. When I started investigating a little, I realized that I already "knew" Marcel, but from somewhere completely different than fly-fishing. Marcel and his wife Meher have a thriving wedding photography business, and I had browsed both their site and their blog in connection with my non-fly-fishing photo-related web browsing. I approached Marcel and asked him our usual bunch of questions.
Mark Lance is a Colorado based photographer whose beautiful and varying images can be found on his web site River Light Images, but are also used commercially in catalogs, ads and brochures. We approached Mark to have him tell about his ventures into fly fishing photography.
I have known Michael for many years. We have been working together on the staff of a large Danish fishing magazine, and Michael is an excellent fishing writer and photographer.
Michael is a very creative person who has also written children's books and short stories and not least he's an avid rock musician who is very active in his band Wildflowers.
But this is about fishing photography, and Michael agreed to answer my usual row of Fishy Photographer questions.
Nick price is another photographer whose name popped up during my recent quest for fly-fishing photographers. A professional guide with a very keen eye for fly-fishing subjects and a really nice online portfolio - not least with some beautiful B/W images and some cool bug close-ups.
I approached Nick with our usual bunch of fishy photographers questions.
Nikola Novovic sent me a mail:
"Hello, I am from the small country Montenegro, at the Mediterranean in southern Europe. My country has become a very popular destination for fly fishing in the last few years, because we have a large number of very clear mountain rivers and lakes with only wild fish, just one hour from the sea and beaches.
Finnish photographer Pasi Visakivi dropped me an e-mail. It read:
- I'm a 42 years old fly fisherman and a freelancer photographer from the southern part of Finland. I would like to share with your my fly fishing photos.
Dutch Rudy van Duijnhoven is a well known freelance writer and photographer in the northern European fishing community delivering photos and articles to many European magazines and websites. Rudy is also very active in the fly fishing and fly tying scene and appears at shows as a fly-tyer and caster as well as a working journalist, documenting and reporting.
I asked Rudy our usual row of Fishy Photographer questions.
Soren Skarby is a Danish fly-fisher and photo journalist and a good friend of mine. He takes part in the small fishing report site where we share fishing stories and images. Oddly enough, Soren doesn't contribute many images. he actually rarely brings a camera when fishing. He does take fishing photos, but as a professional for magazines.
I asked Soren the usual row of questions and he replied as follows.
Stu Hastie is a New Zealand photographer whose work first came to my attention through his images in our user's picture galleries. When I started using Facebook I also noted Stu's image posts.
The quality was top notch, and being in NZ he didn't seem to have a shortage of subjects. I dropped Stu a message on FB, and soon he was answering our usual set of Fishy Photographer questions. Here's what he replied.
Danish angler and photographer Susanne Worm has a keen eye for great images. I asked her our usual round of fishy questions.
Dinosaur fish?
The fish on the right side seems like a dinosaur! Weird!
May I share the picture on my WhatsApp Group? Thanks!