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.
How did you start photographing - and what made you choose fishing related photos in particular?
I grew up during the 50's and 60's reading the "Big Three" outdoor magazines, before the "specialty" magazines came on the scene. I was aware of the photo illustrations in these magazines, but the thought of becoming a photographer at that time held no interest for me, what with those weird f- numbers and all those fractions I had once seen on a light meter. In 1970, a close friend of mine returned home from Vietnam and brought with him a Minolta SRT-101 camera. At my daughter's christening, he showed me how to take pictures using the "new" match-needle technology, and when I found out how easy it was and how well the pictures turned out, I began to take interest.
I bought a Minolta SRT-100 when they came on the market and began taking pictures of my hunting and fishing activities. Somehow I got the crazy idea that maybe I could make some extra money to help support my hunting and fishing endeavors by writing articles and illustrating them with my photos and maybe even scoring a cover or two. Surprisingly, I sold the first piece I wrote on the very first submission. It was about the Barnegat Bay Sneakbox, a world-famous duck boat developed here in New Jersey. That was in 1976. Over the intervening years, I came to the conclusion there were more opportunities writing about and photographing fishing subjects than there were hunting subjects and that's where I'm at today. While I don't write that much about hunting anymore, I still take photos during my bird hunting and bowhunting trips.
Somehow I got the crazy idea that maybe I could make some extra money
Various subjects
Henry Hegeman
Do you have a particular subject, region or a style of pictures that you mainly shoot or are you more all-round?
I guess all-around is the best answer. When working on a magazine article, for example, I'm usually taking images to best illustrate that particular article. However, even when I'm not working on an article, I take photos to help document a particular trip, build up my stock images, and am always on the lookout for that spectacular cover or calendar shot. As for region, the Jersey shore is my stomping grounds for saltwater fly fishing photos and the eastern half of Pennsylvania for trout fishing photos. I also like to shoot pickerel and bass fishing in the Jersey Pine Barrens. I don't travel that much, but have made trips to Maine, New York, Cape Cod, North Carolina, and Florida in pursuit of fish and photos.
Tear sheets
Henry Hegeman
Where are your photos used? Books, magazines, brochures, ads, web sites, prints, gallery exhibits or other places?
The majority of my photos are used to illustrate my magazine articles. Back in my early days, I exhibited photos at a local gallery and at the Easton Waterfowl Festival in Easton, Maryland. I've also had my images published in books, on calendars, and have been fortunate enough to make a few covers.
Is photography you main source of income - if at all a source of income - and do you do other jobs as a supplement?
As I've mentioned, I had planned on using photography and writing as a means to help support my hunting and fishing habits. It's helped over the years, but, after switching to digital, I'm afraid I'm back in the hole again!
Yes, I have a full-time job.
On the stream
Henry Hegeman
Can people buy your pictures and if so, then in which form and where?
I'm always open to image sales. Right now, all of my saltwater fly fishing photos are in the form of color transparencies as well as part of my trout fishing images. Most of my digital images are of trout fishing.
As time permits, I plan on getting my transparencies scanned. Right now, I don't have a web site and don't offer prints, but I'm looking into that for the future. If anyone would like to send me a needs list or is interested in my work, I can be reached by e-mail at hhegeman@comcast.net.
Where do you currently live and work?
I live in the southern part of New Jersey about 30 miles west of Atlantic City with my wife, daughter, son, granddaughter and grandson. I work full-time as a design/draftsman for a small consulting firm that specializes in providing design and detailing for the precast concrete industry. I hope to retire in 3 years and devote more time to my hunting, fishing, writing and photography.
What's in your bag? Preferred cameras, lenses, and other gear?
I work with a pair of Nikon D200 bodies. My lenses are all Nikon lenses and are carry-overs from my film days. They are:
24mm f2.8
35-105mm f3.5-4.5 zoom
60mm f2.8 macro
80-200mm f2.8 zoom
300mm f4
1.4 teleconverter
I don't use a flash that much and find my SB-25 speedlight (again, a carry-over from my film days) more than adequate for my needs.
I use a Bogen 3221W tripod with a Bogen 3038 ballhead. A cable release, an extension cord for using the flash off of the camera, and some L37c and polarizer filters round out my kit.
I normally work out a Domke shoulder bag and store my equipment in pelican cases when not in use. I also have an assortment of other bags I've accumulated over the years that I use as the needs arise.
The photographer
Henry Hegeman
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.
