On the stream
Soren Skarby
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.
a) How did you start photographing and what made you choose fishing related photos in particular?
Until I was 17, I was completely convinced that I was going to be freshwater biologist. I fished as a madman, and only with the fly. I biked many miles every week, getting out to the water.
Then I "unfortunately" got my fingers caught in a camera. It started out as pictures of birds, but soon the whole world around me. The passion was so great that I decided to become a professional photojournalist. For many years I avoided photographing when I was fishing. I was simply afraid to turn my second passion into work.
Lost of subjects
Soren Skarby
b) Do you have a particular subject, region or a style of pictures that you mainly shoot or are you more all-round?
Since photography is my daytime job, I shoot almost everything, even fashion and product shots. First and foremost I'm a photojournalist in the classic sense. That also means that I write a lot.
I have traveled a lot with the camera and photographed everything from strange burial rituals in Madagascar to the war in Iraq. The latter has affected me tremendously, and when it becomes too much, it helps to take a trip with a fly rod.
The last few years I have started working professionally with fishing. I have written and photographed portraits of prominent Danish fly-fishing profiles. They have been made based on a simple question: "What on earth makes you spend fortunes, endless amounts of time, leave the family, and voluntarily jump into cold water?"
This has resulted in some very intriguing replies.
One of the portraits was of a former military general. His answer on how to deal with bad memories of war was nothing less than amazing: "My daughter says I have to meditate. Why? I go fishing."
c) Where are your photos used? Books, magazines, brochures, ads, web sites, prints, gallery exhibits or other places?
My images and articles are used virtually everywhere. Previously I worked a lot for newspapers, but in the recent years it has been magazines.
Many of my images are being used on the web for all kinds of purposes.
My articles about fly fishing can mainly be found in the Danish magazine "Sportsfiskeren". I have written articles where talented fly tiers tell their stories, pattern descriptions and much more for that magazine.
I have yet to do a book about fly fishing, but some years ago I wrote about and photographed falconry for a children's book. Falconry is the unknown cousin of fly fishing. When Dame Julia wrote her famous "A treatyse about flyfishing" in "Boke of Saint Albans," she also wrote about falconry.
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 have been a freelance photojournalist for 25 years. Most of my income comes from articles and pictures, but I also teach and give lectures on photography and journalism. It hasn't been easy, but I have survived until now.
Flies on black
Soren Skarby
Flies on white
Soren Skarby
e) Can people buy your pictures and if so, then in which form and where?
Of course my pictures are for sale!
The easiest way is to inquire directly to me at mail@skarby.cc
Everybody is welcome to browse past my website http://skarby.cc
There aren't many pictures of fly fishing. I'd better get some ready...
I'm also happy to accept orders for pictures. The best images often come from collaboration and when you listen properly to customer needs.
f) Where do you currently live and work?
I live in the middle of Denmark in the southern part of the island of Funen (Fyn) in the city Svendborg. It's just a short drive before I can park by some of the finest salt water fishing this country has to offer.
g) What's in your bag? Preferred cameras, bodies, lenses and other gear?
In essence it's not the gear, but the ability to use it, which is crucial.
I have used Nikon for many years. A few bodies and too many lenses. Currently I shoot with a Nikon D4 and an assortment of good lenses. My absolute favorite is my 105mm macro. It is invaluable when photographing something small like flies. Furthermore it's wonderfully sharp and has a very nice bokeh. It's also excellent for landscapes.
I borrow the really long and bright (and expensive) telephoto lenses when I need them, in particular when photographing fashion.
Soren himself
Tim K. Jensen
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.
