Over the last eight years I’ve photographed extensively in Scotland’s aquaculture sector, and I think this might be my favourite frame, captured in one of the most beautiful parts of the country AND it was sunny!
Taken for Scottish Sea Farms at their Summer Isles site, this was an image that had been on my wish list for some time. I had recently upgraded to a flagship camera capable of shooting 30 frames per second, and this felt like the perfect opportunity to put it to the test. With amazing weather, great-looking fish, and a can-do attitude from the farm team, we were able to capture the shot relatively quickly. A small number of fish were removed from the pen and sedated, as is standard practice during a fish health check. Once under anaesthetic, they were lifted quickly from a tub of water, held for a second or two, and then returned to the pen.
We repeated the process with a handful of fish, filled a 240GB card in a matter of minutes, and hoped we had the shot. What amazed me was that even at such an incredibly high capture rate – 30 full-resolution images every second – almost every frame was entirely unique. Images like this come with plenty of challenges: a fast-moving subject, shallow depth of field, unpredictable positioning of fish and water droplets, and, most importantly from a welfare perspective, the fish must be out of the water for as little time as possible. And of course, there was also a salmon farmer holding a reflector to bounce light into the scene! Lots of variables to manage, but incredibly rewarding when reviewing the images and finding a frame as strong as this.
