Boy Fishing Candid Portrait – Muskoka Gravenhurst Bracebridge Photography

This candid portrait photograph of a boy fishing by a river was shot on film about 30 years ago. In those days I photographed sports, kids candid portraits and events as much I still do today, but all of it created on film. Much of my earliest professional photography work (early 1980s) was shot in black and white and then processed and printed in my own darkroom. The digital photography era is great but at times I still get the urge to shoot film and do my own processing and printing the old fashioned way. The space and long winter nights I now have in Muskoka are ideal for running a darkroom again – and all the fishing spots we have around Gravenhurst, Bracebridge and all over Muskoka, are ideal for capturing fishing photos like this one too!

This photo session with the boy fishing came about as a result of having done baseball photos for the family. While taking photographs at sports events, tournaments and games I often have interesting conversations with the parents. In this case the parent explained how much he enjoyed fishing. My eyes lit up as I’m an avid fisherman too. We talked about fishing for a while and then agreed to do some outings together in search of trout and salmon. On some of those trips my fishing buddy from the baseball league brought his son along. I always had a camera with me and made a point of taking pictures of the boy fishing or playing in the water. Those photos became gifts to my fishing buddy as a way of saying “thanks” for letting me ride along with him to the fishing spots.

We fished together several times a year for a few seasons but my buddy somehow found himself hooked on a new pastime – golf! He hung up the rods and then spent all his time on the golf course. When we ran into each other many years later he told me how his son had grown up and moved out on his own, but those photos from our fishing trips are still in frames hanging in his house. He said those were the best photos he had of his son at that age and they always bring back fond memories of a special time they were able to spend together.

I still love fishing and taking photos during family fishing outings so I hope that sometime I’ll get another chance to join some trips out to the water. It’s a fun way to spend the day doing some of the things I enjoy most, and it creates an opportunity to capture special photos that can never be created anywhere else or at any other time.

I always have fishing gear and camera gear at the ready so whenever you’d like to have some special portraits done give me a shout!