Part #2: Smolt – Copper River Basin Sockeye

Patrick Endres — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 22:39:00 +0000

To to see large photos view the original post.

Heading for the Ocean

Sockeye salmon smolt head for the salt water after feeding and growing in Summit lake for one year.

This is part two of a lengthy photo series I’ll be doing through the summer and autumn, focusing on the Gulkana hatchery and its role in enhancing the Copper river Sockeye salmon that migrate its waters. Click here for part one.

The life span of a Sockeye salmon is four to five years. Eggs are laid in fresh water streams/lakes in late summer/autumn where they incubate over the winter and hatch in the spring. The little fry spend a year feeding and growing in the lakes and as soon as the ice melts in late spring the one year old salmon (smolt) head for the salt water. This outmigration process takes place in the darker hours of the night over the course of a few weeks/months, depending on the lake (usually ending around the fourth of July says hatchery manager Gary Martinek). Why in dark hours? Well, there are a lot of creatures hungry for these shiny little fish. Predators such as lake trout, terns and gulls take a heavy toll on the fish.

About the only way to track fry survivorship in the lake is to approximate how many make it out as smolt. The Hatchery sets up a trap at the mouth of the lake to do just that, and through a measurement regime calculates the total number of out-migrating smolt.

These little fish vary in color when viewed from the top, but if you get a glance at their sides, they are a flash of silver! It’s amazing that a 3 to 4 inch fish can make it all the way down the river to the Pacific Ocean, but nature is loaded with mysteries, and the migrating salmon is one of the big ones. For those that reach the salty waters, they will feed for three or four years, and return again to the waters of their youth to spawn their successors. The next few chapters of this story will focus on the consumers of these fish, like me and my friends, fishermen, and others who tap into this great food source.

Smolt caught in the outmigration nets are counted and released to continue their way down the Gulkana river, to the Copper river, out into the Pacific Ocean.

Notes on the Underwater Photo:

First of all, thanks to the Gulkana Hatchery guys for keeping some of the smolt in a pen for me to work with.

Yours truly using a wireless transmitter and underwater housing to photograph the smolt.

I used an EWA marine underwater housing, which is cumbersome but does the job of keeping the camera dry. Attached to the top of the camera inside the housing is a wireless reciever (Pocket Wizard) that enables me to trigger the shutter remotely from a hand held transmitter. Since the little salmon fry are pretty skittish, you can’t have your hands in the water or they get freaked out. I set the camera on AV priority–the light was changing quite a bit with sun and clouds–and pre focused the lens to the closest focus distance. From there it is experimentation. I increased the depth of field in subsequent photos, but I like the positioning of the fish in this frame the best.

Canon 1Ds Mark III, 16-35mm 2.8L, Ewa-marine underwater housing, 1/2000 sec @f4.5, ISO 1000.

Over and under

Patrick Endres — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 03:19:00 +0000

To to see large photos view the original post.

While over/under photography is nothing new, I wanted to experiment with a few ideas last summer. Both returned usable results, but not without plenty of experimentation, and trial and error. The equipment to do this right, i.e., the underwater housing for a Canon 1D series camera costs between 5-10K! There are cheaper methods, for example, the EWA Marine plastic housings, which introduce some compromises but with a little work-around effort, can perform well.

A full frame sensor and a wide angle lens are critical. What else do you need? A good idea, and expect to get cold, that is if you are shooting in Alaska’s fresh water mountain streams. I’ve used a wireless remote to capture some scenes, which allows you to be far from the camera. These two images however, were hand held. Getting the camera perpendicular to the water to minimize the transition line is a challenge. On the red salmon photo, I actually stuck my head partly underwater, bent over, since it was not possible to lay down in the water. It’s not the easy way to ensure accurate horizon lines, but with many, many shots, I achieved an acceptable image or two. You can see a few more from the red salmon photos here.

Gold panning in a mountain stream.

Canon 1Ds Mark II, 16-35mm, 1/320 sec @ f10.0, ISO 400, EWA Marine Housing.

Red Salmon in a freshwater mountain stream, interior, Alaska.

Canon 1Ds Mark II, 16-35mm, 1/640 sec @ f8.0, ISO 640, EWA Marine Housing.

Alaska Photography Blog » Pocket Wizard

Part #2: Smolt – Copper River Basin Sockeye

Heading for the Ocean

Notes on the Underwater Photo:

Over and under