Photographing leaping salmon is a good challenge in so many ways. The river has to be one that gets a salmon run, and it has to be one that has falls that are negotiable by the salmon and accessible by the photographer. Timing has to be right. There are a few weeks centred on late October that give the best chance, but the river levels have to be right – after a flush of rain is a good bet. Positioning is an issue – where to get the best perspective on the leaps? Patience is required – the ability to sit on a cold rock for 2 or 3 hours, if required. Then there is the equpiment and setting it up to best effect. Do you try to pan with the fish, or do you fix your position and try to press the shutter button as the fish arrives, centre-frame?
One of the top spots for photographing leaping salmon is Buchanty Spout on the Perthshire River Almond. I visited it in 2012 and 2013. To get a different perspective, I went further down the Almond in 2014.
River a perfect height, if poor light for photography. However, it started raining at mid-day and never stopped. The river stayed a steady height until just after I left at 3:00 p.m… What saved me from packing-in, which all the other photographers present were forced to do when the rain started, was that I had…
At Buchanty Spout
Sea trout and a brownie or two at Buchanty Spout, 02 October 2021.
This was a first visit to the Pots of Gartness on the River Endrick to try to photograph leaping salmon and trout. Arrived and no signs initially. It looked a good height for running, but maybe a tad high for jumping. As I watched, I started seeing a few backs swirling around in the foam,…
A visit following heavy rain and the river dropping to below 0.5 m on the Newtonbridge gauge, though that turned out to be still a tad high at Buchanty. Very little until mid-day, after which there was a reasonable amount of activity. A lot of the fish were small. The river was an ideal height…
An early visit, after missing most of them last year when they all seemed to go up in September, and getting good water height following big rain, 2 days previous. Decent numbers leaping. All shot with an 85 mm f1.4 IS lens.
Very few fish on the march, and most were getting straight up, so no repeat chances at them. With so few on the go, concentration levels were way-off, so any odd occasion where one did jump, chances were I missed it, or it was out of focus. Tried further downstream, and there were none at…
Sequences from the shoot at Buchanty, 19 Oct 2016. Click on one to get it moving…
I looked for a chance after the first decent rain of autumn – it was just over 0.4 m on the gauge. This seemed an ideal height – and the water was very clear. There weren’t big numbers of fish jumping, but for the first time I was seeing them get all the way up! …
