Photographing Alaska’s Salmon Run

Male pink salmon, in contrasting phases of decay, maintain place towards a ripping present as they battle their means upstream in direction of the proper spawning spot

 

The first time I visited Alaska, again in the summertime of 2018, I had one factor on my thoughts: salmon sharks. I had been fascinated by this elusive, cold-water predator for so long as I’d recognized they existed. There’s one thing compelling about their rarity and their pure historical past, their choice for cold-water environments, and naturally, their total aesthetic. Prince William Sound is among the solely locations on Earth the place sightings happen with any diploma of regularity. It felt like the proper alternative—lastly, an opportunity to come across and {photograph} a species that had lengthy occupied a spot on my bucket listing. Naturally, in true wildlife trend, we didn’t see a single salmon shark your complete week!

With every passing day, it grew to become clear that we would have liked a brand new plan if we have been going to salvage the journey from a photographic standpoint. That shift got here in an surprising, and now much-beloved, kind—the salmon themselves. Specifically, chum salmon, gathering in one of many frigid creeks that run via Alaska’s backcountry.

For a couple of incredible days, we sat in a plunge pool—submerged in glacier-fed water—making pictures of those outstanding fish. It was chilly and difficult, and I used to be completely hooked. Up to that time, salmon had me solely after they have been on my dinner plate. But in that creek, they turned from meals into photographic obsession.

The following 12 months, in 2019, I chased that obsession to British Columbia and, surprisingly, even Connecticut—all in pursuit of recent salmon pictures. Each journey introduced new photographic alternatives, additional deepening my respect for these incredible fish. Despite the memorable experiences, Alaska lingered behind my thoughts. The landscapes, the sunshine, the wildness of all of it—and, in fact, the promise of not simply salmon, however their most iconic predator.

It would take seven years earlier than I lastly made it again to Alaska. This time, I wasn’t alone. I returned with a gaggle of fellow salmon fanatics—equally obsessive about photographing these them and capturing the complicated ecosystems that help them. The objective was clear: to immerse ourselves on the earth of salmon as soon as once more, and if we have been fortunate, to cross paths with a grizzly bear or two.

What follows is a number of pictures from this most up-to-date journey, together with insights into how they have been made and some ideas on how greatest to {photograph} such a outstanding topic. I don’t declare to be an skilled—however I’ve been lucky to create some well-known salmon pictures over time, and I’ve spent a big period of time within the water with these fish. Hopefully, one thing helpful may be garnered from these ideas.

 

Okay so I’m dishonest proper off the bat. This image is definitely from my first Alaska journey. While we did see chum salmon in 2025, we have been a tad late to hit the height run, their numbers had dropped a bit, and many who remained weren’t wanting so scorching (see under). Salmon reside in a chaotic atmosphere with quick flowing water, a number of bubbles and infrequently a number of of detritus and particles. One of the perfect methods to not solely disguise or get rid of the latter, whereas additionally conveying the chaoticness of a salmon run, is to gradual your shutter

 

A feminine chum salmon who has practically reached the tip of her run—in each senses of the phrase. While she was nonetheless spirited, she seemed exhausted and has practically had all her pores and skin rotted away, her fins tattered, and hopefully her job full. Salmon are typically extremely reflective, so I’d at all times advocate diffusers when photographing them. Even on comfortable, wide-beam flashes just like the Retra Pro Max and Isotta RED64 I used to be utilizing, I nonetheless used diffusers completely. Unless you will have a really particular want or need for a big dome, small domes or optics might be your best possible pals when photographing salmon. You are sometimes in very shallow water, making it tough to manuever even with a small rig

 

For these acquainted with my images, it’s no secret that I really like not solely salmon, but in addition slow-shutter imagery, and when mixed… chef’s kiss! No two slow-shutter photos ever look the identical, even ones shot again to again. The underwater world can also be continually in movement; there is no such thing as a such factor as static. A gradual shutter is a incredible method to convey that. I additionally like incorporating the reflections off the floor if potential, as these reflections can add much more curiosity and dynamism to the image

 

Fear not, it seems salmon images may be loved by land-lubbers as nicely! Often, the creeks the salmon are operating are so choked with fish and so shallow that the fish should basically crawl or flop their means as much as the subsequent deeper pool. This specific part of creek was barely deeper than 2–3 inches for lengthy stretches and appeared a very brutal option to attempt to run. But alas, salmon are powerful creatures and intuition is inconceivable to beat

 

Salmon runs typically scream for cut up pictures. With attention-grabbing topics proper on the floor, and infrequently a fairly stunning topside atmosphere, one could be remiss to not shoot a couple of of those photos. Even then, I might recommend a small optic or dome port. I used the Nauticam WWL-1 completely on this journey, and whereas it isn’t the proper split-shot instrument, it bought the job completed

 

A gnarly male sockeye salmon that has reached a comparatively superior stage of zombie-fication. As they get nearer to dying, the salmon start to rot whereas nonetheless alive. While it should be excruciatingly disagreeable for the fish, they’re typically a lot simpler to {photograph} and you may create some very compelling and attention-grabbing portraits of those characterful fish. This is one other instance of why I might advocate a small optic like a mini-dome or the Nauticam WWL-1/WWL-C 99% of the time when photographing salmon: Tools like this make excessive close-focus vast angle photos a lot, a lot easier, particularly in such shallow water

 

During dawn, this grizzly went for a refreshing dip and had a really fishy breakfast. Trying to concentrate to photographing salmon underwater whereas there are grizzlies round isn’t the best—particularly in the event you love bears like I do!

 

The above grizzly bear with a hard-won Chinook salmon! The bears are very specific about which fish they eat. With such a bounty to select from, it’s unsurprising they’re picky, however it was nonetheless amusing to look at. The bear would catch a fish, sniff it, possibly contact it with its tongue, and if it wasn’t to its liking, throw it away, seemingly useless or severely gored, and go discover one other