I try and use the Hawg Trough fish measure when photographing fish for competition entries. It’s a tough lightweight measure that cradles the fish from the nose and provides an accurate size ready to be captured by camera.
However, it’s not perfect!. One thing that does annoy me is the scale itself. The numbers are black on a yellow background, that part works a treat. Though the graduations are raised and the same yellow as the background making them very difficult to identify at times. This is far worse when using flash photography and at times you have to zoom right in or adjust the contrast to have a chance of seeing the graduations.
Below is a photograph taken yesterday of a mackerel. The graduations aren’t exactly jumping out at you, that said, I’ve taken far worse pictures.
What I decided to do was to highlight the graduations to make them very clear in all conditions. After a little practice I found it best to use a wide nib permanent black marker pen. Don’t try and draw down the marks in a traditional manner, it’ll look awful (trust me!). Lay the marker pen over at almost 90 degrees and draw the side of the nib down the raised lines. The results are quite pleasing and result in a measure that’s far easier to interpret at a glance.
With Flash (above)
Without Flash (above)
So there you have it, a quick and easy modification that should last pretty well and it’s easily re-applied as required.
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