I Speak for the Fish: How to photograph mysterious freshwater fish | Great Lakes Now (2025)

I Speak for the Fish is a monthly column written byGreat Lakes NowContributor Kathy Johnson, coming out the third Monday of each month. Publishing the author’s views and assertions does not represent endorsement by Great Lakes Now or Detroit Public Television.Check out herprevious columns.

The incredible diversity of fish in the Great Lakes extends far beyond the big lakes into the shallowest streams and creeks across the region.

Many of these shallow waterways have only been surveyed by researchers in waders using nets and traps. Very few have been explored by skilled underwater photographers… until now.

Trevor Larson grew up in a family of divers and although he is one of the youngest divers we know by age, he has more experience than most divers who have retired out. His parents started him diving in the St. Clair River at 11-years-old.

That’s a remarkable achievement given the St. Clair River has a reputation for kicking diver’s butts and has spit out more than one diver over the years: not to mention the half dozen fatalities.

Most recently, Trevor has been exploring new waters.

Every diver has something specific that they love about the sport that makes them continue to suit up and jump in. Many like to find stuff, including shipwrecks. Most enjoy the tranquility and escapism. The weightlessness is cool too.

Underwater photography has always been popular with recreational divers, although only a select group invests the time and effort required to bring back great underwater images.

Today, the low cost of GoPro systems and the ease of operating digital cameras has revolutionized the underwater filming industry. For comparison, our first professional underwater camera system cost almost twenty grand and it was used. Today, you can buy a 5K GoPro system for under $400.

Obtaining good underwater camera equipment is now a doable first step for most divers, but there are no shortcuts for mastering the art of underwater photography.

F/8 and be there

An old adage of outdoor photography is “f/8 and be there.” This refers to the idea that getting a good shot ultimately boils down to being in the right place at the right time with a camera that is ready to shoot.

While being in the right place at the right time may seem like a no-brainer, being in the right place at the right time requires a high degree of knowledge about the subject matter.

Many professional wildlife photographers hire local guides to help them find the best locations to capture award-winning images. It’s a common practice with underwater shooters as well.

When an IMAX film crew from Los Angeles came to Michigan, they hired my partner Greg Lashbrook to put their cameraman and a 300-pound IMAX camera rig in front of spawning groups of lake sturgeon, which Greg did to great success.

On a side note, one of the IMAX support divers who flew in from California refused to dive in the St. Clair River after watching a 1000-foot lake freighter pass directly over the lake sturgeon spawning grounds and dive site.

For our work, we regularly consult with anglers and tackle shop owners to gain knowledge of where to find different species and when those species are active. We also have an extensive network of researchers and friends who keep us informed of interesting fish happenings.

The best nature photographers, topside or underwater, share an ability to correctly anticipate behaviors which allows them to capture amazing action shots.

Fish behaviors can happen in an instant. If you’re not already recording, you probably missed it. More than once a muskie has appeared and disappeared while our camera was still trying to find focus.

When lake sturgeon spawn, a female and several males group up for a few seconds to a few minutes. The actual egg release and fertilization happens in about 4-5 seconds.

If you want to capture footage of lake sturgeon eggs being released, you need to be able to recognize a female sturgeon and then keep up with a moving group of very powerful fish in a current that often feels equivalent to rock climbing up Niagara Falls.

Depending on where you are diving, there may even be an occasional ship passing overhead or other environmental hazard to contend with, but probably the biggest bane of underwater photographers is what’s in the water.

Scatter fails

Even when oceans, lakes or rivers appear to be crystal clear, most bodies of water are filled with microscopic organisms. These organisms which are generally too small to see without magnification are obnoxiously reflective.

Unfortunately, when underwater photographers use powerful strobe lights to illuminate their subjects, the microorganisms in the water column often light up. Not in a creative “that looks cool” way, rather as a thousand grey specs that ruins the image.

Underwater shooters refer to this phenomenon as “backscatter.”

The ability to properly adjust lights to hit the subject but not create any backscatter is the mark of a great underwater photographer.

On the road to becoming a pro, Greg took his share of throwaway shots. Early on, one near-great image of a yellow perch was ruined by backscatter. But rather than throwing the shot away, Greg saved it and jokingly labeled it as a Polka Dotted Perch.

Years later, we chose Polka Dot Perch for our website and YouTube channel as a cheeky nod to where we started.

New frontiers

Having mastered diving and underwater photography in one of the toughest locations in the Great Lakes, Trevor switched gears. So, he started snorkeling creeks, walking shallow streambeds and visiting swamps to film the tiny fish species no one ever sees.

He hasn’t been disappointed. Having found and documented rare darters and daces and minnows galore.

While once prevalent, redside dace were added to the Ontario Species at Risk List in 2009. Their status as endangered means they live in the wild in Ontario but are facing imminent extinction or extirpation. They have varying degrees of protection in all the Great Lakes states.

Redside are a good indicator of river health because they nest on the river bottom but feed on the bugs that live above water. The dace actually jump out of the water to catch insects!

There were only two known populations remaining in Michigan, until Trevor started looking.

He immediately expanded the range by documenting redside dace in the Clinton River, a location where they had never previously been seen.

The Rouge River in Southeast Michigan is one of the few places where redside are known to exist but they have proven difficult to study. In the coming months, Trevor will be assisting researchers and volunteers with Friends of the Rouge River to conduct a series of surveys looking for them.

I look forward to sharing their results.

Catch more news at Great Lakes Now:

I Speak for the Fish: Why do mudpuppies matter?

I Speak for the Fish: How Native Americans are saving lake sturgeon

Featured image: Trevor Larson searches shallow rivers and streams in order to photograph some of the Great Lakes lesser known species. Image by: Trevor Larson