TAKING PICTURES OF YOUR MONSTER SHARK

You prepared so much ,dreamed about it ,worked so hard to catch that monster shark and you failed to take enough and good pictures.Don't let it happen to you because it will haunt you,,,,,,,you might have to wait years to land another monster.Sad to see a 10 foot hammer that looks like it's only 8 foot because of the bad pictures or few pictures you took.It happened to us this summer with the 10 foot Tiger I caught up in the panhandle, it was just Ken and I we were tired and had no one else to help us ,,,,in the end the best pic we got was far from being an ideal picture.I always tell the guys when they call me in the middle of the night yelling through the phone that they're hooked up to a monster shark "Take Alot Of Pictures so we can truly see how big it "We sacrifice and put up with so much adversity to catch the truly big fish and then we squander the oppurtunity to show everyone how huge the shark was by taking mediocre pictures.
Some of you are in such a hurry to get the shark back in the water that you forget to snap the right shots.Remember that sharks are quite hardy and if you act smart by preparing right before the shark hits the beach you should both take the pics and do a quick release.You and your team mates should be effecient once the shark is in your grasp on the shore you should have each person assigned a task.One guy leaders the fish ,another tail ropes him ,and then everyone including the angler who should at that moment stick the rod butt in the sand and help drag the shark up on the sand to measure and quickly take the pictures.The key word is TEAM WORK you should all know what you are going to do in order to simplify all the task at hand .One person should be snapping the pictures thru the whole thing.In this scenario it's always good to fish with at least 3 people and even 4 to have enough hands to help out.

LIKE A SNIPER YOU NEED-THE RIGHT SHOTS!!!

Take pictures from all different angles and in different poses.Take alot of pictures then you can search thru all your shots and post the best of the best.Don't be cheap once you have that beast on the sand ----take a pic and move ,take another and move.A good way of showing the size of your prize catch is to kneel down and get low behind the sharks dorsal rod in hand,Make sure the person taking the pic gets in close because nothing will make a shark look small like taking the shot from far away.If it's night time which is more often then not the case have one or two people shine the shark and you up with a spotlight or flashlight.Take advantage of what has been given to you --for example if just caught a huge fat pregnant Bull shark make sure you take close-ups of the fat stomach or the big head on that Tiger or that huge wide hammer.Stand over your shark one foot on either side of it's head and open the shark's mouth,again make sure the photographer is in close to you.Hold the tail up .The key is to take at least 10 pictures while all the time moving around looking for the perfect angle.Watch that mouth full of razor sharp teeth!!!Always make sure you have extra batteries in case you camera dies .Sad to see some record fish caught in 2009 and yet in some cases the picture don't do the shark any justice .I'm recommending that everyone who catches a big shark like a 10 foot bull,12 foot lemon,14 foot hammer ,or an 8 foot blacktip to please put a tape measure in the picture so you can shut up the doubting Tom's that don't want to believe the monsters that are caught in Florida shorelines. Stay alert and remember what you fish for "THE MONSTERS"so let it look like a monster and not a MINNOW.Good luck and tight lines!!