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You can tell an awful lot about a person by their fly fishing photo collection. It becomes very telling if an individual is self absorbed, loves nature, loves the art of photography, loves others, esteems to better others, has low or high self esteem, is mature in fly fishing or not. There are countless things you can learn. Of course, photography, at its core, is a self focused thing because it’s an interest photographers have, with them selecting subjects, focuses, etc. But, when it comes to having to take photos, ensuring your photo is taken, the stress of moments and the reasons for those stresses, etc, pictures can be quite telling – if you are present and aware in the moment, and honest with yourself.

In my personal case, in reviewing my photo collection, I can tell when I was younger, when I needed to be seen, when I was trying to develop photo skills, when I was trying to take advertising photos to enhance our business, when I enjoyed other people’s fishing, when I simply enjoyed what fly fishing was about, when I simply enjoyed moments regardless of people, when I was trying to better someone else's experience and put the rod away to take photos, or when I was being cocky or egotistical some years back (thankfully!). I can look back and, by being honest with myself, recognize what my state of being was. I can recognize growth or areas needing growth and choose to address those. Of course, I can just enjoy the photos.

If you look through your photo collection, honestly, you can learn a lot about yourself. That is, if you care to really, honestly look at yourself in the moments the photos are taken. If you look through your fly fishing photo collection:

• Do you take photos of every single fish you catch?
• Do you take photos of you with the fish to hilight you, or of interesting angles, colors, markings, fins, etc to hilight the fish?
• Do you prefer to take photos only of your family or on special fishing trips?
• Do you take photos of yourself or of others? And I mean, take one photo of yourself and 10 of others or of nature, insects, wildlife, scenes, etc?
• Which is more important - taking the time to take someone else's photo or you snapping a quick photo and to get back to fishing?
• Do you fish to get photos taken of your fish, or fish to enjoy something about the event and artistry of nature?
• Do you flip out on your fishing partner / spouse when he or she screws up a photo of your fish?
• Do you take time (and I mean more than one random shot here or there) to photograph others so they have shots of themselves, not just with fish but sharing moments?
• Do you yell loudly when you hook up, and make your fishing partner / spouse run 200m or more to take photos of every fish you catch? Do you get upset when he or she can’t get to you in time?
• Do you put the pressure on yourself, then, to reciprocate when he or she then hooks up? If not, why not? Is it all about you?
• Is the photograph moment always an uptight moment – making sure you don’t screw it up? More importantly, do you put the pressure on the photographer to not screw up a shot of you with every fish?
• If you are uptight about a photo, is it a one off situation in which you are trying to capture a time sensitive subject, or is it every time you shoot?
• If it’s a one off moment of being uptight, do you apologize in that moment for your actions and ensure it is received, or do you ignore your actions and just expect others to as well - leaving things unresolved?
• Just why do you need a photograph of every fish?
• Do you show the size of the fish because you need to show how amazing an angler you are, that you catch big fish, or because you’re amazed at the fact the fish get that big? Be honest. There's a big difference.
• If you catch a big fish, is that the first photo you show, or are other photos of your spouse, insects, scenery, etc shared first? In fact, do you share the biggest fish story right away or do you leave it as a sub note? Why?
• Is the process of taking your photo or you taking others’ photos enjoyable? Is it peaceful reverence and natural, or is it forced and a stressful one?
• Do the people around you cringe every time you have to take a photo, knowing it’s about to get stressful or be all about you?
• Did your trophy fish swim away with great vim or did it sink to the bottom? Did you notice? Did you do everything you could to ensure its survival or did you do everything you could to get that photo of you?
• Do you share photos of big fish to one up the other guy, to rub it in their faces that you're fishing and how great your life is?
• Do you share photos of various sized fish, mixed in with other fly fishing facets as encouragement to others, to share moments on the water when they might not be able to get out?
• What is your motivation in photography? Are the photos a true depiction of who you are or were when they were taken? Are you proud of yourself for how you acted, how self focused you were, how you treated others, where you were in life at that time? If not, have you honestly taken the time to better yourself since that time?

By looking through your collection, you can really get a handle on how self absorbed you might be; how much you give way to other people; how much you take the time to honor your friends; how much you appreciate the solitude of nature; how much time you spend with your friends; how much more effort you need to make to invite your friends fishing; how much you enjoy studying nature; how important catching fish is vs the relationships with the people you fish with; whether you have co-dependency issues; if you have avoidance issues; etc. The funny part is that you could finally be honest with yourself and finally admit what everyone around you already sees in you - because they were there with you.

The old saying “A man can fish his entire life without realizing that it’s not the fish he’s after” is very applicable to fly fishing photography and this line of thought. If you pay attention to your photo collection, and reflect upon the moments of the photos, you might realize life’s growth opportunities. These might help you find what you are truly trying to catch when fishing. Or it might reveal what flies need to change in order to help you catch what you’re seeking.