Home Up

Featured Photographer: Tony Peña

A.K.A. The Roving Angler  

My first reaction upon being asked to contribute to this column was “so you think I’m a photographer?”  My photos come from an art background and I’ve never had a photography class in my life.  If you ask me how a camera actually works I’d probably fail.  I get bored reading camera manuals.  So yes, thanks for the compliment, but I feel a little guilty knowing there are so many technically competent photographers in OWAC.
As a child I would draw and sketch for hours, that I believe provided me with a good sense of aesthetic values.  I also fished with great patience growing up because I started on the muddy backwaters of San Diego Bay with a handline where a stray stingray occasionally made a mistake and got hooked.  At San Diego State University I was an art major before going over to geography.  As a graduate assistant I remember reading fishing magazines while administering exams to undergraduates, thinking of ways to fish the exotic locales of the world.  I started writing destination features for magazines in the mid-80’s after cashing in on a promotion from Trilene offering a $1,000 cash award for each IGFA world record set in 1984.  My 18 records translated into trips to Mexico and Australia and was a great springboard to a secondary, freelance writing/photography career that has gotten me to 18 countries so far, including Thailand , Marshall Islands , Panama , Costa Rica , Fiji ,  Brazil  and  Venezuela .
I don’t know if I have what you would call a “philosophy” of photography, but I do know your writing won’t get published unless you have sharp, imaginative images that go along with it.  What’s the first thing an editor does after receiving your Fed Ex?  Lays your slide sheets on the light table to see what there is to work with.  Reading your text can come later and will be fixed if broken – that’s what an editor is supposed to do.  Editors can’t fix your photos and publishers don’t like to buy separate photos to illustrate your writing.
A few general things I keep in mind are to get close to my live subjects, without sacrificing an interesting background, keep thinking of balancing a scene so “it looks like something you might want to hang on a wall”, keep the photo uncluttered, have patience and wait for a good shot, keep a good sun angle (tell the captain where you want the stern and fish to be relative to the lighting available), let people know what’s most important (it’s okay to lose a fish as long as you were given an opportunity for some good action shots), if I dive in for an underwater shot I like to have the engines shut down to get clearer water as well as for safety purposes; and I try to get some natural human interaction (e.g. good facial expressions, etc.), even in wildlife settings.  I prefer slow film such as 64 Kodachrome because it doesn’t get grainy when enlarged but will compensate with a fast shutter speed for action shots.
A few general things I keep in mind are to get close to my live subjects, without sacrificing an interesting background, keep thinking of balancing a scene so “it looks like something you might want to hang on a wall”, keep the photo uncluttered, have patience and wait for a good shot, keep a good sun angle (tell the captain where you want the stern and fish to be relative to the lighting available), let people know what’s most important (it’s okay to lose a fish as long as you were given an opportunity for some good action shots), if I dive in for an underwater shot I like to have the engines shut down to get clearer water as well as for safety purposes; and I try to get some natural human interaction (e.g. good facial expressions, etc.), even in wildlife settings.  I prefer slow film such as 64 Kodachrome because it doesn’t get grainy when enlarged but will compensate with a fast shutter speed for action shots.
Missed, or botched opportunities bother me.  Near Cancun I waited for a flight of flamingoes to approach with a perfect sun angle illuminating their pink plumage, only to start taking photos to soon and ran out of film as they reached an optimum position.  I still remember a most inspiring sunset on a Costa Rican beach framed with rustic boats at anchor, jungle edges and local people working highlighted by crimson thunder clouds.  My camera was in my hotel room.  Always save some shots in your camera and keep it with you.
Note: Tony Peña was awarded the OWAC 1998 and 2000 “Best Photo Series” for his work published in Marlin and Salt Water Sportsman magazines, respectively.  Additional publication credits include: Sportfishing, South Coast Sportfishing, Western Outdoors, Southeast Asia Fishing World, Sportfishing Boats, Men’s Journal, Maxim, Offshore Salt Water Fishing.

ON TONY PEÑA:

Tony and Sabrina Peña have been all over the world for the past two years. Some highlights of their trips are last year in the Marshall Islands , where Sabrina caught a Moray Wrasse, a.k.a. Napoleon Wrasse that weighed about 80 pounds. You can see it for yourself in a recent issue of “Saltwater Sportsman” magazine. The two also fished at La Paz and Las Arenas. In New Orleans they fished for redfish, a species made popular in its blackened form by the legendary chefs of Louisiana . In Costa Rica the seas were so high that they couldn’t get out, but in Panama they were able to fish in small craft by day and return to a mother ship in the evenings. Sabrina caught a 900-pound blue marlin. When we spoke, the couple was planning a trip to Nicaragua for the opening of a new resort there and some bonefishing adventures. You can check it all out at www.rovingangler.com.

Home Up

PHONE      619-462-7875
FAX          619-435-6009
E-MAIL: tonypena@rovingagnler.com

Roving Angler Copyright © 2000 This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Send mail to webmaster@rovingagnler.com with questions or comments about this website.