'Simple little fish' from P.E.I. hooks big prize in international photo contest

A picture of a common fish on P.E.I. has made a splash for an Island photographer in an international contest, despite some heavyweight competition including whales and sharks.

"To be recognized amongst competition and photos that included orcas, killer whales, and lots of sharks, like big charismatic mega-fauna, was really special for me," said PhD student and photographer Sean Landsman.

Landsman took runner up in the Up & Coming category of the Underwater Photographer of the Year competition for his photo of an alewife — also known as a gaspereau — trying to make its way up a fish ladder at Officer's Pond on the Winter River.

"It told me that I did something right that I could take a fairly common fish, doesn't have particularly charismatic features to it and get that image to stand out amongst the crowd," he said.

'An every day fish'

Landsman's was one of 4,500 entries to the category, with the winning image an oceanic white tip reef shark, and image of a woman freediving taking third place.

Among those big species, it was the commonplaceness of Landsman's that stood out.

"An eyecatching and novel image of an every day fish, shows persistence, knowledge and creativity from the photographer," wrote judge Alex Mustard of why it took second place.

In his caption that went along with the photo, Landsman explained how the alewife is connected to life in the Maritimes. It's used as bait for lobster traps, as well as delivering nutrients from the oceans to the waters where they spawn.

"It's a simple little fish, common fish found throughout the Maritimes, so to be able to share its story and hopefully raise a bit of awareness about that species, was really great."

'Spraying and praying'

To capture the winning photo, Landsman set up at the bottom of the fish ladder in June as the migratory fish were trying to make their way upstream to spawn.

"You could see the fish shooting really fast through the strong current, so I just stuck my camera under the water and tried to time taking a picture when a fish would move past," he explained.

"You take as many photos as possible and hope that one of them turns out, so I got lucky."

"It was June so the water's pretty cold, my hands were pretty cold, the black flies were out in force, it was a little uncomfortable but it was worth it," he said.

When he checked his camera after one particular flurry of fish, he knew he had a winner.

"As soon as I saw that one, that was it, there was no one around to high-five but I was high-fiving myself."

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