Cormorant Fishermen
“Cormorant Fishermen at Dusk” – Li River, Guilin, China – Dan Ballard – Featured Photographer
Today’s spectacular photo is from deep in the heart of China. Cormorant fishing is an ancient practice from Asia that has been utilized for over 1,000 years. The old man on the left doesn’t look a day over 997 years old. Dan lights the image perfectly exposing the expressions of both fishermen. The perspective is great as well. I feel like I am about to step on the little raft along with them for a night on the water.
After reading how Dan set up this shot, head on over to his website and check out his images of over 50 countries that span the globe.
Want to improve your photography? Then check out Dan’s workshop page below.
http://danballardphotography.com/Photography-Workshops
Enter Dan:
I took this image last year while on a six month photo journey through China, Tibet and Southeast Asia. This image was taken in an incredible place and was an amazing experience. The cormorant fishermen of south China use cormorant birds and lanterns to fish. They work at night and use the lanterns to attract fish to their boats. Once the fish get close to the boats the cormorant birds dive in the water and catch the fish. A string is tied around the birds neck so they can’t swallow it. They bring the fish back to the fishermen who then remove it from the birds.
I used Nikon off camera flash with a gel held by my assistant at dusk to capture this image. Although it appears the light is coming from the lanterns, if I had not lit the subjects the image would have been lifeless, and I would not have been able to hold the details in the bright sky, and dark foreground subjects.
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Outstanding Photography. Please more picture upload like this. Thank you.
Brilliant lighting treatment.
Stunning photo of Mr. Ballard. As all his artwork is, after all. Congratulations.
I love this one
Very cool.
This view from another part of the world (I live in Egland) is very impressive
Thanks for liking my sandpiper post. This image is amazing! I love it.
Ha ha, this is great. love both the characters. do you and your team travel around the world taking photos? good stuff. and great team you have.
Very dramatic!
love the shot. well composed and beautifully shot
What an amazing photograph. It tells an awesome story.
layers of stories…a lot of attention…love the light.
Magical.
Very neat!!! Dramatic… I have known about the way they fish, quite an intereting way!!!
… a painting!
Ohh, the light, great photo
Commorants had NOT been used for fishing in the Li River for many years now. These days fishing in the river is done by nets. These former fishermen and their commorants are basically working as “models’ these days, for tour groups and phtograpohers. Indeoendent photographers will not be able to photograph them unless you pay a tip.
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I could not agree more! This picture makes me feel like I could jump right on the raft. It is really amazing. It tells a story.
A wonderfully haunting photo that is at once lovely and yet eerie at the same time.
This looks like the same location that Trey Ratcliff snapped a shot of these same fishermen.
Yes, but Trey takes simple snapshots. This image was well thought out and lit accordingly before capture.
Unbelievable!
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lovely, just lovely.
The light in this photo seems surreal. I love the fishermen’s faces and of course the cormorant. Magical.
A wonderfully dramatic image with excellent use of light and colour.
Fantastic. It’s a while since I’ve seen an image as brilliant as this.
Gorgeous image! Wonderful tones! Those scenes bring back memories from my trip to China!
This is truly a wonderful and magical shot. I love everything about it.. especially the angle of the shot
I so love all of these featured photos and the input from the photographers. Allows me to see the world at home, while I am amassing the funds to the new choices pictured before me! Thanks
Cat
One of my favorite recent shots from you guys (and you always deliver, so there you go). This image has everything going for it — lighting, composition, subject, the whole deal. Lovin’ it.
Phenomenal lighting
spectacular
Lovely image.
Marvelous!
This looks more like a painting than a photograph. Really nice effect.
Great Shot! I love the lighting.
Magical! Image out of a dream I never had.
Totally magical, straight out of a fairy tail.
As amazing as the picture is, the practice is abhorrent. Just because folks have been doing it for thousands of years doesn’t make it right.
An amazing picture. And in reading Dan’s description of his shot, now I get some of why my evening shots never seem to work. Thank you!
Like so many others, I sympathize with the birds, but I also know that it is a trade off. In keeping the bird for a tool, the fishermen have to protect it from other dangers, it becomes a perverse symbiosis of sorts as have so many human/animal interactions (or do people really think horses want to race or pull wagons, or that cows would perpetually give milk if they were not induced to do so).
Absolutely beautiful photos. What a lovely site at the start of a busy morning.
Folk living as folk should. Kristin
Poole living as folk should live. Much of the world has thrown itself out of the box! Lovely camera work.
Beautiful, ‘moody’ pic!
Captivating. Wow
Hi, I like to know of this is a posed photo? I mean are these real fishermen who are doing their night fishing and are captured by camera by chance or you waited for them (knowing they are likely to be there) or they are paid and set up for a photo shot?
Thanks.
These fisherman used to earn a living exactly as you see in the photo. Many of them these days, while they still might traditionally fish like this, are more a tourist attraction these days and earn money via photographs. They show up and yes you can set up a shot if the timing is right. Many tourist cruise by on dinner boats, but those on land who seek out the fisherman can have a personal experience like the one you see in the shot. Regardless of how the composition came about, it is brilliant nonetheless.
This is just beautiful:)
wow. amazing.
What a amazing picture!
What a great picture. I remember reading about these fisherman and birds many years ago. Thanks for posting. Jay
that is a beautiful picture
I just re-posted this. Hope it generates additional traffic here. I’m also adding PhotoBotos to favoriet sites. Thanks for the great blog. What you’re doing is beautiful.
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Hi,
That’s a great photo. Thanks very much for liking my ‘This Is Easter’ grief poetry post.
Best wishes,
Casey
Extraordinary photography, as is always the case here. Couldn’t help but think of the poor cormorant on a leash, fetching food for the guys in the boat that the cormorant wants to eat but can’t. Just like too many workers around the world. I love the faces of the guys in the boat, and I’m sure they take really good care of this cormorant. They’d be biting the hand that feeds them, if they didn’t. Just wish the one-percenters of the world understood. You never know where a photograph may lead a viewer! Sorry.
This is beautiful, it looks more like a painting than a photo. Amazing work! ~ Sheila
Amazing image, perfect vista, and sublime lighting… I currently live surrounded by anhingas + cormorants near the Everglades, but I was raised in the Pacific learning of these fishing stories. The image tells quite a story.
This is only world class … again a photo with movements … witch I love.
Beautiful photograph – especially the men’s faces
Beautiful picture. Thank you so much for sharing it and your experience. Fishing with birds is a new one on me!
I don’t know why but i’ve always been fascinated by fishermen. This picture is fabulous.
Great! Seeing the fisherman’ faces makes the entire photo come alive. Great scenery too.
We have a lot of cormorants up here in Maine — I remember first hearing of these fisherman when I was ten or eleven, and every time I see a shag, (our name for them,) drying its wings like the one in your picture, I get a warm feeling that that little piece of knowledge has come with me through all the years. Also, thanks for the white lettering!
No problem Judith! The black lettering on a blue background was straining our eyes also!!!
What a great picture! What a great experience to spend six months in China, Tibet and Southeast Asia!
Wow, this looks almost fake. It’s great. I hope they left that bird be and didn’t take him home for dinner. It is a thought.
While this looks like a fairy tale image, I do feel sorry for the cormorants, so cruelly treated. I often watch them in the wild, when these amazing birds hunt for fish that serve to feed them, not some lazy human.
I’ve seen fishermen in China use cormorants. This amazing picture bring back beautiful memories.
What a picture! I’ve always been fascinated by the Chinese fishermen who use cormorants. This is absolute perfection. Thank you.
Another time altogether.
Beautiful image and the lighting is perfect.