Editing your fishing photos means making a few targeted adjustments, exposure, contrast, color, and cropping, to bring out the best in a shot you already framed well, without pushing the edit so far that the photo looks fake. Jason Stemple is back to walk through the editing side of great fishing photos. In this How 2 Tuesday Jason shares the simple, repeatable workflow he uses to make a catch photo pop, the adjustments that matter most, and the restraint that keeps your images looking natural and professional.
Listen now: press play in the player above and follow along.
Start with the basics in any editing app: set the exposure so the photo is bright but not blown out, add a touch of contrast, correct the white balance so the colors look true, and crop to improve the composition. From there, lift shadows and recover highlights as needed and gently boost color. The goal is to enhance a well-shot photo, not rescue a bad one or make it look artificial.
You do not need expensive software. Mobile apps like Lightroom Mobile, Snapseed, or even the built-in phone editor handle exposure, color, and cropping well. Jason's point is that the workflow matters more than the app. Learn the handful of adjustments that count and you can edit great photos on your phone in a couple of minutes.
Less than you think. A good edit is invisible: the photo looks like a great moment, not a heavily processed image. Push exposure and color just far enough to bring the scene to life, then stop. Oversaturated water, crushed shadows, and fake-looking skies are the signs of overediting. Restraint is what keeps your photos looking professional.
Often, yes. A well-placed crop can tighten the composition, remove distractions at the edges, and put the focus on the fish and the angler. Crop to fill the frame and to straighten the horizon. Just leave enough resolution for where the photo will be used. Cropping is one of the easiest, highest-impact edits you can make.
Start with accurate white balance so the colors are true, then add a modest boost to saturation or vibrance, which lifts the muted tones without making everything garish. Adjusting individual colors, like deepening the blue of the water or warming the light, can help, but keep it subtle. The water and sky should look rich, not radioactive.
RAW files give you the most flexibility to recover highlights and shadows and to fine-tune color, which is great if your camera or phone supports it. But you can absolutely make strong edits from JPEGs too. Shoot RAW when you can for maximum latitude, but do not let the lack of RAW stop you from editing your everyday catch photos.
Here is the simple editing workflow Jason Stemple uses.
I walk through each of these in detail in the episode. Press play in the player above.
In the last episode Jason walked through taking better fishing photos. Here he covers the other half: a simple edit that brings the shot to life. As he explains, a good edit does not rescue a bad photo, it elevates a good one. Press play in the player above and he will walk through his workflow.
Exposure, contrast, white balance, vibrance, and crop. Those few adjustments do almost all the work in a fishing photo edit, and you can make them in any app, even on your phone. Jason explains the order he works in and what each one does in the episode.
The most common mistake is pushing the edit too far, oversaturated water, crushed shadows, fake skies. Jason's whole philosophy is restraint: enhance the moment, then stop. A great edit should be invisible. Press play in the player above to hear how he keeps his photos looking natural.
You do not need expensive software or RAW files to make your catch photos look professional. Learn a handful of adjustments, work in a repeatable order, and have the discipline to stop before it looks fake. Do that and your fishing photos will look like a pro shot and edited them. Press play in the player above.
Jason Stemple · photo editing · Lightroom · Snapseed · exposure and contrast · white balance · cropping · RAW files · fishing photography · Florida Keys · How 2 Tuesday · Saltwater Experience
How 2 Tuesday is my weekly series where I break down one fishing skill at a time, from knots and casting to gear, tactics, and the habits that make you a better angler. Watch and listen to every How 2 Tuesday episode from Tom Rowland.
I'm Tom Rowland, a professional fishing guide based in the Florida Keys, host of the Tom Rowland Podcast, and the longtime host of the Saltwater Experience television show. On the podcast's How 2 Tuesday series I break down one practical skill or lesson at a time, from fishing technique and gear to the habits that make you a better angler, in short, focused episodes you can put to use right away.
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