Cast & Connect: The Fishe Files
Behind the Lens with Fishing Photographer Jessica Haydahl Richardson
A great fishing photograph does more than prove a fish was caught. It holds the weather, the anticipation, the movement of the water, and the expression that appears when a hard-earned moment finally comes together.
In this episode, Fishe founder Linda Leary sits down with commercial fishing photographer Jessica Haydahl Richardson to talk about the craft, persistence, preparation, and human connection behind the images we remember.
In This Story
Why You Should Trust This Article
This story was built directly from Linda and Jessica’s full recorded conversation and the supplied episode brief. Jessica’s career history, experiences, advice, and perspective are presented from her own interview rather than reconstructed from assumptions or secondary summaries.
Watch Jessica Haydahl Richardson on Cast & Connect
Watch Linda and Jessica’s complete conversation about commercial fishing photography, working on the water, film cameras, magazine covers, mentorship, and building a creative career that lasts.
A Photography Career Built in Motion
Jessica has worked independently as a professional photographer for close to two decades. Her path has moved through sports, weddings, portraiture, editorial work, outdoor assignments, and commercial campaigns.
That range became one of her greatest strengths. A wedding photographer must notice portraits, landscapes, food, tiny details, shifting light, family dynamics, and unrepeatable moments—often within the same day. Jessica carried that ability to adapt into the fishing world.
“The more well-rounded you can be, the better you are at shooting and adapting to all sorts of situations.”
Her early sports experience included a practicum with the Vancouver Canucks. A later assignment took her to Haida Gwaii to photograph a salmon derby supporting a children’s hospital, beginning a long relationship with a fishing lodge and opening another direction for her work.
Once she was able to work commercially in the United States, that experience expanded into assignments for fishing brands producing rods, reels, apparel, sunglasses, boats, and other equipment. The work became less about souvenir photographs and more about creating images that help a brand tell a complete story.
Why Jessica’s Fishing Photographs Feel Lived-In
Jessica describes her style as rooted in editorial photography. She is rarely building a highly controlled studio production on the water. Instead, she steps into an angler’s working environment and pays close attention.
Her job is to document the real rhythm of the day while still delivering the product details a commercial client needs. That may mean photographing over an angler’s shoulder so a rod remains visible, changing the angle of a fish hold, or waiting for the instant a guide’s expression reveals that a catch is genuinely exceptional.
Every fishery asks for a different kind of awareness. Jessica works with guides and captains, asks questions, and listens when they explain what is normal, ethical, safe, or culturally authentic in that location.
She also knows that a camera does not guarantee the fish will cooperate. Sometimes a team has many opportunities. Sometimes there is one fish for an entire campaign. The photographer has to stay ready without controlling the outcome.
“I never really know until the moment happens. Whatever we’re working with, we’re working with.”
Film Versus Digital Is Not an Either-Or Decision
Jessica began with film, using her mother’s late-1970s Minolta SLR before digital cameras became commonplace. She still owns and uses film cameras, and often brings one along on commercial assignments even when the primary work is digital.
Digital equipment gives her the speed and flexibility required by clients. Film gives her something different: texture, mechanics, uncertainty, and a reason to slow down.
The camera itself becomes part of the experience. The feel of the controls, the sound of the shutter, and the wait before seeing an image all change the photographer’s attention.
During one Alaska brown bear trip, shortly after her father died, Jessica chose to carry far less digital equipment and photograph with a vintage film camera. The lighter setup allowed her to be present for the people she was teaching and for the landscape itself.
The Assignment Is Never Only About the Fish
Jessica has photographed fisheries and outdoor experiences across an extraordinary range of places. She recalls bonefish and triggerfish on Christmas Island, billfish offshore, trout in Montana, brown bears around Kodiak Island, and a brutally cold musky shoot in northern Wisconsin.
The species changes, but the emotional center of the work often stays the same. Jessica watches for the moment when an angler, guide, or captain realizes they have accomplished something difficult.
On the musky assignment, the boat was frozen to the trailer and the weather turned far colder than expected. When the first fish finally came, the guide’s excitement told Jessica immediately that the moment mattered.
The high-five, the relief, and the unguarded reaction can carry as much story as the fish itself. Those are the frames that let a viewer feel present rather than merely informed.
Working Behind the Camera in a Male-Dominated Industry
Jessica estimates that the overwhelming majority of the anglers she photographs commercially are men. She is often the only woman on the boat, and that creates practical realities that rarely enter conversations about photography careers.
Preparedness matters. She plans equipment carefully, carries enough batteries for long days away from shore, protects essential documents while traveling, and communicates directly with captains and guides about what the day will involve.
Some challenges are as basic as finding a private way to use the bathroom during an all-day boat shoot. Jessica discusses those realities plainly, without allowing them to define her work.
Professionalism means solving the actual problem in front of you. It also means building relationships, asking for what is needed, doing the job well, and moving forward.
Magazine Covers, Commercial Work, and Patience
At the time of the interview, Jessica counted roughly 27 or 28 magazine covers. Editorial publication was one of her earliest ambitions, beginning with a desire to land a sports photograph on the front page of a newspaper section.
That love remains, even as print magazines become harder to find and editorial budgets become less dependable. Commercial work supports the business, while magazine publication continues to offer a distinctive kind of satisfaction.
Jessica’s approach is persistent rather than impatient. She may send an image to editors repeatedly over several years because she believes it belongs in print. The timing may change, but the strength of the photograph does not.
What Emerging Outdoor Photographers Should Hear
Jessica’s advice begins before specialization. Learn to become a working photographer. Build technical competence, practice across different subjects, understand business, answer emails professionally, manage time, and create a portfolio filled with the kind of work you hope to be hired for.
She values education because her business and marketing degree still supports her career, while formal photography training helped her develop skills and industry contacts.
A niche becomes more sustainable when it rests on a broad foundation. Jessica does not view versatility as a distraction from fishing photography. It is what allows her to adapt when weather changes, an assignment shifts, or the industry enters a new chapter.
Networking matters too. The fishing industry is small, people move between companies, and relationships can outlast a single role. Being prepared, kind, capable, and easy to work with becomes part of the portfolio.
Passing the Craft Forward Through Mentorship
Jessica has spent years answering questions, reviewing portfolios, and helping photographers work through the creative and business sides of their careers. She has now formalized that work through a photography mentorship program.
The program gives emerging photographers access to someone who understands both image-making and the realities of earning a living from it. That includes portfolio direction, commercial expectations, video and still photography, career decisions, and the unglamorous systems that make creative work sustainable.
For women entering outdoor photography, that access can be especially meaningful. Jessica is candid about the industry without treating knowledge as something that must be guarded.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Jessica Haydahl Richardson?
Jessica Haydahl Richardson is a Montana-based commercial photographer specializing in sports fishing and outdoor work. Her wider career has included sports, weddings, editorial photography, portraiture, video, and brand campaigns.
Where is Jessica Haydahl Photography based?
Jessica lives and works from Montana’s Bitterroot Valley. Her assignments take her to fisheries, boats, lodges, and outdoor locations across the United States and internationally.
Does Jessica shoot film or digital photography?
She shoots both. Digital cameras handle most commercial deliverables, while film remains an important personal and creative practice that helps her slow down and approach photographs differently.
How did Jessica begin photographing fishing?
An early assignment took her to Haida Gwaii to document a salmon derby connected to a children’s hospital. That led to a long lodge relationship and eventually to commercial fishing assignments for brands.
What makes a strong fishing photograph?
For Jessica, a strong image combines authentic action, environment, emotion, and the needs of the client. It should feel true to the fishery while still communicating the product or story the assignment requires.
Does Jessica offer photography mentorship?
Yes. Jessica offers mentorship for photographers seeking help with portfolios, career direction, still photography, video, commercial work, and the business systems behind a professional creative practice.
The Photograph Is the Evidence of Being There
Jessica’s career is a reminder that the memorable frame is rarely created by equipment alone. It comes from preparation, curiosity, technical skill, respect for the people who know the water, and enough patience to remain attentive when nothing seems to be happening.
Then the fish arrives, the expression changes, the weather opens, or a person reveals something honest. The photographer is ready—not to manufacture the moment, but to recognize it.
Follow Jessica on Instagram at @haydahlphoto, and keep watching Cast & Connect: The Fishe Files for more conversations with women shaping fishing, creativity, business, and life outdoors.
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