The old cliche that photographs freeze a moment in time is unquestionably true. The images splashed across these pages have made fleeting moments with billfish available to anglers everywhere, entangling us in the fish stories of the 21st century. And yet an important narrative—one that centers on the photographer—has gone largely untold. To unveil those stories, we’re thawing the freeze and going behind the camera of some of the past decade’s most interesting billfish shots.
HANNES RIBBNER
On an overcast January morning, the father-and-son team of Kelly and Grant Brashear would see why Hannes Ribbner prefers shooting on cloudy days: Those conditions can help even out the light and yield stunning results. The Brashears had never caught a black marlin before, nor had they ever been to Tropic Star