That is the pedigree of this Japanese koi that I have in my pond i.e this koi is from the Big Rose lineage. Koi rearing is a side hobby of mine. I have not netted out my kois for any photography for a long time now. With the Malaysia annual koi show in July, I thought I should see how my prized koi is developing. I bought this koi of the kohaku variety (red markings on white) from the world famous koi breeder Sakai from Hiroshima, Japan 3 years ago as a 2 year-old. It measured 61cm then.
I netted her out last Saturday and was very pleased with her development – she is now 82cm.
Taking photography of kois without any help can be a challenge. They tend to jump in which case they may injure themselves. In my case I had to pre-focus manually my Nikon D3 attached to my Manfrotto tripod. With one hand on the shutter button and the other on standby just in case she attempted to jump, I shot a series. Unfortunately I managed to get only one decent shot that is worth sharing.
Here is my Big Rose:
To really get a good shot, the koi should be presented vertically to show its body volume, nice scalation, lustre and colour. Some may sedate their kois to prevent them from jumping. I chose not to do so to avoid unnecessary stress to my kois.
