I fish by myself all the time and am able to take pictures of fish in the water. I am not saying that they have to be in a foot of water but if you can put them in the shallows and take a picture I think it is better for the fish.
You obviously have no idea whether I practice what i preach. Nothing says that I took that picture.
If you want to see visually how to handle a steelhead in the shallows, measure it, watch Lani Waller's video on flyfishing for trophy steelhead. He does it very easily. He doesn't take a picture of it but he could.