Fly Tying

[flytyer57]

I am in the process of photographing flies that I have tied and would like some feedback on this picture. What would you have done to really make this picture stand out? Is the composition ok? What about the use of the pinkish background? Is the lighting ok?

[JessicaO]

Pretty fly, and nice pic! A few comments: for pictures of small, close-up pictures, you really want to make extra sure that everything is sharp and in focus. Your picture looks slightly out of focus, and it is either because your shutter speed wasn't fast enough (get to 1/60 or faster), or your depth of field was too shallow because you're focusing at something very close to you. I would recommend a f/16 and see how that is. Also, use a tripod to make sure you don't get camera shake.

The color is a bit bright, but magenta might just be your style. I did some Google image searching for "fly tying" and came up with some results that might help you-- check out this site: (OleFlorida.com | Ole Florida Fly Shop's Fly Tying Blog). It looks like they are clipping the flies to something and standing them up with a colored backdrop. Then using a light source from the backside to make the fly almost glow and really stand out. This will make the texture of the fly more clear to the viewer.

Just my $0.02, others may have noticed something else. Good luck!

[Tzetsin]

you and a fella I recently met would get along famously! Both love tying flies... Seriously this dude has a massive library in his home, wall to wall, floor to ceiling.. ALL books are about fly fishing and tying flies...

If I was you though, I wouldnt lay them down as you have. I'd put them on your little fly tieing holding tool, ( i dunno what its called, but he had one on the one he was showing me, so i'll assume you know what i'm talking about)

Then I'd hold it up against a clear solid background, that isnt very close ( so you wont get shadows) and have a light from bottom and behind, and another light from the front. Nothing too bright though because you want to maintain dimension. You want to avoid any lighting scheme that will cause your fly to look "flat" if you know what i mean.

This is the fellows smugmug, and a picture of the fly holder thinger I was talking about. Also a bunch of his flies so you can get an idea of how he shoots them.

[flytyer57]

Originally Posted by JessicaO

Pretty fly, and nice pic! A few comments: for pictures of small, close-up pictures, you really want to make extra sure that everything is sharp and in focus. Your picture looks slightly out of focus, and it is either because your shutter speed wasn't fast enough (get to 1/60 or faster), or your depth of field was too shallow because you're focusing at something very close to you. I would recommend a f/16 and see how that is. Also, use a tripod to make sure you don't get camera shake.

The color is a bit bright, but magenta might just be your style. I did some Google image searching for "fly tying" and came up with some results that might help you-- check out this site: (OleFlorida.com | Ole Florida Fly Shop's Fly Tying Blog). It looks like they are clipping the flies to something and standing them up with a colored backdrop. Then using a light source from the backside to make the fly almost glow and really stand out. This will make the texture of the fly more clear to the viewer.

Just my $0.02, others may have noticed something else. Good luck!

These are the settings I used: Aperture f/10, ISO 100, Exposure 10 sec, Focal Length 50mm. I don't remember if I used a close-up filter or not. When I took this pic, it was virtually pitch black in the room and I lit the fly using a penlight for a few seconds.

I only used the magenta colored background as I am limited to colors and I thought that this would show the fly better than black, blue, green, red, or white. I also used a tripod since it was a 10sec exposure.

I don't knkow about the backlighting, but it's something to try next time.

Thanks for your comments.

[flytyer57]

Originally Posted by Tzetsin

you and a fella I recently met would get along famously! Both love tying flies... Seriously this dude has a massive library in his home, wall to wall, floor to ceiling.. ALL books are about fly fishing and tying flies...

If I was you though, I wouldnt lay them down as you have. I'd put them on your little fly tieing holding tool, ( i dunno what its called, but he had one on the one he was showing me, so i'll assume you know what i'm talking about)

Then I'd hold it up against a clear solid background, that isnt very close ( so you wont get shadows) and have a light from bottom and behind, and another light from the front. Nothing too bright though because you want to maintain dimension. You want to avoid any lighting scheme that will cause your fly to look "flat" if you know what i mean.

This is the fellows smugmug, and a picture of the fly holder thinger I was talking about. Also a bunch of his flies so you can get an idea of how he shoots them.

Yes, I have one of those thingies. I think most of my problem is lighting. I will almost certainly look into a ring flash for my camera in the near future. That should help light the fly better than what I've been doing.

[Tzetsin]

Originally Posted by flytyer57

Yes, I have one of those thingies. I think most of my problem is lighting. I will almost certainly look into a ring flash for my camera in the near future. That should help light the fly better than what I've been doing.

Actually a ring flash is exactly what you DONT want. Unless you really want a well lit flat and boring image.

Ring flashes will take all the depth out of your flies by removing all the shadows and will make them really uninspiring.

your lighting doesn't have to be all that special, a lightbulb, a flash light and a dark room are more than enough "lighting" to make any static image great.

I did this shot with nothing but an incandescent lamp bulb (60w) and a wind up led flashlight in a pitch black room.



As you can see, the image has a lot of depth. Probably more ambiance than what your looking for, but it gives you an idea of what you can do with just simple lights.

[flytyer57]

Thanks for that info.

[NeverEnoughTime]

There are plenty of lighting tips on the web - here are ten low cost options posted to this site:

DIY Lighting Hacks for Digital Photographers

Looks like fun

There is also a lighting forum here http://digital-photography-school.com/forum/lighting/

[sk66]

Here's my opinion...the photo is just a "documentary" of a fly, and due to the color cast/bg not a great one at that....sorry to be so harsh.

What *I* would do...
Set up a studio shot of the fly completed/nearly completed in the vise with the tools etc etc...LL Bean cover... Focus on the individual fly, but also tell a story of the tools/process/detail/effort....

[ccting]

Originally Posted by flytyer57

I am in the process of photographing flies that I have tied and would like some feedback on this picture. What would you have done to really make this picture stand out? Is the composition ok? What about the use of the pinkish background? Is the lighting ok?

Looks great as thumbnail.. as it looks flying.. ;D. That thing looks dangerous.. what is that?!