Fly Photos

[john michael white]

I took some time to play around and shot some images of different flies I have tied, trying to come up with some good images.  I tried to use interesting backgrounds to make these static subjects interesting.  I hope the images are not boring and that I am improving.  What do y’all think about these images?

[Chad Simcox]

Here is my critical cold honest truth:
I’m not sure what your focal point is on the group fly shots. It just looks like you set down a bunch of flies and snapped a photo. They’re kind of boring and don’t tell a story. Work on arranging the flies so that they don’t all blend together in a pile.
All I see on the first photo is the body of a royal trude and a bunch of hackle with some rubber legs sticking out.
The second photo suffers from the same problem, no focal point and the focus is just on the deer hair wings of the flies. Show the viewer what fly is so important that you have a bunch of them in your fly box.
The third photo is a good set up but a bad fly. The wing is all messy and mashed down. Work with a new fly that hasn’t been in a fly box yet. Also give me an angle/composition that has a bit more going on, again this one is kind of straight forward and bland.
The 4th photo you’re working a better angle. I really like the colors and texture of the wood, but this isn’t the right fly for a shot. The rubber legs are an important feature of the fly that sets it apart from other flies. Show the viewer what the profile of this fly is like with the legs sticking out.
Ahh the best of the bunch, #5. I’m a sucker for tightly packed nymph boxes. I’m not sure if I’m supposed to be focusing in on the pheasant tails or the hairs ears or the empty area that is void of flies. Help guide my eye to what you’re trying to show me.
The sixth is just a blob of flies that doesn’t make sense to me without being in context of maybe some text or more photos.
The seventh is again suffering from a boring angle that I feel doesnt really show me the fly. To me it looks like a trico spinner, but I cant tell. Those flies have a distictive shape to them, use that to help the viewer recognize/relate to the photo.
The 8th is a bad angle, again don’t know what I’m looking for in this photo. Maybe it’s a where’s waldo type image… Hey that gives me an idea for a project, “Where’s midge?” A fun filled book where you have to find a midge hidden in photos of other flies. Nobody steal my idea! Thanks for the inspiration John.

http://society6.com/grainfarmer Fly Fishing and Landscape open edition Photography prints.

http://grainfarmer.vsco.co/ iPhone photos
http://instagram.com/chad_simcox Instagram

[john michael white]

I deleted #6 and #8 after my initial post, while Chad was probably writing his post, becasue I didn’t like them either.

Thanks for your time and input Chad.

[Mike McKeown]

Thanks Chad, always like the way you respond to these types of questions… I am going to have some for you comment on soon…

[john michael white]

Does this image work any better?  I was inspired by Chad’s streamer shot and John B’s salmon flies shot with black backgrounds…

[Chad Simcox]

John,
I think that photo falls into the same dilemma as a photo I recently posted. It’s hard to tell that the fly is resting on a fly box. I find these legged hair wing flies are difficult to get shots of. Do you focus on the familiar profile of the fly with the thorax and hackle showing, or do you focus on the shape of the legs and the large hair wing? I don’t think this angle is the best for shooting this particular fly. Also placing the fly on the outer edge of the fly box seems unnatural as the fly box would have to be propped up or held in place to get this shot. I like the concept of using the black background, but I don’t think this is the shot you’re looking for. The lighting is good, but the unfamiliar position of the fly box and angle on the fly just don’t do it for me. I’m impressed with the large DOF and your ablity to keep the entire fly and almost all of the fly box in focus in this shot.

http://society6.com/grainfarmer Fly Fishing and Landscape open edition Photography prints.

http://grainfarmer.vsco.co/ iPhone photos
http://instagram.com/chad_simcox Instagram

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