Genral Fly Fishing Photos

[Chad Simcox]

I’ve recently added a few Fly Fishing shots to my online portfolio site. I’m trying to do something a bit different than every other fly fishing photo you see.
Take a look at http://www.chadsimcox.com. They are the first 4 photos in the sports section.
Let me know if you think they’re working. I think so, but I need an outside vision on these photos.
If there is something you dont like, be honest and don’t hold back. I’m used to harsh but truthful criticism.

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

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

[kendal larson]

I’d looked at them before, and they’re winners to me.

I especially like the overhead – so rare we get that kind of perspective on folks in the water.

[Eric DeWitt]

Heres some feedback:

1.  Pretty good shot, creative perspectives are always interesting.  I wish i had more spots in michigan where we can get up above the rivers and look down.  What i don’t like about this one is that my eye is really drawn to the large rock and it seems to be overpowering the rest of the composition.  Maybe it because its the only light colored object in the scene.  It would be interesting to compare a similar shot without the rock and see if it feels any better.

2 and 3.  I like both of these.  What i think makes both of these shots is the lighting/post production.  The overall effect of both in these photos serves to do a much better job of drawing the eye to the important stuff in the image.  Care to share of this was photoshop or done in camera… if in camera, how did you set up the lights?  The third one does a especially nice job to highlight and the hackle colore creates some great contrast and focal point.  

4.  While i applaud the idea of bringing flyfishing into the studio, this image doens’t do much for me personally.  maybe its just a bit to sterile for flyfishing.

I clicked thru the rest of the images and i am diggin your use of light (or lack of light) with the dark deep tones and backgrounds.

[Ben Cochran]

Chad, I really like the 1st flyfishing image a lot! As well as the first image that you have in the “Pets” section. Very curious to know if it is a 3rd party plugin that you used for it and what it is as I think it gives a great feel to the image and you really did a great job of using in your very appealing composition, Great job on these 2 images!!!

[yuhina]

Chad,
I would say they are pretty good photos! But I get little bit confuse about you said they are different from other FF photos…no offense… Why you think they are different? any different approach whille you shooting them? different philosophy? I would love to see more photos! 😀

[Chad Simcox]

Thanks for the feedback everyone.

Eric, I agree with you on the rock being in the way on #1. I was hiking in along the trail on the side of the canyon. I don’t know this fisherman, but I stopped and shot a few photos of him. I watched him net a big bow then I moved on. I never spoke to the fisherman as I would have had to hiked down to him so he could even hear me. It was one of those situations where I was not going to ask him to move to a different pool.

2 & 3 were both shot in my bedroom. The map and flies shot (#2) was on top of my dresser. I used a single Sunpak 383 that was hand held and connected with a PC sync for lighting. I have a lumiquest modifier on the lens that works as a bounce card with diffusion. Not much done in post. Just adjustments made in Adobe Raw Converter before bringing it into photoshop for resizing. The shot of the green drake in the rod handle (#3) was set up on my bed. I set up a little area using a wool coat, my vest, net and my 5 wt (which when I pulled it out I found out had broken somehow in its hard case). I lit this shot with the sunpak 383 fired into a white umbrella. I wont go into placement other than it was set up behind the subject. The backlight illuminates the hackle to give it that vibrant pop.

The 4th shot was an idea I had and figured I’d try it out in my free time. It is more of a generic stock photo for the non fly fishing industry. I did a series of shots with casting, drifting, and portrait type poses. These shots are going to stock photo are for RF stock collections (dont worry, I dont shoot for microstock!!!).

Ben, thanks for looking. I do not use any plugins in my post production work flow. Everything i do is using standard photoshop tools. Typically I use PS just as I would a dark room. Burning, dodging, adjusting contrast, etc. I work in TV and over the years have developed techniques for image enhancement that I am now using on my photography.

Yuhina, the reason I say that they are different is because it seems like most editorial fly fishing photography looks the same to me. Usually action photos tend to be wide shots captured mid day with a large DOF. Photos of flies often look to obviously be shot in studio. They are usually photos for illustration, so that technique is fine. I just don’t find it interesting. There are exceptions to this statement, but pick up most magazines or books and you’ll see the same 3 styles of photos. My approach is to get a bit more creative with lighting and composition. I’d like to think I blur the lines of studio lighting and natural lighting on my fly photos.

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

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

[Carter Simcoe]

Not really a big fan of the studio gear shots but, hey, they are technically good.

I like the 4th under “pets”, did you do that w/ the zoom or in post-processing?

[Chad Simcox]

I agree with studio shots, but they have their place/usage.

I confess, with the shot of the dog, the blur was done in post.

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

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

[yuhina]

Thanks for the reply! Chad.
Got your idea!

I like the first photo for sure! They show the big rock and small fisherman! I can image there should be a good pool and good fish! Thus I think the big rock give me some key about the environment! I actually like the rock there… 😀

For the 4th photo I felt a bit “weird” to me, sorry…
Be honest with you, I never see fisherman take a small fly up just for “check out”… usually they will take the box close “to their eye” to check them out… only they are ready to tie one, they will take them out of the box and tie one on… so the photo seems a but unusual to me…well… maybe just I never encounter this situation…

Again, Nice photos! Keep them coming! 😀

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