[Chad Simcox]

Beautiful boat! It’s too bad that all the registration stickers have to go on the side…
As you know the blown out highlights on the shirts are very noticable. You may be able to get away with painting some color back in with Photoshop if you’re good at doing that stuff. I would further darken the upper left corner to keep the viewers eye in the frame. As it is now, that corner is competing with the subject for attention. The subject is centered which isn’t a very dynamic way to compose a shot. Ideally I’d like to see more of where he is casting to and have the subject positioned on the left 3rd. However, the back cast and forward portion of the line balance out the photo nicely so the centered composition isn’t too much of an issue. Seeing the back of the loop would possibly make the shot more interesting depending on whether or not the background would deter from the line.
For one of those split second/quick reaction shots you did a good job. I think it is still salvageable, but not quite there just yet.

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[Chad Simcox]

Will, it seems the fall off is rather quick and un-natural looking to my eye. But then again, with a subject of that size it’s hard to tell. The focused stacked image is great though. You’re bringing a perspective that I have never seen before, and I like it! I love the detail that you’re able to get in the exoskeleton. I just wish there was a tiny bit more DOF on the front end of the insect. Of course I’m just being picky at this point.

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[Chad Simcox]

Cool shots Mike! I like the “Sky Hawk” leaving the fake chem trail and the head on shot of the WWII plane. With some interesting post processing, you could make some really cinematic images out of these photos.

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[Chad Simcox]

I am seriously thinking about getting one of these. I’ll wait till the 1st gen gets out and then try to pick one up. The video capabilities are impressive. I’ve been cutting a lot of DVCpro HD footage recently and I’d say the canon’s footage rivals that quality. There are some noise and detail in the bokeh issues that I noticed, but it could be from web compression. It shoots in H.264, which is fine for web but not for broadcast.
I see a lot of newspapers starting to have video for their stories on their websites once this camera drops. The next few years are going to be interesting to see how different media formats meld into one another.

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[Chad Simcox]

Those are great shot. I like #3 the best. 4 is nice as well, but a little dark for my tastes.
I cant speak for the software you asked about, but I will say that shooting RAW is the only way to go for me. At work I sometimes shoot JPEG on the company’s 30D and cannot stand trying to take a JPG in for post processing!

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[Chad Simcox]

Aaron we’ll have to hit up the stream for sure. I’ve only been up the west fork so i haven’t been to the bridge. Some day though! I’ve avoided going to the streams in the summer but now that fall is on it’s way I assume we’ll get some rain at some point. I’ll be heading up to the Kern in a few weeks to go fishing with a friend.

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[Chad Simcox]

In college I bought a 7’6″ 4wt for the Smokies. It’s a fun little rod, but I really liked fishing my 9′ 5wt there too. Sometimes you need the longer rod to get a better drift in the pocket water. The 5wt did seem a bit heavy sometimes and makes the small fish not as fun as they are on a light rod, but there are some nice fish in the streams there too.

Where are the details of the conclave? My brother lives in Knoxville, I’ll pass the info along to him.

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[Chad Simcox]

Hmm looking back at this past year, I don’t have much of anything fishing related.

I moved to L.A. (Hollywood).
Been working a lot!
I’ve met and worked with lots of talented people.
Had my first photo published and it was a 2 page spread in American Angler.
Went trout fishing once. Double Digit day on dries on a river that had gang graffiti painted everywhere.

It’s been a good year, just not fishing wise.

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[Chad Simcox]

The new G10 interests me. I have been looking, but cannot find a G9 anywhere. I need to look harder because I’d assume with the G10 released, any remaining G9 stock will have a price drop to it. I guess I could buy a G10, but don’t want to spend $500 on a compact camera. Not when I could take that money and buy a lens for my DSLR…

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[Chad Simcox]

Could you imagine that thing if it was 5 ft long and staring at you with eyes the size of bowling balls? YIKES!
That is one of the coolest and most interesting shots I’ve seen in a while.

I also think you should be publishing your work if someone else doesn’t offer to do so first. Check out http://www.blurb.com. I recently self published a short 30 page paper back through them and the quality was great. I wouldn’t recommend the paperback because mine has major edge curling problems on the softback cover, but their printing looks great.

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[Chad Simcox]

Will, this one is great! Your aquatic insect shots have improved quite a bit, it looks like you’ve got a good technique going for you. Do you have an overhead shot of this to show more of what the insect looks like aside from his vertical gills?
You really do have some of the best aquatic entomology shots I’ve seen. The yellowish color of the insect contrasts nicely with the blue background in this one.

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[Chad Simcox]

I’m not sure I understand why you need the TTL feature. Basically that just means you’re camera is going to turn off the flash when it thinks you have proper reached proper exposure in your image. You can just as easily use manual settings on your strobes and expose based on the aperture/distance relationship. Paying for the TTL feature is expensive and, in my opinion, not necessary. Photographers got by just fine without TTL before Nikon introduced the feature in the 80s. I personally have never used a TTL system, so I can’t speak on how much they help you, but I can verify that they are not a requirement for fly photos.
If you’re looking for a set up for just shooting flies, why not use hot lights? Honestly it could be as simple as a few clamp lights on dowel rods. Ever seen a light stand for clamp lights made out of a yard stick set into concrete inside a coffee can? Pretty cool, cheap and effective tool for using clamp lights. You can then get creative using foil and/or cinefoil to add or take away light.

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[Chad Simcox]

I’d stay away from the C41 process B&W film. What makes BW so great is the silver grains in the film. The C41 stuff is dye based like print film. You usually get an unwanted color cast in the prints.
I haven’t shot BW film in a few years. Ok that’s a lie, I have some Illford film in my 120 Holga right now. When I was shooting film, I found that I liked Illford’s products the best. HP5 and FP4 were my main two films of choice, but Delta 3200 is my favorite by far. I love contrasty and grainy B&W shots and the Delta 3200 delivered on both fronts. ID-11 was my developer of choice. It seemed to help create nice tones and kept the grain pretty smooth.
I really miss the experience and even the smells of the darkroom.
As far as developing and scanning, I’d check with any of the pro labs near by. I’d assume Atlanta has a few. But be warned, it’s probably not going to be cheap. If you’re shooting a lot, I’d look into doing it yourself.

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[Chad Simcox]

Very cool shot, I like it. The only nit picking input I would have is for a shallower DOF. Just to isolate the fly a bit. It’s fine how it is now though. And the fly looks a bit flat from the lighting. It may actually be a lack of contrasting colors in the fly pattern that is making it appear that way to me.
Once again, a great fly shot!

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[Chad Simcox]

I’ve got to say, I like the first shot better conceptually. It’s nice to see something different and I’m a fan of the dark background. Technical execution wise, I think it is missing a rim light to separate the fly from the background. I do not find the red to be distracting to me, and am interested as to what it would look like if the fly itself were over the color in the back ground rather than the black.

The second photo has a nice background, but the low angle of the light source is too unnatural looking to me. Try having your key light from above and reflect the light back up from below to give a nice wrap around of light on the fly. That would help model the fly and give it shape and mass. That would also help give some depth and shape to the wood that is a little flat looking now. Another detail that may be interesting to play with is the tones and shades in the background. As it is now, the green part of the fly is over a green patch in the background while the dark gray thorax is over a dark patch of the BG. Maybe try flipping it so the lighter green abdomen is over a dark area and the dark thorax is over a green or a lighter area. That would add a nice little detail of contrast.

Great shots Ben!

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[Chad Simcox]

I own multiple flashes, but I own ZERO desk lamps…

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[Chad Simcox]

from a prosumer standpoint it sure makes sense.. a grand for a body isn’t bad.. and you expect to spend $500-$1000 on a decent HD video camera..

I think you meant to add another 0 to those figures for a prosumer HD camera.

I’d be interested to see what the resolution is and what controls you have. Can you adjust shutter speed to reduce/increase motion blur? Adjustable aperture? Adjustable frame rate?
Looks like they had 4 1/2min left. I wonder how big the card is, and what codec it’s using. Apple ProRes would be great!

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[Chad Simcox]

Just an update/endorsement, Blurb’s printing looks amazing. I got a soft cover and it had a bit of a magenta cast on the cover, but inside everything was better than I had expected. The black and whites inside have no color cast to them which was a surprise and one of the things I wanted to test. Also there is no noise in the blacks which surprised me as well.
So if anyone is looking to do the self publishing route check out blurb. You can order just one book if you want, so it would be a great way to preserve memories of a fishing trip or family vacations.

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[Chad Simcox]

John, I’m aware of MyPublisher, and have a photo book that is in the hands of UPS to be delivered today. Their prices are a bit better than MyPublisher from what I remember and seem to have good reviews.
I’m all for the DIY publishing on small runs, but I’m more interested in the process to get a book out there with a company that has production and distribution means. I’m at least a year out from having the project completed (that’s if I started spending a lot of time on it now).
Richard, thanks! I’ll try to get an email out to you this weekend.

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[Chad Simcox]

ugghhh why did I move from Colorado to LA?

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[Author]

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