[John Bennett]

Nice shot and very strange Zach. Live sacrifices on the water might make one think twice about fishing there at dawn/dusk alone. That said, it might have been worth your time to collect a few feathers from said sacrifice afterwards. Who knows, they may have made for some killer flies.

[John Bennett]

Thanks Morsie.
That fly tip will pay off huge as I’ve been struggling with that issue. It doesn’t take hardly any pressue to damage their wings and with macro lenses its pretty obvious. Of coarse if your super careful, well good luck shooting a flying Mayfly with razor thin DoF 🙂

[John Bennett]

Id seen this on one of the nature photography sites I frequent. Its causing quite the stir.
The aspect that made me lean forwards and say “No way!” was the aligator segment, I simply wasn’t prepared for that. Almost as surprising was the calf getting away, although truthfully I have my doubts about its odds. I have to beleive it would have been seriously wounded and quite likely succumbed later.

J

[John Bennett]

Great series Zach, despite the fog and mist I think it added a certain mood.

There aren’t too many waters in my neck of the wood that can take Speys but they are gaining in popularity here. Its only a matter of time I think and the switch rods may just be the ticket to get more people interested.

[John Bennett]

Some nice shots there Mike. I really like the second though.

J

[John Bennett]

“Never a dull moment”

Lol, that’s an apt way of phrasing what a household full of women is like, what with my wife a 13yr old going on 20yr girl and a precosious 10 yr girl is like.

[John Bennett]

Seafood.
I really only started a year ago. At first it can be overwhelming especially as you need to learn the basics of Post Processing while your trying to learn the shooting end as well.

[John Bennett]

Just to add a couple points.

Not sure what system you use but as Zach said the makers are getting better. I use the Canon 30D and Im not afraid to shoot at ISO 800 at all. Can and will shoot at ISO 1250 or 1600 when I really to in order to get the Shutter speeds but Id rather not. Still I have alot of shots taken at iso 1,000 or 1600 where the noise is barely detectable and there are some programs available for reducing noise, so that as long as you dont overdo it, you can improve the image with regards to noise.

Fast Glass.
Nothing replaces fast glass. Get yourself a nice 50 f1.4 or 85 f1.8 or some other fast peice of glass. They are great for portraits of people and fish due to their narrow DoFs
f1.8

And when you need to you can open them up for low light shooting.

I also use the 85mm f1.8 for my kids indoor Volleyball and gymnastics where even f2.8 isnt fast enough at iso 1600 to freeze the action and it works well.

Which ever system you use you should be able to find a 50mm 1.4 or a 85mm f.8 or something very similiar that wont break the bank. The key get atleast one peice of fast glass, you’ll quickly love it as a portrait lens and really appreciate its ability to gather light in low light conditions.

Lastly
Shoot RAW.
Setting WB in those conditions is tough. With raw you just let the camera do it, and then correct it yourself in the PP phase.

[John Bennett]

Ive pretty much resigned myself to reducing the amount of stuff I bring when wading. I weighed my bag the other day, its a whopping 14pds and thats without accessories. I’m thinking for my next outing I may just

[John Bennett]

im thinking alot of fathers can relate to the grab what you can, when you can :). Eric I gave up golf 3 years ago. I just cant bring myself to commit to 5+hr rounds and abondoning my wife with the kids often. So something had to give.

Seafood I live on the north shore of Lake Ontario. I can be on the stream 1 minute after walking out back door. Good runs of steelhead in the Spring/Fall. Decent run of Chinooks and Browns Sept through October and year round resident browns, although not big lunkers. All just a short cast away. I am quite literally blessed in that I can get my fix, unwind and be home as

[John Bennett]

Nowhere near enough.

Last year fishing took a distant back seat to photography, as I spent the vast majority of my free time trying to learn the basics of wildlife photography, post processing, etc. So 1/2 day or longer outings we’re scarce. Couple that with life (work, family, kids, work, kids, the dog) and well it paints a bleak picture. Luckily I can walk out my back door and be on a cold water stream and be fishing for resident Browns and Brookies in minutes that also gets Migratory Chinooks/Browns/Steelhead and it helps.

All of which translates into very few full days fishing but plenty of short outtings.
During the summer I can get up with the sun, get an hour or two in and be home just as the kids are waking up. Sometimes when walking the dog in the evening I’ll carry my 4wt with me and make some cast to risers.

But still nowhere near enough

[John Bennett]

I looked at your blog and best I can tell you use a Canon 30D. I have a 10D so I assume that the setup should be similar. When I use fill (not often enough) I shoot in either AV or TV mode. I set the flash (Sigma EF-500 DG Super) in ETTL mode, then dial-in negative flash compensation (1 to 2 stops) on the camera. Built in flash should work the same way.

Just want to pipe here and echo Dons statement for Canon users.
Granted I havent shot many fish yet, thats one of the hurdles I have going solo. Be that as it may I do alot of bird photography and fill flash is used extensively by birders.

[John Bennett]

Thanks Scott.

Gear; I use the Canon 30D and 400 L f5.6 for most Bird photography, although a couple pics from earlier in the year were taken with the 100-400L. I made the switch to the prime for its AF speed primarily.

[John Bennett]

Friend of mine pointed me to the site and Ive been familiarising myself with the site and forums, thought this might be the thread to introduce myself a bit. Life long angler who made the conversion to fly fishing some years ago. Last year I took up photography and spent the year learning with an emphasis on wildlife and bird photography. Throughout my goal has been to combine both passions and this season I think Im ready to do that although its still proving more difficult than hoped.

Anywho a few of my favorites from last year. Hopefully this year trout and fishing will figure more prominantly.

Red Tail

Coopers Hawk

Northern Harrier

Snowy Owl

Common Loon

Chinook Salmon

Anwho thats a bit a bout me and a few of my pics. Looking forwards to this season and turning my attention back to the streams and lakes I love to fish around here (Southern Ontatio) but now with my gear in tow. So far, it tough to find subjects especially when wading solo but all in good time and Im sure theres lots to learn yet.

/edit to resize them a bit

[Author]

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