A couple of members have expressed interest in how I photograph my flies, so I
thought I'd explain my technique and show my "old" set-up. The pics below
show an inexpensive homemade set-up I made myself. I've since bought a
lightbox which is larger to accommodate full-dress Salmon flies.
The tube is just a vinegar bottle with the ends cut out. I made the wood
stand to hold it. I use two or three reflectors made out of rectangles of
cardboard covered with tin-foil. One in front and one in back of the tube.
These are attached to the stand with lengths of flexible wire.
Sometimes I put a square of foil below the fly on the platform (the piece of unfinished wood).
The platform is free inside the two stand uprights so I can move the fly up or down.
If you notice my lights, the bulbs are the little spiral energy-saving bulbs. It is important that
you use the "daylight" bulbs, as the light they put out is clean and pure. Many others (including
some of the spiral energy savers) put off a tinted light that will effect the colors of your fly. Just
make sure the box says "daylight".
As far as the camera, a tripod is a must in my opinion when using your digital camera's "Macro"
function. You don't want to use your flash, it'll splash too much direct light on the front of the fly.
As a result, your shutter speed is going to be slower and without a tripod, chances are your
photo is going to be blurry. Along with a tripod, I always use the camera's timer function, which allows
me to move my hands off the camera before it actually captures the image.
For backdrops, I use different colored felt cloth (black in the pictures). I have some Velcro stuck to the
wall behind my set-up, as well as on the corners of all my backdrops. When I want a different color, I
simply pull them from the wall and stick another up. The Velcro also keeps the cloth stretched out so
there won't be any wrinkles.
I always shoot several pictures of each fly, rearranging my lighting position and reflectors every couple
of pics. It is important that you keep any shadows off of your backdrop.
I'm certainly not a professional photographer, but this set-up has worked for me. Hopefully, other
members will chime in and show/explain how they photograph
their flies.
Mike
