Taking pics of flies

[3FL2 0]

I'm sure some of you have figured out the secret to taking pics of your newly tied flies..I haven't. I have a 7 meg. Sony cybershot, and when I take pics of my flies they come out blurry. I have tried to stand back and zoom in on the flies and those too are blurry. So what's the secret???

Also I would like to add that this Forum rocks :headbang: , If I have a question this is the place to go!!

[DeerhairTom 0]

 

3FL2, don't use zoom. Does your camera have a macro mode?

 

DeerhairTom

[flytire 0]

use the macro function on your camera. its usually a tulip symbol, not the flower symbol (thats usually for close-ups)

 

read the manual to find the macro function on your camera

 

do not use the flash for taking the picture

 

use a tripod to avoid the shakes

 

use correct white balance (see the manual) for the light source you are using

 

lighting is very important

 

focus on the fly, not the background

 

pick a background color that is pleasing to the eye.

 

depress the shutter button only 1/2 of the way down (that lets the camera focus) and once the camera has focused on the subject, depress the shutter the rest of the way down

 

use the timer or remote control to take the foto

 

resize your foto for the web (lots of free software to do that out on the web)

 

crop your foto to a reasonable size

 

do not use the digital zoom function in your camera

 

have fun and experiment. thats whats nice about digital. you can delete the bad shots from the card and keep the good ones

 

[dfield 0]

Craft foam makes a great back ground.

[ILikeFish 0]

i think lighting will be the most important part... you can get cheap light fixtures from like lewes or home depot to set up and aim at your fly, it will really improve your photos. and whatever you do, never use digital zoom, its worthless.

[rockworm 0]

3FL2

 

I agree with most of the recommendations given by flytire. Especially the use of a tripod. I used to have the same problem as you. I finally discovered that the autofocus on my camera simply didn't work well enough on close object. Now I use the Manual Focus and get sharp pictures every time.

 

 

[3FL2 0]

Thanks for the info. I have a Macro feature on my camera, I have set it up so that when I take pics of my flies. The tulip I thought was for taking scenic pics, but I did read my manual and found that the tulip is what I should have the camera set on. Thanks again I will post some shots of the new flies I'm tying tonight. I have been too busy to tie that past week, so tonight I will make up for it.

[philipmadamson 0]

really good advice everyone, I had been wondering this myself...now I just need to get a camera!

[JSzymczyk 0]

macro macro MACRO!

 

you can also use the flash on the cam. Most of the time in macro the flash will be very harsh on the subject because of the close distance. I underexpose 2 full stops, and cover the flash with layers of white tissue paper or paper towel until I get the exposure I want. Also depending on your camera, the flash will be "off center" of the subject at the closest focusing distance in macro mode. Takes a little goofing around but you can get good results.

[3FL2 0]

 

Ok I tied up some flies. The first is a Grizzly emerger, and the second is a Peacock wet fly that I was able to tie very quickly. How did I do?

[flytire 0]

looks like the lighting is in back of the subject. try putting the lighting from above and one from the bottom.

 

[Joe Hard 0]

Taking pics of flies, which I am still learning is trial and error. I take several shots of each fly.

 

A tri pod is a must and one can be made or a small table top one can be bought fairly cheaply.

 

I like to use several lights. Mine are low watt daylight and fluorescent One on top of the fly. One at the back of the hook, one at the eye and facing slightly at the front side. They should be about 12 inches away and a backdrop the same distance. I also use a woman's make up mirror with 2 fluorescent lights underneath. I have one more light which is a placed on top and just behind of the camera facing at the fly. There are a few informative posts here about taking pics of flies. I included a picture of my set up there

 

Some colours like white, yellow and chartreuse will be over exposed with your cameras light setting. If you look at your emerger you can see what I mean. My camera has a plus minus symbol when you go into the menu. Which is light exposure I think, (gotta read that manual). You will have to adjust it down to get a true colour and clearer picture with those colours

 

Your camera should have a little square or cross hairs on the viewer, try to line that up in the center of the fly with the horizontal level with the hook shank. If you try to focus by depressing the shutter button have a look to see if you have the whole fly and that your background or backdrop is not showing anything you dont want to. I dont focus like that as I find it drains your battery. I will take a couple shots and download the pics. Then preen the fly and adjust what is needed and re shoot. The camera doesn't lie and you will see lots of things on your flies that will improve your tying. If we could see and tie in macro mode we all would get 99.9's from Ronn.

 

I like the darker pictures with a black background, but have seen on other peoples monitors that they are to dark, but look good on mine. The pictures I download to my hardrive always look different then when I add them to the forum.

 

Keep on trying and it you will be taking pics that make you happy in no time.

[flytire 0]

heres another tip for ya

 

take a look at the following site regarding "tabletop photography" which is basically what we are doing when photographing flies. notice the setups and lighting positions. you don't have to get that fancy.

 

http://www.tabletopstudio.com/

 

heres one setup for ya

 

 

you can make the light box from a cardboard box. just cut out square or rectangular holes the the sides and top and tape some white paper to the openings. position your subject inside the box and lights over the white paper covered openings similar to the foto above.

[sulfernut 0]

All of the responses here have been valid ones,that I have come across myself,in my VERY recent foray into taking pictures of flies!! Indeed, I am only very recently getting into digital photography of ANY kind,although as a kid,I used to shoot quite a bit of film,and actually did some of my own B & W processing. The thrust of this post however,is to touch on something I haven't seen mentioned in the thread,and that is : Physical comfort.....See the photo below,that I filched from flytire's post:

 

 

 

Note the woman's position....On one knee!!! THIS is one of the things I remember most about shooting pictures of flies!! IT HURT!! A couple of shots is not so bad,but my 51 year old knees,ankles and hips complained loudly after an all-afternoon session of shooting!! I haven't been able to think of any good solution for this,except locating,or building a table that has a top at least 12" higher than your average desktop. With your working surface a bit higher,you might be able to do at least SOME work from a chair! Other than that, I'd have to say that besides getting familiar with your camera settings AND it's limitations,the two things I found to be important were : backround,with regard to color,and reflectivity, and lighting, and THE ABILITY TO BE ABLE TO EASILY MANOUVER AND ADJUST BOTH!!

 

 

 

Just my thoughts!

 

Sulphernut

 

 

[flytire 0]

i'm not sure that you can assume from the foto that she is ACTUALLY taking a foto. she could just be placing an object in the light box for all that we know.

 

but comfort is important too.