Taking great fly photos for $25

[Guest]

One of the most asked questions on this forum and other forums that I visit is "How do I take good photographs of my flies?". Well if your serious about taking decent pictures here is a somewhat cheap and easy way. The number one mistake is people believe that you have to have a great digital camera to take great close-up shots, but this couldn't be farther from the truth. Sure nice expensive cameras are necessary for printing large images but if your just wanted to share some of your flies over the web a camera under $200 would more than suffice. The only thing your camera MUST have is a macro setting, if it has that you are good to go. Here is your shopping list:

 

2 Multi-adjustable desk lamps at Wal-Mart: $9.95 each. The lights that I purchased have three points you can adjust and this is very important so that you can position the light exactly where you need it.

 

1 background: $3.99. Alot of people use construction paper and that is what I mainly used until now. I was recently at Hobby Lobby and came across this stuff I believe they call "foam core". This stuff has great vibrant colors and comes in a very big sheet and seems to reflect light very well. I really like this stuff and I'm sure you can get it in any craft store and I believe I have seen it in some office supply store before as well.

 

After you have your materials postion the two lights so that they are each facing one side of the fly. Two lights work the best because with 1 light you always seem to end up with some type of shadow. The 2 lights cancel out any shadows and cast a nice light on the background. Your vise should be a few inches fromt the background because it helps make sure it is not casting a shadow. Once you have everything arranged you should be able to position your camera in between the two lights. Turn on your macro setting and do not use your flash! Pujic had a method where he uses a flash but it requires a flash filter so that it doesn't wash out the photo but we will not get into that here.

 

I hope this some people find this useful and get out there and take some pictures of your flies because we love to see everyone's patterns Let me know if you have any questions

 

Here is a picture of my setup

 

Here is a photo I just took using the setup(this is Shoe's wet fly swap entry)

[breambuster 0]

Thanks, Will. The picture of the fly is really great. What kind of camera were you using? And maybe more to the point, what are some cameras that have the macro feature you recommend that wouldn't cost an arm and a leg?

 

Thanks.

 

Randall

[Steeldrifter 0]

breambuster i dont have my lightin set up yet so my pics dont look that good but my camera is very capable of takin those kinda pics and i only paid $129 for it.

 

Check out the samsung digmax201 at walmart its a great deal and has some nice features for the price.

 

SD

[Flytyer-1 0]

Another option is using natural, INDIRECT sunlight. Mike Radencich, of photographic and salmon fly tying fame, told me the best light is morning sunlight, best on a cloudy day, but at least in the shade. This type of light renders the "truest" colors, and shadows are not a concern, assuming the camera has a long enough exposure, and a tripod is used.

 

[Guest]

Lighting is everything when taking close up photos also having a macro setting as will said is a must it allows you to focus with the camera's lenses less than 10 inches away form the fly which will allow you to take close ups without using the zoom.

As Flytyer-1 said Indirect sun light is also good for taking close ups.

The camera you use should have good optics ie a glass lenses (not plastic) and have at least 2.0 mega pixels

 

 

OSD.

[Guest]

does it matter what kind of light bulbs you use in your setup?

 

John

[Guest]

If the light is too strong you may get a little wash out, so you may like to defuse them a little with a filter.

But that’s normally not a problem

 

OSD.

[mcfly 0]

Since the topic of cameras came up I was at Walmart looking at a some and figured I'd ask about the macro setting. As you can expect I got a blank stare.

 

So, what should I be looking for on the cameras and how do you tell? I did see an outdoor waterproof camera by sony but couldn't tell if it would do macro pictures.

 

 

[kschu 0]

The one Sony waterproof camera that I've seen is the Sony CyberShot DSC-U60. From what I have read, it does not have any zoom. The review on the site I've linked here included the comment "Very easy to take good pictures ... very hard to take spectacular pictures". I doubt that this camera does Macro mode photos. It can take 2.0 MegaPixal images.

 

The only other waterproof camera I have looked at is the Pentax Optio 33WR. It does offer "3.2 megapixels (effective), 2.8x optical zoom/4x digital zoom", but this site does not say anything about Macro mode.

 

I know this thread is about taking pictures of flies and not waterproof cameras. But since I've been doing a little shopping, and 'McFly' did ask about a Sony Waterproof, I thought I would share the link that I did have.

 

Ken S.

 

[Guest]

Another option is getting a waterproof case specially made for your regular digital camera. It retains all the features of your digital camera but you can actually submerge it under water. I'm not sure where to get these cases and for what models they are available for but I do know that Pujic has one for his Canon A70 and took some awesome under water shots of steelhead recently!

[Lance Kekel 0]

Will, I know you've spent a lot of time on this and wondered if you've got a specific distance from the fly you like to use for your background. I kind of wondered what kind of affect that may or may not have on the overall lighting by just varying that one item??????

[Guest]

Lance,

 

I usually move the fly just far enough away fromt he background so that it doesn't cast any shadows. If you move it too close you will get a big black shadow. So it really depends on the size of the fly that I'm taking. Using two lights at one time helps but you will still get shadows if you move to close.

[dabalone 0]

I just purchased my first digital camera and after just a short time with it I have been able to take some truly awesome pics using the full auto mode. My two year old granddaughter has been the primary subject and the closeups are crystal clear showing her bright blue eyes. I am very impressed with this camera since I have barely touched on what it is capable of.

 

Been following closely any hints and tips posted here and believe lighting setup, background and macro mode are key to taking nice fly pics. Thanks for the info posted guys!

 

My camera is a Canon A80 4 mp. I purchased from a seller on ebay for $285 with a couple accessorys and a 256 mb flash card. This camera is very expandable and allows you to screw on optional lenses including telephoto and also has a waterproof casing designed for it. Would recommend checking it out, if I can take great pics with it no telling what its capable of.

[Pujic 0]

Dabalone,

 

The A80 is a great camera. I have the Canon underwater housing for my A70 and love it. It's actually quite useful out of the water as well because there is a flash diffusion plate which is great for taking close ups of flies at the bench. It cuts down on the infamous flash bleeching. However this is by no means the only method of taking close up fly pics, just another benefit of the underwater housing.

 

As far as using the case underwater goes, it takes some getting used to. The biggest challenge is not knowing whats in the frame and what's in focus. You can't look at the screen or the viewfinder to get a solid composition so the trick is to take a few shots, take housing out of the water, review the pics, and take a few more if neccessary.

 

 

 

 

[northern_outdoorsman 0]

Can you explain what the "Macro Setting" is?