WYKnot 0 Report post Posted February 4, 2008 I was so intent on capturing the light reflected from the woven monofilament body that I overlooked the reflections in the round metal bead head. Round metal objects reflect their surroundings like a mirrored surface. You can tell I used three lights (top, left, right) and a white fill card under the fly. The dark blob in the middle of the bead is me, viewing through the camera (fortunately, I caught my good side). Mirrors (and other highly reflective surfaces) can be very unforgiving… Russ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mtbbrian 0 Report post Posted February 4, 2008 Hoo Ahh!! Looks good! I'd drop for 20, for one of those. SSG MTBBRIAN USA Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WYKnot 0 Report post Posted February 4, 2008 Hoo Ahh!! Looks good! I'd drop for 20, for one of those. SSG MTBBRIAN USA Hey Sarge, once you get those 20 pushups knocked out, send me a SSAE and I'll send the fly. PM for mailing address. Russ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
day5 0 Report post Posted February 5, 2008 I have so manny pic like that but mine always look like an eye.... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WYKnot 0 Report post Posted February 5, 2008 day5, I got some interesting results when photographing Christmas ornaments last year. Shiny round objects reflect everything in the room. Russ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mokai 0 Report post Posted February 6, 2008 Great looking fly..I removed your reflections in Photoshop... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WYKnot 0 Report post Posted February 6, 2008 Mokai (the Photoshop Wizard), Well-done, cloned-out the reflections and cleaned the loose dubbing from the bead head. How did you do the white hot spot? Russ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Al Beatty 0 Report post Posted February 6, 2008 Hi Russ, Mokai has already provided a great fix from Photoshop but that is mostly over my head. Back in my slide-film days I'd drap a black cloth over me and the camera (with a hole cut to fit the lens). It's the same cloth I used to set-up focus/composition with my 4x5 cut-film camera. It does give the bead the appearance that it is shinny black in color but I suppose you could use different color cloths to get different colors in the bead. But, on the other hand you people who work so well with Photoshop can do all that without messing around with a cloth. Take care & ... Tight Lines - Al Beatty www.btsflyfishing.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WYKnot 0 Report post Posted February 6, 2008 Thanks Al. I experimented with a white cloth (...because it was handy) to create a large light tent. It eliminated the reflections, but made the bead appear too white for a black tungsten bead. I tried playing Alannah Myles "Black Velvet" in the background, but that didn't help... Might be worth my while to make a black drape with a shoot-thru port and add a black card underneath, see how things look. Russ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mtbbrian 0 Report post Posted February 6, 2008 I tried playing Alannah Myles "Black Velvet" in the background, but that didn't help... Russ That's one of the funniest things I have heard in a while! That should have done the trick! :hyst: Brian Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Al Beatty 0 Report post Posted February 7, 2008 Ya know, Russ. Black Velvet might work as well. OR After a couple of drinks you wouldn't care any more. Tight Lines - Al Beatty www.btsflyfishing.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Will Milne 0 Report post Posted February 7, 2008 Russ - I think you did real well with two very tricky problems- translucent materials and reflective materials in the same image . I'll have to tie one and try doing an image . Might have to include Al's suggestion sounds dead on - particularly the drinks one:) Will Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kargen 0 Report post Posted February 7, 2008 going off on a tangent here, but this reminded me of a guy on Ebay a few years back. He put lots of shiny things up for sell. When people started looking close they saw him naked in the reflection of all that shiny stuff he was selling. Didn't see much of him after people finally reported him. Saw to much of him before though. Quick little tip we used to use in the studio. If you have something that is to shiny and want to dull it down just a bit hit it with some hairspray. Only certain types work, and you want a really thin coat as it will dry duller than it first appears. Hairspray isn't the only thing that can dull up really shiny surfaces. You can also use hairspray with powder in it to make really dark areas a little bit lighter. Again a real light coat is all you need and it will give a little detail in blacks that otherwise might not have detail. Probably won't work on things as small as flies but if your vice has a hot streak that lacks detail a quick spray might knock that down to where you at least get detail in it. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WYKnot 0 Report post Posted February 7, 2008 Thank you for the encouraging comments and suggestions. A local photographer suggested matte dulling spray for bright metal objects, and provided a sample for me to try. My first (and only) experiment with dulling spray was not pretty, overspray got onto my tying bench and became a dust magnet. Oh well, it was time to clean the bench anyway. I will be in town this weekend, will pick up some black material and try draping the fly. Russ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
