PHOTOGRAPHING YOUR FLIES
Another Approach

By Mike Radencich

I'm sure there are many ways of photographing salmon flies that you have encountered and to find another article about just such a subject in this newsletter (where you were more likely to expect one on TIE most foolproof way of setting a wing consisting of 214 individual fibers) might seem a bet tedious; well, bear with me!

Before I launch into a discussion about an alternate way of taking photos of your flies I think it might be a good idea to put forth some basics about light, it's qualities and how these qualities can effect the outcome of your photos. The three most basic form of light are:

1. Point-source Light. This is light that originates from a single, concentrated source which, by it's very nature produces hard-edged shadows. The sun, a bare light bulb, a candle flame are examples of point-source light. The type of light produces bright, "specular" highlights on surfaces such as the "sun-dappling" on water, or the points of light on a wine glass from an overhead light bulb.

2. Broad-source light. Any large, extended source of light will produce soft, muted shadows. Shining a point-source light through a large piece of translucent material will spread the light over a large area softening it and producing soft, indistinct shadows. Light shining through a window away from the sun, the sun shining through a thick cloud deck (where you do not see the sun's disk) or a large bank of fluorescent lights such as a "light ceiling" in a kitchen are other broad-source lights. This light produces much large and muted highlights on surfaces without the bright spots typical of point-source light.

3. Reflected light. As the term implies; light that reflects off a surface from any source of light produces a soft light similar to broad source light. Reflected light may produce no discernible highlights at all, unless the reflecting source is small. Reflected light does, however, produce an overall lightening of the shadow side of the subject. This fact is important in manipulating the lighting contrast on a subject.

This long-winded description may seem somewhat unnecessary but the understanding of light is crucial to being able to control it for photography.

In my own work as an advertising photographer I almost always use a broad source light for working with inanimate and animate subjects (i.e., people!). The broad-source light mimics "north light" from a window away from the sun. The great painters of old use "north light" as a lighting source for their portraits; Reubens, Michelangelo, DaVinci, etc. all knew the beautiful qualities of soft, indirect lighting a opposed to the harsher light of direct sun.

Generally, I place my broad-source light (which consists of a four-foot by four-foot piece of translucent plexiglas enclosed in a box behind which are a number of strobe lights that, when shined through the plexi, produces a soft "north light") behind and above the subject (from the camera's viewpoint) or to the side. I will then place a white card in front (for the "top back"light) or to the opposite side (for side-light) to "open up" the shadow areas. I try not to place the card too close, though so as not to flatten out the subject; i.e., make the value of the source light too close together.

Well, at this point you might ask (and rightfully so) "What does all this have to do with photographing salmon flies?"

With this groundwork laid out for you I can now describe what I think is a good way to set up the lighting for your flies. Here is a diagram of my particular lighting and subject setup to photograph my flies (looking down):

As you can see, I place my light to the side and in this case slightly to the side and in this case slightly to the front to help illuminate the fly better. The card on the left reflects light back onto the fly and helps put a little “sparkle” into the topping of the tail. Note: the reflector can be just a white card or you can spray-mount some aluminum foil onto it to give a "hotter" reflectance.

For background I use a piece of commercially available material that has a light-to-dark gradation (gray to white) to provide more than just a black background. I always let the dark start at the top to gradate to light at the bottom so that the topping of the wing stands out better. Of course, you can use whatever you want for the background to make your photos distinctive from others.

For the light diffuser you can use (as I do) translucent (milk-white) plexiglass from your local plastics supplier. It is a good idea to put a box around the plexi or at least tape cards onto the sides to prevent light from "spilling over" from the main source. My light diffuser measures four-feet by four feet but is this size only because it is used in my normal photography - you do not need to construct one this big. I would still go no smaller that two-feet by two-feet for the diffuser. As for the size of the reflector there is no hard and fast rule - probably eighteen inches square would do.

I prefer using the broad-source light for my salmon flies because I think it gives a much more pleasing result by virtue of its soft, even quality. A point-source, as I said above, gives harsher shadows and highlights which, to me, degrades the appearance of the fly.

When framing the fly in the camera it is a good idea to show just a little bit of the vise jaws to "place" the fly in a setting although a little creativity can be used here. Why not take a piece of glass laid horizontally, lay the fly on it and shoot down on it? This would thus show the fly without any visible support and your fly would then look like it is truly flying...