Archive for November, 2009
Pike Fly Fishing Articles
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Pike Fly Fishing Articles is a wonderful blog authored by Simon Graham. In his own words, Simon is “A SOUTH AFRICAN LIVING ON REPLOT ISLAND, KORSHOLM, FINLAND”.
He goes on to say, “Pike on the fly is an addiction which has slowly consumed my life to an extent that I’m never truly happy until Ive caught my next one especially if its with a new fly I’ve tied.This blog is dedicated to pike on the fly in the northern hemisphere.”
I recently corresponded with Simon and must say that his work is excellent. His tube fly creations are some of the best baitfish patterns you will ever see. Not to mention the fly art photography he is doing with an 8 year old Sony DSSC 707. One of my favorite quotes from Simon is how he describes his camera setup, “Its been to the bottom of a lake due to a drunken canoe fishing trip one morning,Served me well 2 weeks after that out in the Serengeti for 6 months and still taking images although it has some water marks on the inside of the Carl Zeiss lens and its held together with Duct tape at the front after leaving it on the roof of the Landrover in Ikorongo in the Gremeti reserve….Oooops”! That goes to show that it’s the photographer, not the equipment, that gets the shots.
Check out Pike Fly Fishing Articles at http://pikeflyfishingarticles.blogspot.com (or click the image above). You will be impressed by the wealth of photography, fly patterns, and articles devoted to Pike fly fishing.
North Georgia Mountains Fishing
Posted by: | CommentsIt was a pleasure to hit the North Georgia mountains this Thanksgiving holiday. The fall weather was brilliant.
I had a chance to meet up with Bob Riggins on Friday and we fished the Soque river. The fishing was surprisingly good but unfortunately neither of us landed a fish when I had the DSLR out. Oh well, Bob will surely post some of the point-and-shoot grip-and-grins from his Pentax waterproof. Some respectable rainbows were caught that day. What a blast. Also, for those interested, we caught a few small wild trout, including a beautiful rainbow fingerling, which proves that there is natural reproduction in that river.
Here are a few shots of the Soque River (tripod mounted in the water with the full DSLR flash setup, whew that takes guts let me tell you). Typical North Georgia river with heavy brush/cover and tight fishing with short rods.
iPhone Photography Fall 2009
Posted by: | CommentsWho says you can’t take good pictures with your cell phone? I love my iPhone and use it often to take pictures when I’m out and about without my DSLR. Here are a few recent examples of iPhone art. These are just a few examples to show that you really have no excuse to get out there and shoot. Of course, my dog Chloe is always happy to model for me, ha!
iPhone Fall 2009
Here is a slideshow from the previous iPhone photo set.
How to Improve Your Waterproof Point-and-Shoot Camera in Low Light
Posted by: | CommentsIt is my opinion that the waterproof point-and-shoot (P&S) cameras are invaluable tools for fly fishers. They are very powerful cameras once you learn to compensate for their deficiencies. Unfortunately, they often get a bad rap on the internet. It is wise to read the critiques carefully and understand the author’s bias. The FAS workshops now focus almost exclusively on the waterproof P&S cameras because frankly most of the questions are specifically about these camera models. In my experience, the waterproof cameras are the most common cameras in the general fly fishing community, but there is a lack of understanding on how to properly use the gear. The analogy here would be learning to fly fish with a moderately priced 5wt fly rod – make sure the instructor is able to teach on that particular rod and not giving you a fast action 4wt because he prefers that setup. Learn the basics and you can achieve great outcomes. At the time of this article, both the Olympus Stylus and Pentax Optio are great cameras. Newer models are even more advanced. However, the frustration with low-light photography is shared by many fishers and this is a limiting condition for any camera. The following post will offer tips and tricks for Pentax Optio W20 camera, but the principles are the same regardless of the camera brand. These adjustments can be performed on any waterproof camera.
5 Tips on getting better pictures with your waterproof point-and-shoot camera.
1. Select the appropriate camera mode
2. Adjust the EV to compensate for the available light
3. Adjust the ISO to compensate for the available light
4. Use flash wisely
5. Use photography software for post processing
Art Fly Slideshow November 2009
Posted by: | CommentsThe November edition of Art Fly is up. You can view the slideshow directly in the post or click on an image to view a higher resolution version in a separate page. This month it is all about natural backgrounds and diffused lighting. I’ve been playing around with marble, granite, stone, wood and various surfaces to bring out the beauty of the flies.
Guest Blog with Bret “Gatorbyte” Nelson
Posted by: | CommentsBret Nelson, AKA Gatorbyte, is a director for North Georgia Trout Online (NGTO). Like all of us, he has an interest in fly fishing photography. I recently met Bret at the NGTO fall fling and as we were swapping fishing stories I noticed the pictures on his iPhone were good examples of how fun it is to capture the fishing tales on camera. Even more exciting was the fact that he had been practicing with his Olympus Stylus 850 SW waterproof point-and-shoot camera and he mentioned that some of the lessons he reviewed were from this site, Fly Art Studio. Since I believe the waterproof cameras should be considered a modern piece of gear in every fly fishers vest, I took the opportunity to invite Bret as the first guest photo-blogger to showcase some examples of how he uses his camera on the river. In the future I hope to follow each of the point-and-shoot tutorials with a guest blog that showcases tips and tricks on how we can better use the point-and-shoot cameras on the water.
The following are Bret’s answers to a few questions I asked.
Q: How long have you been fishing, where do you fish, what do you fish for?
NGTO Fall Fling Photography Lecture
Posted by: | CommentsI would like to thank everyone at North Georgia Trout Online (NGTO) for a wonderful fall fling event yesterday. The photography workshop was a success amongst a great lineup of fishing related activities. In the near future I will post the video tutorial slideshow with audio for everyone to review. This will be chopped up in parts to keep the length at a minimum and will include the basics of composition and exposure as well as a host of tips and technique for getting better fishing photographs. Examples will include landscape, grips and grins, fish in hand, perspective, lighting, portraits, and macro fly tying techniques.
Here are a few shots from the Bufford Damn Hatchery. These were taken after the workshop and they highlight some of the photography principles we discussed.
