I grabbed this shot the other day after tying a dozen Big Eye Baitfish flies. The technique is really simple. The trick is to place the background far from the subject; here it was about 8 feet from the fly vise. You want a simple base, like a black cloth; here I used a black felt cover. The lighting is from the top; here I used a hot lamp with a simple white cloth diffuser, hand held about 2 feet above the fly vise at about a 45 degree angle in front of the subject. The key is to keep the light on the subject and to do that you can use a rim of black cloth or even a cardboard circle (it’s called a snoot for those that aren’t familiar with the terminology). The camera is of course triggered on a time delay so you have time to walk over and hold up the light. A little manipulation with software, especially the black slider, and you are done. I added a vignette for effect, but that is optional.