How to macro photograph your fly tying.

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Building and Using Your Fly Studio
More people are shooting pictures of their flies with the proliferation of self-published web sites and digital cameras. The same precision developed in tying flies is also an asset in photograph Flies are a difficult subject to photograph for a couple of reasons. First is the small size of the subject. Next the combination of reflective and translucent materials that is a lighting challenge under studio conditions can terrorize hobbyist photographer.Close-up, or macro, photography carries its own inherent problems and a photographer of flies must face all of them: depth of field, magnification of flaws and pinpoint lighting requirements.However, with a few household items I have designed a simple lighting apparatus with which anyone with the camera equipment suitable for close-up photography can take high quality photographs of his or her flies and display them with pride. While I describe my own views on lighting in this article you may not agree with my ascetic choices. Regardless of the ascetic the Fly Studio will allow you to shoot macro fly photos with control of multiple lighting angles with a single light source. There is no need for several different lights surrounding your fly the Studio allows you to get those same results (if not better) with a single overhead bulb or even sunlight.MATERIALS NEEDED*A white semi-transparent plastic bottle. I chose a 2 qt ammonia bottle, but there are other possibilities.*Heavy gage, but pliable metal wire. I suggest Bonsai wire from the local garden shop.*Two pieces of silver foil card stock (3"x4"), or small mirrors would also work.*Five-minute epoxy.BUILDING YOUR FLY STUDIO-Cut the ends off the plastic bottle leaving a 4" long cylinder. Cut an "X" in the middle of the cylinder to fit snugly over your vice head. (A full rotary vice might be difficult to thread. In that case a wood dowel with some picture hanging putty or hot glue on the end could be placed in the vice and threaded through the cylinder.)-Cut two holes the diameter of your flexible wire near each end of the cylinder below the hole for the vice. Thread a piece of wire through the two holes, leaving about 12 inches beyond each end.-Epoxy the wire to the cylinder at the holes and tape the silver cards to the wire ends. -For more lighting control you can double the fill cards by putting two in front and two in back.-The instructions above will give you a basic version (as pictured above) that will work well but if you want a more substantial studio you can refer to the new version I show in the slide showUSING YOUR FLY STUDIOClamp the vise on a stable structure. Use a strong, color balanced light source overhead: the sun, strobe or tungsten photo lamp. You can place colored mat boards behind the studio, or position it with a natural background, but be aware the limits of your depth of field will throw any background out of focus.The light coming through the cylinder (bottle) lights the fly fairly evenly with only a slight shadow on the underside but the photo will seem lifeless.Peer into the cylinder from the camera's point of view and adjust the rear reflector to reflect the key light into the back of the cylinder until the edges of the fly are backlit. This technique is called "rim lighting." Rim lighting defines the edges of the fly and brings a bit of life to the translucent materials.Once you are satisfied with the rim lighting, position the front reflector to kick light onto the front of the fly. This will remove the shadows and highlight the reflective materials. Be sure and view the final composition through the viewfinder, checking to make sure the fill cards are out of view.SEPARATE THE SUBJECT AND BACKGROUNDJust as there is no substitute for time spent on the water or at the vice to improve fishing or fly tying skill, your ability to recognize correct lighting for translation to film and digital storage improves with practice. Time spent experimenting with lighting will develop your eye for the amount of contrast you want for the transfer to final print or digital image. Sometimes even a slight shift of the reflecting card will vastly change the effect, so watch the fly closely while you move the cards.Take notes when experimenting with lighting techniques. It not only helps you remember what you did, but it sharpens your own focus.Without rim lighting techniques the color of backgrounds need to be adjusted to the particular flies being photographed. By using the rear card for rim lighting you should be able to use almost any color background (with modest contrast to the flies) for a variety of flies. The highlights on the edges of the fly's details will make the fly seem to pop off of the background. The continuity of using one background color will also benefit any multiple fly presentations.