Back to Basics

[Mataura mayfly]

A few More.

Partridge & Hares Ear.



Partridge & Muskrat.



Hendrickson.



March Brown.



Soft Hackle PT.



Some wee basic Spiders.

Greenwells Spider



Olive & Starling



Purple & Starling

[Hans Weilenmann]

Good stuff Jeff. Thanks for sharing!

Cheers,
Hans W
on vacation in Croatia

[letumgo]

Jeff - I am so glad I checked this post again. Killer set of flies. Are you replenishing your fly boxes after your trip, or just preparing for the coming season?

[Mataura mayfly]

Jeff - I am so glad I checked this post again. Killer set of flies. Are you replenishing your fly boxes after your trip, or just preparing for the coming season?

Bit of both...... and not at all. Just started out as some back to basics tying of some old patterns. Mainly because I was falling a little into the new and experimental rather than what I know catches fish here.
That and just tying up some soft hackle and flymph patterns you will all be familiar with, so I could experiment a little more with some photos. These were lit from the front with a fairly powerful head-torch. Kind of ruined the natural colours, especially in the dubbed flies...... but i will work on it.

[Kelly L.]

Can't go wrong with those flies Jeff. Nice work! The fish WILL love them.

[Siksika]

Dont edit out the vise...it gives your photos a wonderful context.
You might consider shutting the aperture down a bit and and bumping up the light. Doing so will extend your depth of field and allow all of the fly to come in focus.
Although great portrait painters of old had their subjects illuminated with a single source of light in order to "anchor" them, and a photographer is well advised to do the same, it might be appealing to at least highlight the opposite side of your flies by using a simple reflector made of foil. If for no other reason doing so might bring out a few more details by lifting the shadows.
Dont forget that when you illuminate from the side (at a shallow angle) textures are enhanced, which, is helpful. A single light source is perfect in this regard.
Finally, the closer a light source is to the subject, the softer (less contrast) the light. The further a light is from the subject the harsher (more contrast) the light. Either can be beneficial per your intent, however, I would suggest a softer light at a shallow side angle as most desirable. But then again, thats just me.

[gingerdun]

Man, you are really getting revved up for the season to start, and getting all your forum pals jazzed at the same time. Then once you hit the water, you can test out all these great patterns you are churning out. Classic flies, beautifully tied.

Many thanks for contributing so much to the forum, Jeff.

Lance

[Kelly L.]

Nice new set of flies! I particularly liked the Greenwell fly.