Hi Chaps,

I am in need of some advice with regards to photographing a fly line in motion.

The type of shot that I would like to capture is similar to the one that was on the Hardy website recently or the one on Hywel Morgan’s website where he is demonstrating a cast - Hywel Morgan :: castmaster | photos

I want to know how to capture the fly line with clarity and if there are any technical amendments that must be made to capture the moving fly line?

I hope I have managed to explain myself properly.

Best,

Matt



NB: I HAVE JUST SEEN THE PHOTOGRAPHY GUIDE ON THIS FORUM! (ANY FURTHER ADVICE STILL WELCOME)

If you want a sharp shot of a line, then use a fast shutter speed to "stop" the motion. Decreasing the shutter time can give a slight blurring which portrays movement a little better.
Always use as low an ISO as possible (general rule) and as narrow an aperture as possible to get more DOF, this will assist in focusing on something that isn't there yet (ie. line which is travelling to a point where you will capture it).

HTH, Gary

Matt,

I am by no means an expert, however a few pointers.

1. Pay particular attention to your depth of field, notice the photo you mentioned, trees in the background are out of focus. This enabled the photographer to concentrate on the subject, i.e. the fly line
2. Make sure you have set a high speed in order to capture the line so it's looks static.
3. Depending on your camera, experiment with the focus settings, i.e. wide area, centre, etc
4. Most important, you need to use a tripod and a remote release, so there is no movement on the camera.

I'm sure there will more more expert advise available from some of the guys.

Best of luck

__________________
Eddie
"We look to Scotland for all our ideas of civilisation."
Voltaire

Gary and Eddie,

Thanks for you advice!

I am going to head down to my local waters now and hopefully try to capture the aforementioned shot

Hopefully I will find a willing participant who won't mind being photographed!

I will hopefully upload to the forum.

Best,

Matt

Fast (ish) shutter speed (1/500sec) plus to freeze the action, set the camera to M (manual) and raise the f number until you have the caster and line both in focus (DOF). Depending on the light you may have to increase the ISO due to the high shutter speed and narrow aperture. I wouldn't worry too much about a tripod due to the high shutter speed. Experiment, see what works best for the given light.

You could also use a synchro flash if available? Say a 1/200th sec SS with a 1/128th flash burst at rear curtain. This will still give some motion in the line but will also freeze it when the flash goes off at the end of the exposure.

Sorry Eddie, but that's the least imortant! In fact, not needed at all.. the shutter speeds needed, and good light will obviate the need for tripod and remote.

Matt, bottom line..... trial end error, and there's the beauty of digital. You can trial and error away until you get what you're after.

Many different approaches available here...

Side on shot - depth of field not too critical, as the whole of the fly line will be on the same plane as the camera 'film'. A shallow D.O.F (depth of field) would be useful to pick out the fly line against a blurred background.

In front or behind the angler - If you have good light, then that will give you the options, and the room to play with depth of fileld (and I.S.O if need be). If you want all the length of the arialised line in focus, then go as deep as you can with D.O.F. However, a greater impression of depth, and a more interesting shot would be achieved by a shallower D.O.F.... which would blur the line nearest to you, and pick out the line nearer the angler in sharp focus.... or vice versa! Options...decisions... trial and error

Let us know how you go.... and maybe give us a butchers at yer results?

__________________
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Thanks guys!

Scratch - I am going to tackle it this week - I'll upload the photos to this thread so you can check out the results!

Best,

Matt