..... just prefer 'Gerg' to Greg
Just had to try my hand at Greg's Bumble from
this thread (No.2). I've started a separate thread for it for photographic reasons, not because my effort is worthy of it - nobody manages to pull off this style of heavilly dressed Bumbles/Dabblers/Muddlers etc quite like Greg does. You'll often hear it said that 'less is more'... true, in the majority of fly tying situations, and a good rule to remember. Rules are there to be broken though, and more can most definately be more... if you've got the knack and the skill to carry it off like Greg does... and with such style.
Anyway, just wanted to make a point or two about natural light...
Nothing beats natural light (when it's right - usually overcast but bright) for fetching out colours in all their natural glory. Direct sunlight, like indoor or 'studio' lighting tends to flatten colour, not to mention create hard contrast, blown out highlights and overly dark shadow areas with loss of detail. Metering and achieving the correct exposure under diffused natural light is an awful lot easier too; the diffused light, thanks to the cloud cover, is to all intents and purposes coming from all directions, allowing light into the shadow areas therfore adding detail, taking the edge off your highlights and reducing glare off the hook, head, and tinsels etc.
The only drawback with natural light (apart from the weather), and it is really only a minor problem (which can usually be corrected quickly and easilly in Photoshop or similar) is that even under a nice overcast sky, the quality of light can be quite inconsistent, giving big swings in 'colour temperature' (white balance) to deal with. Several factors are responsible for this; thickness/height of cloud, time of day, height of sun, time of year etc. All those factors can affect the colour balance quite dramatically, therefore a keen eye has to kept on the white balance setting on your camera.
As long as you get the basics right though, a quick, simple natural light job will invariably do a better job than a less than perfect 'studio' shot. Anyone who's tried will tell you that a really good studio or indoor shot takes a lot of hard work, trial and error.
When you've found your feet with the colour balance, and generally got into the swing of using natural light, you can begin to exploit different lighting situations for your own ends - most outdoor lighting situations have their uses - it's just a matter of getting in synch with the kind of light you need for the job in hand. For standard shots though, as a means to simply record your flies for posterity, and/or to post on here, then early afternoon will more often than not present pretty much perfect light under an overcast sky.
Perfect light is what I got a 2pm today, when I stepped outside to photograph my rendition of 'Gerg's Bumble'. A fly like this, with many materials, several bright and interesting bold colours literally comes alive in good light... almost as if you've plugged the thing into the mains! No messing with angles, metering, exposure, colour balance (auto) etc etc. Point and squirt! Job done. The following pics had no adjustments whatsoever - the metering was right (auto) and the resulting exposure was right, the colour white balance was right (auto). Just a crop, and a quick clean up for bits of pesky dust.
'Gerg's Bumble'
Hook: B175 size 8,10 or 12
Tail: Natural GP Topping
Tag: Flou Red UTC
Rib: Gold wire
Body: Seals fur mix: Red,orange,Peach,Pink,Flou Orange.
Body Hackle: Picric Golden Olive cock
Wing: Bronze Mallard dyed Sunburst
Shoulder Hackle: Claret Hen
Front Hackle: Picric Blue Jay
Thread: Flou Red UTC
Not sure if that's owt like your pattern Greg, in terms of shades etc? I know it doesn't carry itself with its shoulders back like yours does!
Quite pleased with it though, and it'll have its day
Gerg's Bumble
Linear Mode
