Fly-fishing on the River

dave lackey

dave lackey

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Early morning fog at sunrise. A lone angler wades the stream with an intrepid photographer setting up for the money shot. It could be the shot of the false cast glistening in the early morning sun or it could be the shot with the angler fighting the hooked trout. Or any number of other scenarios.

How would you shoot it, given the choices below?

Gear: (This is a fixed item-no changes available except where noted)

Leica M3 with 50mm Summarit 1.5 lens
Leica R4 with 50mm Cron lens (Possibly a 35-70 F3.5 Vario Lens)
Nikon AF with 28-105mm lens

Film choices: (Film choice can be changed to match gear and conditions)

TriX
Ilford Delta 100
T-Max 3200
Kodak 400
Velvia 50
Velvia 100
Sensia 100
Fujicolor 200
Provia 400x
Provia 100F

Tripod? No tripod?

Change the film choices?

Other recommendations?

Also, I need some ideas on some close-up ideas of our custom bamboo fly-rods....


:)
 
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You can find plenty of ideas for photographing cane rods in the back issues of Art of Angling Journal. You can find a few on ebay or amazon. They are worth the price.
 
Stealth is of prime importance in fly fishing, and so you don't want a photographer looming large on the river bank showing himself against the skyline, it will scare the fish. So go with a Nikon and the longer lenses and keep low down and out of the way. If you aren't bothered about actually catching a fish it doesn't matter, get some waders and pose the photographs with your Leica.

You have another conundrum. If you are using such slow films it will need a very bright day to 'catch' the moment of a strike sharply with detail, and bright noon conditions are not great for fly fishing, better early or late in the day. A digital DSLR starts to sound like the ideal camera doesn't it?

Steve
 
Hmmm...not sure if this is helping yet or not, I am so dense sometimes.:rolleyes:

No digital. For personal reasons.

I think that I will take two cameras, the R4 (50mm lens F2) and the Nikon AF 28-105 zoom lens.

Time of day is only important as I love the lighting early in the morning.

That leaves the choice of film... what do you suggest for that time of day? Also, maybe one camera loaded with black and white and the other with color?

And, is a tripod even going to useable in a flowing stream with a rocky, gravel bottom?:confused:
 
I could give you advices for fly fishing, but not for photographing it, because in that situation I prefer to be the fisherman ;)
 
gekopaca said:
I could give you advices for fly fishing, but not for photographing it, because in that situation I prefer to be the fisherman ;)
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Ha, ha! Ain't that the truth?

That is why I plan of fishing after photographing the guide on the river...;)

Wondering if the Ilford 3200 would be a good choice for the early morning angling? Or maybe just go with an 800 speed film?
 
dave lackey said:
Wondering if the Ilford 3200 would be a good choice for the early morning angling? Or maybe just go with an 800 speed film?
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In the places where I'm fishing there's huge light differencies in few time (because the mountains e.g.)
You might use 3200 at the start of the fishing party, then maybe 100 asa 2 hours later…
 
Hey Dave.
I would go with Ilford XP2. Tripod with ball head is essential IMO.
I would take a dedicated camera for the task since the best shots that comes to my mind are from the water - that's where the action is. I have seen tons of side shots and OTS shots of an anglers (I am one myself). Something wider than 50, 35mm sounds just good to my mind. Ah, and please wear sunglasses if you are close to the angler - the rule #1 in fly fishing.
Regards,
b.
 
I would say to use colour and shoot in the evening unless you are wanting morning mist in the image.
The evening hatch of fly will look pretty awful in B+W if shot from low down. A closed landscape (no sky) with raking sun on the line should look good. i.e. line against dark background of trees/vegetation/opposite bank. You won't want to be too close and you will need to be up or downstream from fisherman and not behind (unless you want to be hooked).
I'm imagining an English chalk stream here. A mountain stream would be very different.
 
taskoni said:
Hey Dave.
I would go with Ilford XP2. Tripod with ball head is essential IMO.
I would take a dedicated camera for the task since the best shots that comes to my mind are from the water - that's where the action is. I have seen tons of side shots and OTS shots of an anglers (I am one myself). Something wider than 50, 35mm sounds just good to my mind. Ah, and please wear sunglasses if you are close to the angler - the rule #1 in fly fishing.
Regards,
b.
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Cool...Bobby, where in the world did you get that avatar? I like it!:)
 
dave lackey said:
...

And, is a tripod even going to useable in a flowing stream with a rocky, gravel bottom?:confused:
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Well, it depends on the stream, but where I fish, certainly.

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Correctomundo!

The look is quite nice and especially the photoshop "old look". I know Bill well and I was surprized to find out that bear cub is named "Yogi" but it is actually a dog that was shaved in hot weather...resulting in a bear cub look!:D

I agree about the color for most of the shots but am undecided about which color film would work best. Any ideas?:)
 
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