Hooked.

Just before Christmas, I shot a series of images with a fish hook. They have not yet been added to my stock galleries, but I thought I'd put them up here just for fun. Getting the light right for that hook wasn't difficult. I wanted a soft light that would provide a clean edge for my hook - without creating any blown highlights. I also wanted to make sure that the reflection in the spinner wasn't distracting. And most importantly - I wanted to make sure there were no leftover worm guts on the hook. Oh... sorry. Ahem.

Anyway - I also wanted to be sure the fishing line wasn't lost. It's part of the photo... without it, the hook is just hanging in midair. So. I waited until the morning light was no longer streaming through my front window, and then took the shot using a tripod (always a tripod), a reflector, and a 50mm macro lens. I had to be very careful to make sure I didn't bump anything, since the hook was not anchored to anything. This was an extremely simple setup. But even a simple setup needs to be planned out.

The fish was lit softly from behind and I used the reflector to bounce light onto the front of the fish as well - keeping the lighting directional so I wouldn't lose the soft textures in the body. It was hanging from another bit of line, which I removed in Photo Shop during processing. I cloned the bubbles from another photo - remember my bubbles series?

And now, back to real life... :)