Recently in Fly Fishing Photography Category

MidCurrent reader Collin Ross sent in several pictures last week as proof, perhaps, that no matter where you go in south Florida, your chances of seeing a snake over ten feet are improving daily. Besides this beast in Big Cypress National Park, Ross has captured a 9-footer in Everglades National Park and an 11-footer near the old Cutler power plant in Biscayne bay -- all of them Burmese Pythons (note that Wikipedia's distribution map fails to include South Beach).

Of his more recent trip, Ross says: "Since the weather has been junk and damn cold we decided to hit the Cypress Swamp for a few hours. Used to spend lots of time in this place many years back banging on bass, looking at migratory birds, and checking out the swamp lizards. It always has a way of presenting some boggy beauty." (See more photos.)

"This place has gators galore: probably saw close to 1,000 in only a few hours, many 10-footers. The family was certainly not very comfortable with all the gators, but it would get worse. I was running a tight creek in route home and was about to hit a giant log going 25mph. And as the family gasped I saw what it was...about 14 feet long and 100 lbs."

Calgary Sun photojournalist Mike Drew grabs a fly rod but spends his time recording the beginning of snow melt on the Bow River, a great big-fish river that is usually in full swing with baetis and midges by the end of March.

"There’s good, deep wintering water on the south bank and fish venture out from there to grab food churned from the river bottom by passing icebergs. I’ve had some amazing days there in early spring. Problem is, it ain’t early spring yet. There was open water there but it was a dangerous walk across unstable river ice to get to it. I love fishing but I’m not going to die for it."

If you can take a good shot of a leafy sea dragon (Phycodurus eques), you can probably photograph anything underwater. At least Scott Gietler thinks so.

Gietler's Underwater Photography Guide starts with fourteen "Basic Underwater Photography Tips," from minimizing backscatter with an external strobe to making sure your subject's eyes are in focus.

The site goes on to list 12 more tips for compact camera users as well as the mistakes beginner photographers make. While geared for divers, there's a wealth of crossover information that can be applied to fishing photography in rivers and salt.

TR: Tell us a little about yourself. Do you have a significant other?
Kids? Dogs? Boat? Where do you live?

RA: No significant other, rolling single. I currently live in Winter Park FL, but am moving back west sometime in 2010. I have a black lab named Hucho, named for the Hucho Hucho (Danubian Salmon).

As far as boats, looking at an Outcast PAC 1200, ClackaCraft, Pathfinder flats boat and a beater 17' Fiberform powerboat named "Chainsaw" that we used in college to fish for salmon in Puget Sound.

TR: How long have you been in the fly fishing business/industry?

RA: I started working in a fly shop and as a guide apprentice at 14. Guided all through high school and college. Started Beattie Outdoor Productions right out of college in 2005. So about 13 years.

TR: You started out as a guide right? Where?

RA: I was born and raised in the Roaring Fork Valley in CO and guided for a number of shops in that area. After college I dabbled a bit in international guiding as well.

A couple of weeks ago I had the pleasure of catching monster redfish of the coast off Louisiana with my good friends Travis and Bryan Holeman. We had one day in particular where we could do no wrong and I wanted to document our multiple "doubles." Now I'm not much for "grip n' grin" photos of fish, but when you and your friend are hooking up 20- to 30-pound fish two at a time, a record for posterity is never a bad thing. The challenge? How to record the event with just two of you on board the boat.

TR: Tell us a little about yourself.  Do you have a significant other? Kids? Dogs? Boat? 

Val: I have been with my partner Susan Rockrise for the last 20 years. She has helped me and my business immeasurably as marketing is her forte, being Creative Director at Intel. We have no kids, 3 cats and 6 boats.

TR: Where do you live? Got any water on your property?

Val: We have three properties; an apartment in San Francisco and houses in Tomales and Fall River. We bought an old farm house on Fall River as an investment in our retirement futures. The place is a historic two-story structure with a comanding view of the valley. Fall River is the largest spring creek in the US by volumne. It's one of the most beautiful valleys in the country.

TR: How long have you been shooting photos of fly fishing?

Val: I have been shooting fly fishing and lifestyle imagery since I graduated from art school and came west from PA and Ohio looking for something special. That was in 1971, the same year Jimmie Hendrix and Janis Joplin died. I went to Jimi's funeral in Seattle. That's a rambling way to say 35 years.

Douglas Barnes's interesting infrared images grace MidCurrent's Fly Fishing Photography gallery this week. Barnes is a commercial photographer whose recent work includes shoots for First Wind, Proctor & Gamble, William Joseph, and Orvis.

Rik Fairle at the New York Times reports on the newest entry to what I like to call the "do it all" seegment of the point and shoot camera market. The Olympus Stylus Tough-3000 was unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show in mid-January and, "is the first of the company's rugged line to offer HD video capture (720p), as well as "taking a five-foot drop, being submersible to 10 feet and works in temperatures as low as 14 degrees."

Not a bad little camera to slip in your vest or leave in the boat. If the worst was to happen and it went for a 15 foot plunge you can feel a little better knowing that it cost $230, not $2300.

Mark Sargent is the latest addition to the MidCurrent Fly Fishing Photography gallery. Mark is a Virginia photographer who's traveled extensively to photograph fish and fishing throughout North and South America.

Josh Kulla of the Wilsonville Spokesman writes about Dennis Frates, winner of the Popular Photography Photo Challenge with his image of a Southern Oregon beach scene.

"Nature is my first love," Frates said. "It always has been. It is definitely a rush -- it's a legal habit. It's very much like fishing. You cast and you cast and you cast, and then you hook an 18-inch trout and its like, 'That just made my day.'"

As the photo editor of The Flyfish Journal, I'm frequently asked what makes a good fly fishing photograph. I usually find it difficult to answer that question in a concise manner. One of the best pieces of advice I have ever received is this: try and tell a story completely with one image. Easier said than done....

Nadav Kander is an photographer of exceptional talent who's work has appeared in The New York Times, ESPN and GQ to The Guardian and Rolling Stone Magazine. While perusing YouTube I came across a video of Nadav explaining his latest work named, "Yangtze, The Long River," which I found to be inspirational in terms of photography and what the landscape means to Nadav and why he takes photos the way he does. What better a photographic metaphor for us anglers than a river... no?

The video is a bit long, but absolutely gorgeous and worth every minute.

Consider this: if someone wants to advance their own fly fishing photography, they may start by stepping outside the sport and looking at images that have nothing to do with fishing. Listen to someone like Mr. Kander, who feels that he takes photos of landscapes, "not for the great views or lands but for refection and questioning...."

Tim Romano recently spent three days in New Orleans, Louisana fly fishing for redfish with Fly Talk co-author Kirk Deeter and turned up once again with a rather artful take on the trip. As Tim says, "The weather was nuts, oysters fresh, beignets delicious, beer cold, and as usual with these fishy fools -- the fly action was hot."

Tired of the same old fishing shots you get every time you go out? Ever wanted to try some underwater shots like the ones you see in magazines and product shots, or like some of those taken by the photographers on this site? If you've ever looked at the possibility of a getting an underwater housing for your DSLR, then you've probably ended your dreams of shooting underwater right right there. Most true underwater housings, no matter the cost of your camera tend to be in the multi-thousand dollar range. I know a housing for my Nikon d700 starts in the $3000 price range and can get up to about $5000 depending on the make and model.

How many times have you missed that epic shot because your camera was hidden under your rod tube, rain jacket, water bottle or other miscellaneous piece of fishing equipment? Digging throw all of it takes time. Something that's in short demand many times during a "fishing photography" situation. All it takes is a tiny bit of planning when packing. Simply put your camera towards the top of your back pack, chest or hip pack and it's that much easier to get to.

Another option I quite like for shooting all day with ease is a product from Lowepro called the Topload Zoom AW. This camera "bag" in conjunction with Lowepro's chest harness lets you have easy access high on your chest to a DSLR, long 70-200 zoom lens and a healthy dose of accessories. If a long lens isn't your thing you can always configure the inside for two shorter lenses. The easily stashed "all weather cover" protects equipment from rain too. I shot for a week in northern BC last October in the rain every day and hardly noticed it was there.

Most high end DSLR cameras these days have the ability to shoot RAW files and almost all camera companies seemingly have their own proprietary "flavor" to confuse matters even more.

It takes extra time, extra software, extra storage space, and little bit of extra learning to get used to using the RAW format, but in the end though I personally believe that it is a far superior format to shoot with. This has come with a serious amount of time spent trying to figure out the benefits between RAW and other formats and almost always, starting with a RAW file yields better results I've found.

Bruce Fraser breaks down RAW and it's overall superiority from the JPG in amazingly simple terms via the Adobe help center. If you are one of those people who just don't want to hear about it and feel that the JPG is the only thing you'll ever need you can listen to Ken Rockwell's rant over on his site regarding why RAW is a complete waste of time.

Brett Colvin is this week's addition to the MidCurrent Fly Fishing Photography gallery. Anyone who's fished for tarpon will love his amazing close-up of a tarpon eye.

Seems as if every camera manufacturer is wading in with their own versions waterproof video and still cameras.

Take for instance the brand spanking new Sanyo VPC-WH1YL Waterproof HD video camera. It's waterproof down to 10 feet, shoots 720p, 30fps video and has a 3-hour 20-minute continuous recording time. It retails for $399 and for underwater HD, that isn't bad. Or the Vivitar DVR 510 which, with case is waterproof up to 5 meters underwater. It doesn't shoot HD, but does have infrared Night Vision Mode. Perfect for those late night streamer forays for big browns and for $50 is quite a bargain.

As if you needed another reason to visit Telluride -- fishing always seemed like a good enough reason to me.

This September the quaint mountain town of Telluride, Colorado will host its first Photo Festival.

"The world's most renowned outdoor and adventure photographers will share their art and their passion at Telluride's inaugural Photography Festival September 20 - 26, 2010. The weeklong event, geared toward professional and experienced amateur photographers, features photography workshops, seminars, symposiums, portfolio reviews and exhibits."

Additionally, the public is invited to view and enjoy the many outdoor photography exhibits in and around Telluride and Mountain Village. The photo festival has something for every level of aptitude and appreciation. The photography festival is timed just right for photographers to capture the changing fall light and the aspens turning gold and blaze orange."

Oh, and they forgot to mention that after honing your photo skills in the seminars and symposiums, you can take that knowledge right out on the miles of rivers that surround the city and put what you've learned to work. Photographing as you fish....

See www.telluridephotofestival.com for more information.

Think being a fishing photographer is the job of a lifetime? Toting your camera along on fishing trips is one thing, but taking that giant leap and trying to support yourself shooting fishing may be another. That goes for being a fishing magazine editor too.

Rob Haggart, the former director of photography for Men's Journal and Outside magazine reports in his blog www.aphotoeditor.com. He's not sure "it's very sound in its methodology but still it's kind of fun to browse the different jobs. Since the photographer jobs listed are staff positions I wonder where freelance falls on the list?"

Haggart found that:

"The 200 best and worst jobs in the U.S. in 2009 based on five criteria -- environment, income, employment outlook, physical demands and stress -- according to a newly released study from job site CareerCast.com

#65 Publication Editor (just above Forklift Operator)

Starting salary: $28,000

Mid level salary: $50,000

Top salary: $95,000

#126 Photographer (just below Waiter but still above Undertaker)

Starting salary: $17,000

Mid level salary: $29,000

Top salary: $62,000

#189 Photojournalist (sadly falls below Nuclear Plant Decontamination Technician but still above Meter Maid)

Starting salary: $16,000

Mid level salary: $28,000

Top salary: $60,000"

Still got a hankering to drop everything, quit your job and try and hack it as an outdoor photojournalist?

It'll be very interesting to see just how far the mobile geo-tracking crowd will take applications like EveryTrail, which allows iPhone users to track their routes with phone GPS, see route maps drawn while they move, and plot pictures taken with their phone's camera. After all, a large contingent of outdoors people -- if they are iPhone owners at all -- dream of disappearing into the trackless beyond. On the other hand, imagine the stories that might be recorded: Everglades backcountry overnighters, Wind River range pack trips, or a week of fly-out lodge fishing.

Back in the 1970s, guide Bob Montgomery checked his clients' gear for any traces of fried chicken (it got grease on the deck); today's paranoid guides might think a full-body search is in order.

TR: Where do you live?

BO: I live in the farming and ranching community of Powell Butte, 35 miles NE of Bend, Oregon. With one awesome Pudelpointer for pheasants, chukkar, ducks and companionship.

TR: What about a boat? Fishing for this many years you must own a boat, right?

BO: One Grumpy Old Man metal 12' lake boat, one Clackacraft 16' drift boat, several Aire rafts and pontoons, one 10' pram, one canoe, one 10' row boat, one ancient Boston Whaler.

TR: How long have you been in the fly fishing business/industry?

BO: I worked in a fly shop in Bend, Oregon in 1976. I guided from 1977 to 1981. I started as a fly tackle sales rep in 1981.

TR: You started out as a guide, right?

BO: I started in 1977 as an outfitter/guide on the Deschutes River, the North Santiam River, the North Umpqua River, the Klamath River in California and a couple years in the Bristol Bay area of Alaska.

TR: Are you still a guide or do you just rep and shoot now? What companies?

BO: Neither. I quit guiding in 1981 and I walked away from my rep career in 2007, after many rewarding years. For work, I produce Catch Magazine with Todd Moen, I have a small role with Scientific Anglers, Cabela's, International Sportsman's Expos and Idylwilde Flies and I still sell photos, do fly club presentations and work at sport shows.

TR: When did you get into photography? What brought you to it?

I get a lot of questions on how to take better pictures from friends, colleagues, and family members. Most of the time I bumble my way through an explanation only to get that confused look on someone's face. Many photographic problems, while relatively simple, I frequently over explain. That's why when really expertly articulated and easily understood tips come along, I like to point people in that direction.

Take Data Doctors' Ken Colburn's, Tips for Taking Better Holiday pictures for example. Yes, I know this isn't fishing related, but the tips are great and can be applied to all kinds of photography. Colburn answers questions about blur, zoom, flash problems, and my personal favorite that I'd never heard of - making a poor man's tripod with a screw and a piece of string. No kidding... If you can stomach the 30 second ad before the piece I highly recommend watching the video for ideas to help your fishing photography.

As a fisherman and photographer I'm almost always under the assumption that my photographic gear will be in, near or getting splashed by water at some point. When purchasing new equipment am always thinking about how I will eventually use the gear and the best way to protect it.

Bill Rakozy over at Kayak Angler Online breaks it down with three options to protect your still camera and video equipment. As he says, "A few seconds underwater and it's bye-bye, expensive camera. But with the right preparation you can keep your equipment safe and still catch all the action."

TR: Tell us a little about yourself.  Do you have a wife? Kids? Dogs? Boat? Where do you live?

Grossenbacher: I live in Bozeman, Montana with my wife Jenny, two daughters - Mackenzie and Sable, two horses, 3 labs, two cats, and a bearded dragon (no that's not a sex toy) and a pretty snazzy RO drift boat.  

TR: How long have you been in the fly fishing business/industry?

Grossenbacher: I started guiding in 1992 and continue to this day (unfortunately it was 31 below zero this morning--so no guiding today).

TR: You started out as a guide right?

Grossenbacher: That is correct.  I started as a flyfishing guide when I was in graduate school at Montana State.  I had an office job at MSU to help pay for grad school, and one day a co-worker took me aside and said that I would never make it in a 40 hour work week.  As she was talking she dialed a friend of hers who managed the fly fishing operations for a guest ranch in Big Sky and she handed me the phone. He and I went fishing later in the week and he offered me a job. That was a long time ago...  

TR: Are you still guiding?

Grossenbacher: I still guide about 50 days a year.  

TR: When did you get into photography? What brought you to it?

POV (point of view) cameras seem to be all the rage suddenly in the "extreme" sports world, allowing miniscule self-contained video cameras to be attached to everything from surfboards, bikes, and race cars to your very own head. They've gotten smaller and cheaper and the quality has gone up dramatically just in the last year. Many are fully waterproof to great depths. A company called Liquid Image (shown above) even makes a scuba mask that has a built in camera that shoots booth HD video and stills.

While I've yet to see the trend carry over into the fly fishing realm in a big way yet, just think of the possibilities: cameras mounted to hat to show what the angler is really seeing (including fish-in-your-face netting action), recording the perfect drift trip, delivering a new angle on casting instruction, perhaps even cameras attached to the side of your flats boat. The possibilities are endless.

I just purchased the GoPro HD Hero. It's waterproof to 180 feet, shoots 1080HD-quality video, has a glass lens, and comes with a plethora of mounting options. (I've yet to use it, but will make sure to share some clips here when I do.)

While these POV cameras may never completely replace a high-end video or still camera, they're going to be a lot of fun and fill in the gaps where other cameras could never go.

Phil Monahan does his best to answer the question Why do fly fishing magazine covers always look the same? As a former long-time magazine editor with many years of cover photo choices under his belt, Phil's better equipped than most to answer the question. As Phil says, "I've never heard of anyone canceling a subscription because they thought the covers were boring." But he's the first to point out that cover choices are a compromise on many levels.

Camera manufacturer Nikon is celebrating the release of their new camera, the D5000 by offering up $100,000 dollars to the person sends them the best 140 second video about you and one day in your life by December 15th.

The site, nikonfestival.com wants to see what, "A day through your lens" looks like.

The festival sates, "To celebrate HD video within the Nikon D5000 we'd like you to show us "A Day through your Lens."

So what's it like to be you? Capture the essence of your day in a video of 140 seconds or less. It can be funny, touching or profound. It can be about everything you did, everything you didn't do, the day's biggest dilemma or its most telling detail.

Upload your video here and instantly share it with your social media networks rather than sending the same old updates. How? When you upload your video you can automatically share your video with your Twitter followers and place it on your Facebook feed, so your friends can also view your day and vote on your video.
Although you're not required to use a specific camera, your video will be judged on image quality, originality and the ability to capture a day through your lens in 140 seconds. So get as creative as you want to be when capturing your day."

I have a feeling my fishy brethren can come up with some up with some very cool and unique videos. The rules state that you do not have to shoot with a Nikon product, so get cracking.... Just remember who you heard it from first when you win that $100,000 bucks. ;)

Choosing a bag for your fishing photographic needs can be a difficult one at best. For the average photographer, there are endless models and styles to choose from. But it can get especially confusing once you add in the factors of water and weather.

I've personally taken to customizing my own with dry-bags, high density foam, and fly reel cases -- pretty handy if you have or can get hold of extras. But if customization is not your thing, the New York Times Style section just put up a review of five bags camera bags compiled by nature photographer Joe Decker. It's a small review, but exposes some of the bigger brand names and offers good a launching point to a larger search if need be.

It's no secret that I'm a Nikon fan...You kinda have to be when you're years deep in collecting thousands of dollars of lenses. That's why when Nikon recently announced the release of the D3s I thought to myself, this is it: the last camera I will have to buy for a long, long time. All of my fishing adventures, blog posts, assignments can finally be captured on one machine (photo and video) ....

The D3s boasts a full frame sensor, insanely high ISO settings (102,400 to be precise), nine-frames-per-second continuous shooting, and -- much to my chagrin -- 720 HD video. You see, for $5200 dollars I really think this thing should have come equipped with 1080 HD. Its nearest competitor, the Canon 5D MkII, is a full frame sensor camera that shoots 1080 HD and it's almost half the cost.

Matt Buchanan gives us the ins and outs of the D3s over at Gizmodo and raves about the fully redesigned sensor that seems like it could change the way we think about shooting in low light conditions. So wipe that drool off of your keyboard let me know how to win the lottery so I can plunk down hard cash for this bad boy.

One of the biggest challenges in fly fishing photography is something you have the least control over: the weather. Fly fishing will take you to some sweltering locales and some downright frigid ones. No matter what the extremes, all can cause a problem for cameras when transitioning from your tent, cabin, or motel to the outside environment. Typically the temperature and humidity is such that simply taking your camera out from one to the another can cause lens fogging and internal condensation.

As I noted a couple of weeks ago, one solution is simply leaving your camera in the outside environment for a couple of hours before shooting. But another way -- favored by many pro photographers -- is to make a permanent home for silica gel or desiccants within a waterproof pack or bag.

These products can be bought at most high end camera stores and are fairly compact items, easily slipping in a camera bag. They range in price from anywhere from a couple of bucks up to $30 or $40 dollars and work by sucking the moisture off of items and containing it within themselves -- kind of like rice does in salt shakers.

But if you're like me, free is always better. I've found that my local pharmacy has an endless supply of silica gel and desiccants in every shape and size you could conceive of. Apparently almost every drug in the world comes packaged with them and pharmacists just throw them out. Next time you're in need of some camera drying magic simply roll on down to the pharmacy and ask for their extras.

Orvis has teamed up with American Rivers and is giving amateur photographers the chance to show off their stuff -- namely to snag the cover of an upcoming Orvis catalog. Imagine your photo face up on the coffee table in millions of living rooms and, well, you get the idea.

Simply go to this link and follow the instructions and you'll have a chance at winning a $1000 Orvis gift card or a complete Helios fly rod outfit. Once images are uploaded you can also vote for your favorite. (Each vote costs a buck, but 100% of it goes to American Rivers to fund river preservation efforts.) The final judging will be done by a panel of contest judges. Winners will not be judged by the outcome of the online voting, but the image voted most popular by the masses will be featured on the Orvis website tough. Good luck.

B&H, the New York camera superstore, shows us the latest in pocket camera gadgetry from Nikon. Apparently not satisfied with the typical point and shoot, Nikon's new Coolpix S1000pj combines a 12.1 megapixel camera, video capabilities, and a built-in projector that shows both stills and video. That's right, I said a built-in projector.

Just imagine your next fishing adventure with your buddies.... Fish all day, come back, pop open a barley soda and enjoy a slide show or movie on your tent, cabin, or lodge wall of all your fishing conquests. The days of 5 people crowded around squinting at microscopic LCD's, or lugging your laptop for picture viewing might be over....

Watch a live demo of the camera here.

As we suggested when we first launched MidCurrent's Fly Fishing Photography section last spring, "fly fishing and photography belong together." This week we're featuring three new photographers who spend an awful lot of time at their craft, mostly out of love for fish and for the unique perspective. Check out these new images from Aaron Otto, Mark Lance, and Aleksandar Vrtaric.

And if you haven't yet seen our growing Photography section (we add a new photographer every week), there are more than three dozen remarkable artists now in our gallery.

Last week I had the pleasure of joining my friend and National Geographic photographer David McLain on a photo shoot in west Texas. Needless to say we had some hours to chat between locations in the car and I wanted to pick his brain on everything from his latest piece in National Geographic on the Klamath River (see his gallery here), called Reuniting a River to what he carries around on a typical shoot for the magazine.

TR: How long have you been shooting as a pro? What about for National Geographic?

McLain: 20 years, and for National Geographic I've been a regular contributor for seven years.

One of the main problems I've had shooting fishing is condensation. Whether traveling in the frigid north or the sweltering heat of the flats, a lack of planning can produce the same effect. Bringing your camera from an air-conditioned room out into the heat, or from a heated cabin into the cold, results in a massive and quick build-up of miniscule water droplets covering camera and lens. Literally making your camera sweat. This happens over all surfaces. The lens, camera body, and even the sensor.

Last week Tim Romano spent time in different part of the country -- the east -- chasing native trout, rowing around the lakes, and generally relaxing ("You're in the Adks! Use our outhouse."). The result is a warming photo essay on what the traditions of the area are all about.

Tim Romano goes fishing with Fishpond founder John Le Coq and his daughter in Colorado and -- fortunately for us -- totes along his camera(s).

The longer you sit behind the lens the more people tend to squirm and usually they'll do something silly or memorable with their face, arms or legs, possibly even yelling at you to take the picture. I find this is when the photo can be the most interesting.

The image at right was taken of my friend and guide Brian "Bear" Holeman near New Orleans chasing redfish last winter. After an extended bout of staring at my lens he asked if I thought he was a monkey, and like a perfect subject started acting like one. As soon as he started thrusting his push pole up and down is when I started snapping the photos.

Stephen Crowley, a staff photographer for The New York Times talks about trusting your instincts and how to get that killer image via True/Slant. Crowley belongs to the White House Press Corps and has covered many political campaigns. This means most of his subjects are people. 

Outdoor Life's Andrew McKean has been blogging and putting together a fine collection of photos taken by Troy Batzler during their four-day trip through southern Montana and Yellowstone Park, which ended yesterday. Since the navigation is a little challenging, I've linked to the individual pages here. (Click on the "See Photos From Today Here" link to enter the image galleries.)

Fishing on Top of the World

Cutthroat Trout and Bison

Paradise Valley

Trout Bumming

If you're like me you probably have a handful of little neoprene sacks that either have fly reels sitting in them or are stacked in a dusty corner of your garage just begging to be used for something. You know the ones... Almost every fly reel you buy today comes with one of these things.  I've found that people either use them or they don't. I use them, but not always for protecting my reels. 

They are the single best thing I've found for protecting my photography equipment. Specifically lenses. I've looked long and hard for a product in the photography world that even comes close for the price, and there are none.  Of course there are some solid products out there, but none that are as inexpensive or even free.

When out shooting fishing I typically stuff everything in my Stormfront Patagonia backpack. The backpack is great, but equipment always shifts. It bangs together, and ultimately what was on top ends up at the bottom. Whether I'm taking my point and shoot, one extra lens or five those little bags seems to protect it all. They are are soft, but dense enough to shield against blows, rubbing, and and abuse from within the bag. They come in a wide range of sizes. Swallowing everything from a 12 wt reel to a wide angle zoom like the Nikon 10-24mm above. So next time you buy a reel, keep the bag and use it to protect your lenses or any other piece of fragile photography equipment. Heck, I bet if you rolled on down to your local fly shop today they'd have a bunch in the back that they'd gladly sell you for a couple of bucks.

If there's anything else out there I'd love to hear about it, but up until now I've not found anything that compares.

Editor's Note: We're happy to announce that today fly fishing photographer Tim Romano will begin blogging for MidCurrent on photography gear and techniques. Look for Tim's regular comments on topics weaving together equipment, perspective, technology and tricks for getting better images of fish and fishing.

Need a solid point and shoot to throw in your vest or chest pack, but worried about water, dirt and freezing temps? What about HD video capabilities?

Pentax just released the Optio W80 as their latest entry in the growing world of high powered, feature loaded waterproof cameras. Pentax claims the W80 can shoot in temperatures from 14 degrees Fahrenheit, be dropped 3.3 feet, and completely submerged up to 16 feet. It shoots 12.1 megapixels, has a huge 2.5 inch LCD screen, "face-detection" system, shake reduction technology, and super macro mode -- allowing shots from as little as 1 centimeter away. The lens is a fairly fast internal zoom with a 35mm equivalent focal length of 28mm-140mm.

The kicker for me though is that this tiny little camera shoots HD movies at 1280X720 pixels, even underwater. Point and Shoot cameras have gotten cheaper and way more powerful in just the past year alone. I have an older version of this same camera and love it. My new W80 came today in the mail. I'll give a full report after using it in the "field" for a couple weeks.