Scanned with different colour

[Donald Nicolson]

Here are three versions of one fly with three differently
coloured backgrounds on the scanner, whadja think?
White (no card)

Pale Blue

Green


I have three other flies done this way, but I did not want to post them all.
I'll show them all complete with recipes later.

[gingerdun]

Hi Donald,
My understanding is that there are two reasons for using blue backgrounds in fly images.

Foremost, the medium blue value (dark/light) will contrast with both the light and dark fibers in the flies. This is especially necessary for the pale fibers that are so hard to photograph.

Then, the blue color is chosen because it rarely is used in trout flies, and won't blend with the fibers the way a gray color would, for example.

On the scanner, I don't see the point of using the blue background since the scanner captures the full spectrum from light to dark without losing anything. IMHO the blue is distracting, being so lovely, upstaging the more drab colors in most trout flies.

Others will surely disagree, since there is a widespread opinion that blue is the background color of choice for fly images. My preference is to just let the scanner lid flatten the fly, and keep the resulting white background.

Lance

[hankaye]

Donald, Howdy;

Forever pushing the limits ...
Great set of images. The top appears (on my screen),
to have a pale blue background and actually sharpens
the image, IMHO. The what you are referring to as Light Blue
is more, to me a medium Blue, very close to Hans' Blue
background. Very effective and does extreamly well for
showing flies. The Green reminds me of a Billiards table
something I've been familure with for many years...
Both the Med. Blue and Green show (on my screen), as a smidge
out of focus, the top fly is as sharp as it can be.
Just my humble opinion .....

hank

[Donald Nicolson]

The first is the lid's white background. I used some thin packing foam to prop the lid up slightly. It gives a pale blueish tinge. I shall try a flat lid, that might give the best result.

[crazy4oldcars]

Donald, The green also has a depth of field to it that the other 2 do not. If the scanner is "focusing" on the background, that might account for the out-of-focus Hank mentioned.

Kirk