DerekD

Please do. You've posted some cracking ones so far and if you have others in the garage like these then it would be a shame not to share them.

Hot dang!! @kingie chaser Those food shots are fantastic. I had a sugar rush just looking at the last photo. Who prepared the food in your photos? If it was you I vote we have a BBQ at yours once Covid restrictions ease.

Wildlife: White faced heron. Was lucky enough to catch this bird feeding. The meal was less lucky. Canon EOS 80D. This rainbow lorikeet came up to say hello while I had my 80D with me. I bought a 150mm-600mm lens for some wildlife photography a few months back. This cropped photo of the crab was taken from about 3m away. With the Canon 80D having a cropped sensor it did help with the magnification a bit.

Trees: This tree growing on a tree was a surprise

Topic: Close up (or angles) Was teaching my cousin the basics of photography. One thing I was trying to impress on her is change your perspective or elevation or angle to get the impact. Using what I said she took this one of a very famous iconic Sydney building (I wish I'd taken it) on my Canon EOS 350D. It is the Sydney Opera house.

Hi Zoran. Luv it!! Especially how the sense of movement comes through in the photograph. Your daughter did really well there. Please keep them coming. D.

Hi All, Most of us have easy access to a camera. It might be a simple as your mobile phone or a high end kit. I started the following challenge for work during Covid but never followed through on it but I thought it would be a good topic for Fishraider. The challenge is to put together a set of images in whichever suggested topic(s) below appeal to you. If you head out for your outdoor recreation bring your camera. I've also included topics that can be done inside the home. Get creative. Play around with the angles that you take them from. Consider the light. This is not a competition as such but it is a chance to share images which give us a bit more insight into the people on this forum. If you can, include some details about the photo such as where, when, the camera or phone. A loved one Action Angles Beach Black and White Boating Close to the heart Close ups Clouds Dusk and Dawn Fireworks Flowers Food Homes Landscape Macro (thanks @Green Hornet) Nightlife Polarising lens impact (the most dramatic changes you have using a circular polarising filter) Portrait Reflections (thanks @kingie chaser) Roads Sculpture Silhouette Stone Textures Transport Trees View from my window (e.g. home, office, car) Water Weddings Wildlife Some examples for action photos: The first two were taken at the ski park near Wiseman's ferry when one of the boat owners was kind enough to take me out on their boat. The challenge was keeping the focus sharp as the gentlemen was working the wake hard. I then realised that since he was on a ski rope he was always going to be the same distance from the tie off point on the boat. I just got the sharpness right once then turned off the autofocus. The second was taken at Curl Curl south when we had some pretty big waves. If you have photos taken previously which fit into the categories then feel free to recycle them. Those beautiful photos you have sitting on storage will bring far more joy if you can share them around to a larger audience. I'm also open to suggestions for other topics. Happy snapping. Regards, Derek

Savage Gear or Shimano? The only Bream Raiders I know are made by Shimano. I highly recommend the Shimano Bream raiders and they are still in my top five for bream rods based on configuration (length and short butt) and bang for buck. It is what I teach people on when introducing them to plastics. A number of people I have helped have bought them. The weight is a tad heavy but you only really notice it if you have switched from a lighter rod. I'd probably be looking at the Bream Raider 762 (7 foot 6 inches 2 piece) as it has a 3 to 12gm rating. The 1 to 4 has a slightly lighter lure rating. If you can go a little more then I'd be looking at the ArrowZ range in 7 foot. Just a touch lighter.

Had a query several years ago about kings in the moorings. Read through some of the replies here: Curious why you are losing them. Are you landbased or on some sort of watercraft? If on a boat, even with light gear you should have a good chance of landing them.

Hi Cooper, Welcome to Fishraider. Have a read through: We can then go through any questions you have afterwards. I know the Middle Harbour area very well and have fished it for a long time. I've messaged you my contact number. Regards, Derek

I've done really well on the Ecogear ZX 30/35/40/43 series. The problem I've had with the traditional vibes is that the trebles are very snaggy and as I am fishing light gear it can sometimes get expensive. The ZX series does away with the trebles and uses two small but very strong assist hooks. I've landed quite a few different species on it including, flathead, bream, whiting, tarwhine, squid, peacock(red) gurnard, salmon, trevalley and even a kingfish. I like the 40 and now the 43 for the casting distance. Most of the time I bounce these along the bottom although I have had fish take them on the drop through the water column as well as when bringing them to the surface. These things can vibrate so aggressively that they are probably the equivalent of shouting underwater. Some people talk about using a slow roll or wind but I don't like this as you can't tell how far or quickly you are moving off the bottom hence the bouncing. The way I fish them is to cast as far as I can and look for the sag as it hits the bottom (I don't fish them in areas I know to be really snaggy). Wind the slack up and smoothly pull it to get it vibrating 3 or 4 times, pause briefly, then get it to vibrate another 3 or 4 times and then let it find the bottom. I want to cover ground slowly and give fish the time to make the decision to hit it. As the hooks are trailing that is an easy point for the fish to hit.

@big Neil makes pottery. He reached out for help with the photography as he was struggling to take photos of his work which would give a good representation of the actual colours. There is an aspect of photography which can have a huge impact on photos called White Balance. Whites are not always white depending on the light they were taken in (something which has been a real eye opener for Neil). Under a tungsten light white can end up with a yellowish tinge. Fluorescent lights can give a blueish tinge. Sunny days, cloudy days, shade and flash can all have their own impacts. The Canon Digital Photo Professional 4 (DPP4) has a tab in which you can select each option for a RAW file and see the impact on the photo. As an example, the photo of the pottery below was taken in a light box. The material on which it is sitting is white but due to the lights it has ended up with a yellowish tinge. This is the actual photo off the camera. The only thing I have done is to crop it. Neil was kind enough to give me the RAW photo of the same piece. I have also cropped it. This time I have the chance to correct the white balance in DPP4 using one of several options. Knowing it was taken under a tungsten light I can select this option which will put in a blue tinge bringing out the white. Alternatively, I can tell the software to sample a section of the photograph which I know to be white and it will correct the photo. There is also a temperature function which will change the warmth of the photo (lower is colder, higher is warmer) but I’ll have to make the judgement on when I have reached the right correction. For this photo I told the software which part of the photo I knew to be white (the material on which the piece sits) and allowed it to make the correction. Big difference to the photo above. I found this excellent tutorial which explains the concept very well and demonstrates how to do it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQWXOF-lsEU

Hi Again, I do the odd wedding here and there. Got talking to the groom (Daniel) at one and fired up his passion for photography. We kept in contact as he progressed. He was the one who showed me what was possible with Lightroom and Photoshop and essentially drove my decision to get into the post processing. I'm good enough with the camera to keep a bride (and groom) happy with the wedding day photos but I want to get to the next level. Both photos below were taken of a good friend of mine at an impromptu photos session. The location and the subject matter was fantastic. Problem was that even though I was using the flash I was competing with the sun (she was backlit). I also didn't have a reflector with me. Daniel took the JPG into Lightroom and enhanced the highlights (brighter sections of the photo) and a few other changes and the photo went from "good" to "this could go in a magazine". I can get pretty close to the same results with the Canon software but at this stage I'm still playing and learning. Regards, Derek Original photo Photo touched up by Daniel to "Oh... Wow!!"

This one is mostly for the Canon camera users. One of my non-fishing hobbies is photography. A request for assistance from fellow Fishraider @big Neilwas the inspiration for this post. During lessons as to how to get more from his Canon camera I’ve picked up a few useful links along the way which I now want to share. While my preference is to get the photos right at the camera, it is often only afterwards when reviewing that you realise a good photo could have been a great photo with a few minor tweaks. Digital photography in combination with post processing can help achieve this. Industry software is usually Photoshop and Lightroom but unfortunately these have moved to a subscription based system which may not suit those people not making a career of it or careful with funds. Canon has developed processing software called Canon Digital Photo Professional 4 which is “free” for those who buy a Canon camera. From all reports it is excellent software. It is especially useful if your camera is capable of shooting in RAW format. The software can process JPGs but there is reduced functionality. JPG is the camera’s attempt at processing the information within the constraints and programming given to it. RAW is the unadulterated data. The RAW file from a 14Megapixel camera will be about 16MB but it allows you to correct for lighting. Please note that head to head the JPG will initially look better than the RAW image until you have had the chance to process it. For a short beginner’s tutorial as to what the software is capable of have a look at this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRTkRyggeqU&t=15s The same gentleman did an intermediate tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6L8L8b46B0&t=5s This gentlemen provides a nice review and tutorial of the software here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRTXdZvxQJo&t=562s Please note that Canon has done some excellent tutorials and I’ll past the links further down but they will take a bit longer to go through as there is far more detail. The Canon software has been optimised to work with Canon cameras. In particular the following models: EOS Kiss X10 / EOS REBEL SL3 / EOS 250D / EOS 200D II, EOS RP, EOS R, PowerShot SX70 HS, EOS D2000 *, EOS D6000 *, EOS D30, EOS D60, EOS 10D, EOS Kiss Digital / EOS Digital REBEL / EOS 300D Digital, EOS Kiss M / EOS M50, EOS REBEL T100 / EOS 4000D / EOS 3000D, EOS Kiss X90 / EOS REBEL T7 / EOS 2000D / EOS 1500D, EOS-1Ds Mark III, EOS-1Ds Mark II, EOS-1Ds, EOS-1D X Mark II, EOS-1D X, EOS-1D Mark IV, EOS-1D Mark III, EOS-1D Mark II N, EOS-1D Mark II, EOS-1D C, EOS-1D, EOS 80D, EOS 7D Mark II, EOS 7D, EOS 70D, EOS 6D Mark II, EOS 6D, EOS 60Da, EOS 60D, EOS 5DS R, EOS 5DS, EOS 5D Mark IV, EOS 5D Mark III, EOS 5D Mark II, EOS 5D, EOS 50D, EOS 40D, EOS 30D, EOS 20Da, EOS 20D, EOS 9000D / EOS 77D, EOS 8000D / EOS REBEL T6s / EOS 760D, EOS Kiss X9i / EOS REBEL T7i / EOS 800D, EOS Kiss X9 / EOS REBEL SL2 / EOS 200D, EOS Kiss X8i / EOS REBEL T6i / EOS 750D, EOS Kiss X80 / EOS REBEL T6 / EOS 1300D, EOS Kiss X7i / EOS REBEL T5i / EOS 700D, EOS Kiss X70 / EOS REBEL T5 / EOS 1200D / EOS Hi, EOS Kiss X7 / EOS REBEL SL1 / EOS 100D, EOS Kiss X6i / EOS REBEL T4i / EOS 650D, EOS Kiss X50 / EOS REBEL T3 / EOS 1100D, EOS Kiss X5 / EOS REBEL T3i / EOS 600D, EOS Kiss X4 / EOS REBEL T2i / EOS 550D, EOS Kiss X3 / EOS REBEL T1i / EOS 500D, EOS Kiss X2 / EOS REBEL XSi / EOS 450D, EOS Kiss F / EOS REBEL XS / EOS 1000D, EOS Kiss Digital X / EOS Digital REBEL XTi / EOS 400D Digital, EOS Kiss Digital N / EOS Digital REBEL XT / EOS 350D Digital, EOS M100, EOS M10, EOS M6, EOS M5, EOS M3, EOS M2, EOS M, PowerShot G16, PowerShot G15, PowerShot G12, PowerShot G11, PowerShot G10, PowerShot G9 X Mark II, PowerShot G9 X, PowerShot G9, PowerShot G7 X Mark II, PowerShot G7 X, PowerShot G5 X, PowerShot G3 X, PowerShot G1 X Mark III, PowerShot G1 X Mark II, PowerShot G1 X, PowerShot SX60 HS, PowerShot SX50 HS, PowerShot SX1 IS, PowerShot S120, PowerShot S110, PowerShot S100V, PowerShot S100, PowerShot S95, PowerShot S90 *: Can now handle CR2 files converted with the CR2 Converter. For those with a Canon camera and interested in downloading the software. The link for the Windows version is: https://id.canon/en/support/0200583602 I believe this is the link for Mac users: https://hk.canon/en/support/0200618702 It will download a file called dppw4.10.20-installer.zip or similar. I had to find it in my downloads directory on the "C" drive. To install you will need the serial number on your Canon camera. I also found out there is a manual for the software: https://www.usa.canon.com/internet/portal/us/home/support/details/cameras/eos-dslr-and-mirrorless-cameras/dslr/eos-1d-x?tab=manuals Once you play around with the software only a few clicks will dramatically improve the photos. Another excellent feature is that you can save “recipes” (the steps used to modify the photo) and then paste it on other photos taken under the same conditions. I’ll put some examples up when I get the chance. Regards. Derek

Hi Brendon, Definitely worth giving it a go. In areas where we know there are blackfish (or even better, can see them) the weed fly has been a very effective technique. I was pretty lucky in that I worked out and resolved the minor issues with the process pretty quickly. I also got very lucky with the flies at my local tackle store in that even now I think they are excellent and effective. Some of my learnings over the past year. If you have a fly rod, floating line is the best as an intermediate or sinking line can drag down your strike indicator. Doesn't really matter what weight class the line and rod are as it comes down to the leader and tippet. I usually buy a tapered leader but then run an 8lb or 10lb fluorocarbon (sinks better than monofilament) tippet of at least 1m. I need the thicker part of the line on which to slide the strike indicator up and down. You could also use say 20 to 30lb line for the upper section and then tie on the 8 or 10lb tippet. Overall my leader and tippet is 3 to 4m long. If you don't have a fly rod you can still use the flies with a traditional outfit. The strike indicator I made by hopping on Ebay to find O-rings with a 5mm inner diameter and 8mm outer diameter (any thicker and they don't bend well and the line kinks instead). I then bought some strike indicator wool (yellow or orange) and cut into lengths of around 4-5cm. I doubled these through the o-ring and then lashed into place right next to the o-ring (see photos loaded with the original report). The ends will fluff up during use. These will work for the first session after which you will need to use floatant once or twice a session. There are a number of people making weed flies (these will vary in cost from $3.50 to $10 per fly). While the basics are similar you will find a number of variations (different colours, different hook sizes, some hooks have better corrosion resistance, the way the strands look in the water). My favourite ones have a small bit of lead wrapped around the hook to improve the sink rate. I've lost very few weed flies. The best part is that I can head out for a blackfish session whenever I have a little bit of spare time and don't have to worry about getting burley. Not to say the burley wouldn't help but it saves me a trip to the coast to get the cabbage weed I like to use. As we are often fishing locations a few meters off the water I picked up a 3.6m telescopic net off Ebay for about $70. The smaller ones can be handlined but it would be a shame to damage/injure the fish and loose a fly at the same time if they were too heavy for the tippet. Looking forward to hearing how you go. Between several of us we have been getting consistent and good results. You may still have to move several times to find the schools but when you do they will hit the fly. Regards, Derek

Hi Xuanhong, At the moment the store I use has not had the flies for months. If need be I can PM you the actual store. If you keep an eye out several other stores including some of the bigger outdoors chains are currently selling weed flies. The problem with most is that they don't have the little bit of lead wire wrapped around the hook to improve the sink rate. If you are using a classic float outfit you can put a small split shot above the fly.

Oh and my Supermoon/Bloodmoon/Lunar eclipse photos from a few weeks back.

Hi Donna, The settings for recent ones were: F stop f/6.3 (more or less set by the lens at this magnification) Exposure time 1/800 ISO 200 (more detail but risk getting it darker). I was also a bit lucky in that it was super clear where I was in Sydney when I took that. Just kicking myself because if I'd gotten down to the water an hour earlier they would have been even better. Regards, Derek PS. I like your collection of supermoon photos.

Decided to crop it...

Thank you. I still have another chapter or two to add to this one relating on how I strip them and several ways to use them shore based. Need a squid to do so and someone to assist with the photos. I can do one but not both easily at the same time. 😃

Picked up a new telephoto lens earlier this year and really enjoying playing with it for nature and other stuff (see below). I know the moon shots have been done many times better by many others but there is a great deal of satisfaction in doing it myself and learning from it. Canon 80D with Sigma 150-600mm lens. Straight from camera. No cropping or editing.

So the big news in the papers was the lock down for people living or working (in the last 2 weeks) in the Local Government areas of Woollahra, Waverley, City of Sydney and Randwick. Anyone under these conditions must stay home till Friday the 2nd of July (may be extended). As previously, there are some special exceptions to this and that includes exercise. Do you think fishing classifies as passive exercise again?? PS. I've been impressed at how many people have gotten (back) into fishing since Covid started.

Really looking forward to some informative responses on this topic.

I'll try and find it later but there is a video on youtube of someone using a paternoster rig for squid in Sydney. Landbased from memory.

Hi Gengar, I talked to a few people about that red flash and the fishing encyclopedia known as @wazatherfisherman came up with a very viable option. While that strike was so quick it only gave us a glimpse, if it wasn't for the red flash I would have called it for a salmon. Waza's thoughts were that it is a salmon and that the red was actually from the gills flaring out as it slashed at the lure. He said they can often miss the strike and we were at an angle that when it turned that is when we would have seen the flash. Regards. Derek