Yes those are bugs. No I’m not going into another field of photography. This just happened to be one of those moments I couldn’t pass up. This past week the Salmon Flies have started to emerge from the water which for fly fisherman is a really big part of Spring fishing. Salmon flies are very unique insects. The larvae will live in the water for three to four years before they emerge. Then the nymphs crawl to the shoreline where they shed their exoskeleton and are ready to mate. This activity makes for some amazing fishing but it is also a huge part of the ecology of the river system.
While I don’t usually photograph insects, the significance of this species is important information for the files. When it comes to storytelling or say writing an article, having spent time watching and photographing these insects is a necessity. Now I’m also trying out new equipment. Everything you see here was shot with the D750, 24-70 AF-S, and SB-5000. Why the D750 you ask? Well it’s an FX body which works with my contingent of lenses, the image quality and video quality are excellent. The big thing is size and weight. If you spend a lot of time hiking, with your camera gear on your back, then you know that all that weight really starts to zap your strength. The D5 is 3.1 lbs but the D750 is 1 lb and 13.7 oz. That’s a big difference in the end. So when it comes to you’re projects and gear, you gotta think about more then just image quality. That’s the lesson I learned here. Quality is still great with the D750 but with a whole lot less weight.