Long Time, No Feeshin'

It seems like it has been forever since I have wet a line. Work obligations and family vacation as well as TVA's lovely generation schedule have kept me off the water. Was hoping to make it out today, but NOPE! TVA was running wide open all day long today. So much for a successful spawn this year.

On another note, just returned from a family vacation to the Caribbean. Didn't do any fishing there either, but the scenery was amazing. Trying to convince the wifely to go on a 3 or 4 day Bahamas bonefishing trip in the near future. We will see if I can sell her on it.... Also while in St. Maarten I picked up a new lens that I hope to post a review for in the near future. A couple of the St. Thomas pics were taken using the new lens.

Use the links below to see some of the scenery from the trip.

The Bahamas

St. Maarten

St. Thomas

Grand Turk

A short hike along Porter's Creek

Today Jeff and I got a house pass from the wives and went to the Smokies for a little hike. We left the house around 8:30 and hit up the Cracker Barrel to fill up before the hike. We eventually came to our destination at 11:00, and found the parking lot almost empty. This is part of the reason we chose this trail for today, is due to it not being a very crowded trail and is paralleled for a long distance by Porter's Creek. This trail is in the Greenbrier area, and is most notably overshadowed by the Ramsey's Cascade trail less than a mile away. Ramsey's is also a beautiful trail that reaches it climax with a very tall set of cascades. Similar to Ramsey's Cascades, Porter's Creek is a much more enjoyable hike during seasons with significant rainfall. Luckily this is such a year.

For this trip, I left my fishing gear at home since I wanted to concentrate primarily on just enjoying the hike and doing some photography. Otherwise, I would be too distracted by each run and trying to spot every fish holding rock. However, this is definitely a stream I would like to take a rod back to and see what I can find hiding out behind the large rocks that dot the stream bed. Until that time, some of my photos will just work to fuel the anticipation of that trip.

Here are some photos from today's hike, I hope you enjoy them.

Low Country Trip Preparation

Our South Carolina fishing trip is two weeks away, and I have been hard at it today tying up some flies for the trip. A couple weeks ago I tied up some copperheads, and today I have been working on some clousers and electric chickens. The electric chickens, from what I am told, are clousers in a particular color scheme (or at least my interpretation of the color scheme). I hope to tie up a few Enrico Puglisi style streamers in the coming days to have just in case. However, those appear to be quite difficult, and I don't know that I will have much more free time to work on them. I believe I have a pretty good base supply, but I believe I will take along some of my tying gear just in case things go well.

Clousers Stand Waiting

New Lens Review: Sigma 18-50mm f/2.8

I recently received my new lens. I originally was looking for a semi-pro grade long distance zoom in the 100-300mm range. However, after thinking about it, since most of my shots are either landscape or portrait type shots, a lens in the 18-70mm range would suit most of my needs. So after doing extensive research and comparing raw data, I selected the Sigma 18-50mm f/2.8 EX DC Macro HSM. The HSM is required with my D40 in order to autofocus.

I have had the lens for 24 hours and have probably taken 100 photos with it already, and I am very impressed. This Sigma lens' zoom operforms way better than the Quantaray zoom I reviewed earlier. However, that is to be expected. The Quantaray was a bargain basement lens, and this is Sigma's high end EX model. The autofocus is very fast and spot on everytime. It consists of 15 lens elements, 4 of which are extremely low dispersion lenses. This means that there is very little color loss or chromatic aberration with this lens throughout the zoom range. Also, it is a constant f/2.8 lens, which allows for excellent low lighting photos and excellent bokeh. It is also a very sharp lens and provides excellent contrast. The build quality is fantastic, and feels very heavy and well built.

Not only does this lens perform well for landscapes and portraits, but the macro function is very useful. It has a minimum focus distance of 7 inches, but I believe that is from the rear of the lens. Since I have held the lens less than 3 inches from my subject and it focuses dead on every time. This will allow me to experiment with my fly photography in the coming weeks. Here are a couple sample shots from the past few days.





I am very pleased with this lens and recommend it to anyone wanting to upgrade from the kit lens into a semi-professional quality lens for less than $400. When comparing this lens to it's Nikon counterpart, it provides similar performance for 1/3 the cost.

New Lens Update

Well, apparently I have the worst luck when it comes to lenses. After returning the Quantaray lens and ordering a Sigma 50-150mm f/2.8, I have found out that the company I ordered it from did not actually have the lens in stock even though they told me they did. The bad news is that this is a discontinued lens from Sigma, so there is no guarantee that the lens will ever come in. I am in the process of arguing for a refund, and looking for another lens. The 50-150mm was perfect for what I needed, so now I am back to square one. If anybody has any suggestions, please feel free to offer them.

I am looking for a fast lens - constant f/2.8
Reasonable price - <$500
Good build quality
Adequate reach - 150mm +
Ultra low dispersion glass
Built in focus motor

Until next time....Tight lines and God bless.

New Lens Review

I recently purchased a 70-300mm lens for my D40. I went with an off brand since the sticker shock of the Nikkor 70-300 was too much for me to justify. I purchased the lens from the local Wolf Camera, and they allowed me 10 days to try it out and return it for a full refund, no questions asked. That is pretty hard to beat. I mainly wanted to test out the long distance zoom capability, and see if I would really miss the VR of the Nikkor lens. Also, I was curious as to how the build quality would feel in comparison to some other Nikkor lenses. This lens also has a macro function, but I haven't gotten around to testing it yet. Below are some sample pics:

200mm @ f/9 @ 1/125 @ ISO200

300mm @ f/9 @ 1/160 @ ISO200

300mm @ f/10 @ 1/60 @ ISO250

Overall impression is that you get what you pay for. The image quality is good enough to stand up against the Nikkor lens. What it is lacking is build quality, fast focus, and consistent focus. One positive is that this lens is smaller and weighs less than the comparable Nikkor, but this could also be due to the lesser build quality.

My suggestion is that if you are looking for a reasonably priced telephoto zoom lens that is used 99% of the time outdoors, focus speed is not a priority, and you routinely take very good care of your gear then this lens is probably good for you. I still have not made up my mind about it yet. I am going to take it out again tomorrow and give it a try in the direct sunlight. The biggest area of concern for me is the way the focus seemed to hunt a lot in the low lighting in the dark valleys of the Smokies today. If it still has this trouble in the bright daylight, then I will probably be returning it on Sunday.

I do recommend that if anybody is interested in buying this lens or one similar to go to a local camera store and test one yourself. Some of these off brand lens companies save money on QA/QC practices, and lemons are common.

Update

Today I returned this lens. I found the inconsistent focus and unsure build quality to be too much for me to risk. I tried to order a Nkon 70-300mm, but the vendor I was using was very inconsistent with their pricing. I ordered a Sigma 50-150mm f/2.8 that I am very excited about. When it arrives, I will post a review for it on here as well. Unfortunately it appears that the old saying, "You get what you pay for" not only holds true for rods but for lenses as well.

My Latest Project

I have been working on another project recently, and figured I would share it with my readers. I have been looking for a better way to share pictures with my family and friends, and this is what I have come up with. As you have seen on here before, I am steadily working on increasing my photography skills, and was looking for a better way of sharing my work. There are a couple of guys over on the Itinerant Angler message board who I have been taking a lot of cues from. These guys have some amazing talent, as well as another blogger buddy David Knapp (The Trout Zone). The cool thing about this site is that it allows me to easily share any photos I feel are publishable with various magazines and websites. Hopefully some day, I will have developed the skills to allow me to produce magazine quality images and gain a little side income. This is still a very young work in progress, but I plan to spend quite a bit of time in the coming days adding some older photos and getting ready for the coming year's additions. Give the site a look and feel free to offer any comments.

T Reynolds Photography

A Little Fishing And Some More Hiking

Fish Camp Bow


This past Saturday, I made it back up to the Smokies for another hike. This time I took along the fly rod hoping to catch a couple brookies. We headed to Elkmont, and hiked in about 3 miles before deciding to wet the line. This was my first time in this area, and I was completely amazed at how peaceful and easy of a hike it was. The grade was very shallow and the trail was wide. This will probably be one of the first trails we take Trey to when he gets older. The weather was slightly warmer than the previous weekend, but it was still a nice day to be out and enjoying this wonderful resource we have so close to home. The water was scarily low, it was in desperate need of rain. I only managed to fish for a little over an hour total time, but caught 2 bows. I missed more strikes than I care to recall. As fall approaches and water temps cool down, I look forward to making another trip to this area looking for spawning browns.

This area has had some recent bear activity, and I am hearing many more reports this year of bear sightings. Also, supposedly there have been lots of rattlesnakes present above Elkmont in the previous weeks, and luckily I didn't run into one while climbing in and out of the river. That would be a perfectly dreadful end to a wonderful day. Until next time, God Bless and tight lines.





Warning Sign at Goshen Prong Trailhead

Hiking to Charlie's Bunion

Charlie's Bunion





Charlie's Bunion Trailhead (The AT)

Today, my neighbor Jeff and I headed up to the Smokies for some hiking. We expected to see lots of people out and about since the weather was wonderful, so we wanted to go with a less popular destination. We originally wanted to go to Spence Field, but after looking at the length and elevation change, we chose to go to Charlie's Bunion. Neither of us had ever done this hike and it was extremely relaxing. I hadn't been out on a hiking trip without a fishing rod in a couple years, so this was a decent start. A website that use to learn more about some of the trails in the park rate Charlie's Bunion as a diffulty of ~11.5. Just for comparison here is how this trail rates with some other more popular trails: Chimneys - 6.7, Alum Cave to Mt. Leconte - 16.5, and Ramsey's Cascades - 12.7. When we arrived at the Newfound Gap trailhead we were surprised to find the parking lot relatively empty, especially since the Chimneys and Alum Cave trailheads were overflowing with vehicles and people. Shortly into the hike we encountered a couple other hikers coming toward us very rapidly. They informed us that there were a couple bears up ahead in the middle of the trail munching on berries. We waited around for awhile and then started making lots of noise before we restarted our hike. As we rounded the bend we could hear sticks breaking just down the bank and some small trees moving. So, our noises must have worked because we never actually saw the bears and so we continued on. It was in the low 70's and overcast all day, making for a very comfortable hike. Once we arrived at our destination we sat down for lunch and to take in the views. Looking at the barren almost sheer slopes, one could almost imagine how this landscape was formed by a raging fire and flashflood that scalped the surface of all vegetation and soil. This hike is one I look forward to making again, maybe on a low humidity very clear day. The views would be even more spectacular.





View from the AT





Lots of flowers along the way






Cool Looking View

It's Been A While

It has been a while since my last post, so here is an attempt to catch up somewhat. I have only been fishing once more this month, and the guys I went with made me promise to not tell the river we went to. The fishing was quite nice, and all my fish were caught on dries. Not only that, but all the trout were in the 13 - 16" range.

I have a hiking trip to the Smokies planned in the coming weeks, my first such in a long time. I am planning on leaving the rod at home so I won't be tempted to fish. I plan on just enjoying the scenery and spending time with friends hopefully experiencing new trails that I have never hiked before.

The rest of the month has been devoted to the little man. He is growing so quickly, and we are just trying to enjoy as much of it as we can. I am spending lots of time behind the camera taking pictures of him and various other scenes. Below are a couple photos of Trey and a couple more where I am playing around with Depth of Field with my camera. In two of the photos shown, I was intentionally trying to induce as much blur as possible to make the item in the foreground standout. I had to buy a particular lens to accomplish this task, and it also works very well for portraits by causing the same effect. I am also working on my white balance skills. My point and shoot camera that I take fishing has preset white balance settings, and it is often not correct. My D40 allows me to fine tune my white balance or even measure it for each manually before taking lots of pictures that are incorrectly colored. I think I am making pretty good progress considering I have never had any classes and have basically taught myself how to do all of these techniques.

I also need to update my fly pattern of the month. I hope to be able to get to that this week, but with it being our 3rd anniversary and the little boy, I may not make it that far.




Depth Of Field Practice







Play Time



The Fruits of Our Labor: Blackberry Jelly




Silly Boy

New Camera

I convinced the wife to let me buy my first DSLR to take better quality pictures of the baby, and to feed my need for gadgets. I placed my order yesterday for a Nikon D40 with 18-55mm lens, and I am going to get an additional 50 mm f1.8 lens for portrait specific photos. I also like the depth of field blur I can get with this lens, and I look forward to trying some interesting shots. As much as I would like to take some shots with this camera while on the water, I don't think I will risk it anytime soon. It should be here before this weekend, and I hope to take some shots with it over the long weekend. I will post some photos on here later for constructive comments.