Published Apr 12. 2012 - 12 years ago
Updated or edited Nov 17. 2015

Fishy photos: Dennis Collier

Subsequent to his retiring Dennis Collier abandoned most things that could be construed as work, but he still shoots a lot of fishing photos. We asked him our usual set of photography questions.

Classic wet fly -
Foam fly on leaf -
Nymphs up close -
Flies
Dennis Collier

I noticed Dennis's images through his numerous contributions to our user's image galleries, where he has uploaded quite a few photos. I mailed him and asked him our usual set of photographer questions, and here are his replies.

How did you start photographing - and what made you choose fishing related photos in particular?

Actually, my life-long passion for fly fishing began as a young boy while accompanying my father on his fishing excursions around Colorado. It wasn't until my late teens that I also developed a keen interest in art and photography, which naturally became integrated into my sporting activities. I attended two art schools and took several photography courses at a local community college during the late 1960's, which helped fuel the fires of creative endeavor.
My working career included stints as a professional photographer and graphic designer.

Do you have a particular subject, region or a style of pictures that you mainly shoot or are you more all-round?

Today, nearly all of my photography is related to family and fly fishing activities. I have to admit that I often neglect the photography during the course of focused pursuit for my piscatorial friends, but when I do have camera in hand, anything is fair game.

B/W -
Rainbow -
In the net -
On the dry -
Cutthroat -
Fish
Dennis Collier

Most of my angling forays take place in Colorado and Wyoming where the vast wealth of historical events that unfolded during the westward movement, and the artifacts that still remain today, provide the occasional diversion from fishing related photography. That being said, I still prefer to create photos of those magnificent fish we catch, and the smiles on the faces of those who catch them.

Cold stream -
Misty -
Rocky stream -
On the stream
Dennis Collier

Where are your photos used? Books, magazines, brochures, ads, web sites, prints, gallery exhibits or other places?

Over the years my photos have appeared in numerous advertising brochures; catalogs; magazines; public relations and documentary programs; medical education and forensic cases, and electronic media. Most recently, some of my photographs have appeared as graphic content for articles I've had published in Fly Fisherman Magazine; Southwest Fly Fishing and Northwest Fly Fishing magazines. Other exposure has included the 2011 and 2012 Umpqua Feather Merchants product catalog, and a number of fly fishing/fly tying related web sites. Some of the more artistic images reside as framed prints in private collections.

Is photography your main source of income - if at all a source of income - and do you do other jobs as a supplement?

Subsequent to retiring in 2006, I abandoned most things that could be construed as work. At the same time I began writing in earnest about fly fishing and fly tying which I consider to be more a labor of love. I do receive compensation from the published articles, but make no attempt to generate income from my photographic images per se.

Trout drawing -
Drawing -
Drawings
Dennis Collier

Can people buy your pictures and if so, then in which form and where?

Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your point of view) I do not maintain a stock photo archive, so prints are not available to the general public. However, if someone sees an image they would like to use for commercial purposes, I would be happy to negotiate "one time" usage rights with them. Otherwise, all images are protected under copyright law and should not be reproduced without written permission from me.

I would like to invite your viewers to visit my web site at www.dennis-collier.com. There is a photo gallery on the site, but I hasten to draw attention to the fact that many of the images are just fishy type snapshots taken by myself and others with no intent of being artsy at the time. There are several related articles on the site which your audience might find interesting and educational. My e-mail address is included on the web site and I welcome questions, comments, and etc. via this link.

Dennis Collier -
Behind the camera
Dennis Collier

Where do you currently live and work?

For the past thirty-five years my wife, Judy, and I have resided in the small agricultural community of Longmont, Colorado - nestled along the Northern Colorado Front Range - and approximately an hour's drive north of Denver. More importantly, the geographic location offers quick and easy access to one of my favorite fly fishing venues: Rocky Mountain National Park. The "Park" is blessed with a cornucopia of angling opportunities for wild browns, brook trout, and greenback cutthroat. I spend a lot of time up there exercising the resident trout population to keep them in shape.

What's in your bag? Preferred cameras, bodies, lenses and other gear?

My current camera collection consists of a Nikon D80 DSLR; with an 18-135mm zoom lens; 55-250mm zoom lens, and 50mm macro lens. I carry polarizing and neutral density filters for all lenses, plus a heavy duty Manfrotto monopod. My vest pocket "point and shoot" camera is a Canon G-11, which is one of the few P&S cameras that take RAW images. My table top fly tying photography is done with a Nikon Coolpix 995 camera which is no longer commercially produced, but can still be found on auction web sites such as e-Bay. The Coolpix 995's have awesome macro capabilities as demonstrated by the countless images on the web site of my friend, Hans Weilenmann - www.danica.com/flytier.

Behind the camera -
Dennis himself
Dennis Collier
Mayfly -
Suckers -
Splash -
Release -
River life
Dennis Collier

Comments

Beautiful! Having p...

Beautiful! Having perused Dennis' website, I see these photos are only a few detailing his artistic eye and fly tying skill. It is also rumored he is a pretty phenomenal angler, as well. Nice work!

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