A year of Butterfly and Dragonfly Photography
Peter Madeley
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Brown Argus - EOS30 180mm macro with 25mm tube Velvia
AV f/6.7 |
Much has been written about the techniques and equipment
for butterfly and dragonfly insect photography. As such this article is
not intended to be a comprehensive guide but does however bring together
all the tips, tricks and techniques I read and used during my insect photography
last year, concentrating on butterflies and dragonflies. All the photographs
were taken mainly at local nature reserves Heysham NR and Gait Barrows NNR
using daylight as the main lighting source. I have in the past tried flash
photography in butterfly houses, but for me it offers less of a challenge
and much less of a thrill in capturing a sharp, well exposed and imaginative
portrayal of one of nature's most spectacular creations. Man has never managed
to adopt the remarkable technology of flight employed by these amazing insects.
If you want to be truly astounded by the physics of flight of butterflies
and dragonflies, you MUST look at the high speed flash photography by Stephen
Dalton, undoubtedly the master of the genre.
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| Common Blue Butterfly on Knapweed - 400mm lens with
500D diopter and Velvia AV f/5.6 |
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Equipment for insect photography
There IS specialist equipment available for insect photography
which can cost many hundred of pounds but the chances are that if you
are just starting your journey on insect photography then you possibly
already have equipment which can be pressed into use for close up photography.
John Shaw's book (see list) Field Guide for Professional Photographers
gives one of the best discussions I have found on the use of lenses, extension
tubes, teleconvertors, close up diopters and flash brackets in my extensive
search for background information. In it he recommends spending a wet
afternoon when you really can't take pictures with your close up equipment
laid out on a table and experiment with different combinations by shooting
some test shots. You might be surprised how a telephoto zoom with a close
up filter set makes a terrific starting point.
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Common Blue Butterfly on White Clover - EOS30 400mm
lens with 500D diopter and Velvia AV f/5.6 |
So to the equipment that I have been using. When the insects
are approachable, I prefer to use a 100mm macro lens with either a 1.4x
or 2x teleconvertor and a 12mm tube as a spacer between the lens and convertor.
Using the teleconvertors both increases the working distance and narrows
the angle of view of the lens which can be helpful in isolating the subject
from the background at reasonably small apertures. This coming year I
will use a digital camera body which has a 1.6x magnification, making
the 100mm macro into a 160mm lens which will make separating the subject
even easier.
During the day when the butterflies and dragonflies are
more active and you need to be very mobile when 'chasing' the butterflies
so a monopod makes an ideal support. I like using a 100-400mm lens with
a 500D diopter lens to increase the working distance still further and
reduce the risk of shadowing the subject (see Telephoto close up In Focus
October 2002). Both types of insects have compound eyes which are very
sensitive to both movement and temperature so when you get to within 3m
of the subject, slow movements are necessary and you MUST avoid casting
your shadow over the subject. This will either cause them to rearrange
their position to find the light or to take flight. This can be very awkward
with butterflies in particular as when you set up a tripod, the ideal
viewpoint casts a shadow of the camera and lens across the subject and
away it goes.
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| Female Darter - EOS30 with 100mm macro 12mm extension
tube and 2x convertor AV f/8 |
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If there is no wind, then a slow slide film such as Velvia
is ideal for resolving as much detail as possible. Even the slightest
breeze can make a dragon/butterfly photographer curse, so I will use Provia100F
very often uprated to160 or even 320 then have them push processed at
the lab. A tripod on the Benbo design is very suitable for this type of
photography and for very low angle shots of butterflies on grasses a beanbag
can be useful. A blip of fill flash, around about -2 or -3 stops can help
to restore colour balance and give a sparkle in very overcast light. With
a still subject I will nearly always stop down to f11 or 16 to give enough
depth of field and use the mirror lock function on the camera as the shutter
speeds tend to range from 1/30 - 1 sec.
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Mating Burnet Moths - EOS30 with 100mm macro 12mm
extension tube and 2x convertor AV f/8 Exposure was 8 seconds but
fortunately the evening was very still. I used a gold reflector to
bounce some light on the insect scales and show the sheen in the photograph. |
When to shoot
Butterflies
By far the best time to photograph butterflies is early morning or late
afternoon when they bask in the first or last rays of the sun before going
to roost. I have found that sometimes a very low viewpoint by using a
beanbag helps to isolate the butterfly against more distant grasses so
the background becomes a diffuse blend of grassy colours. Getting the
butterfly's wings parallel to the back of the camera allows a wider aperture
to be used to create a narrower depth of field, which helps to separate
the subject from the background and also increases the shutter speed.
I find a hot-shoe spirit level a good starting point to help get everything
lined up. Some background knowledge of the food plants of your chosen
species is also helpful as it enables you to plan how the photography
will be done. I use Richard Lewington's How to identify Butterflies Collins
ISBN 0-00-220123-2. For instance, small skippers at my local quarry tend
to sit basking on the highest section of an area of Yorkshire Fog grass
and the trick is to get the tripod or monopod is position without disturbing
the perch. The longer lens strategy can help you get the magnification
you need without getting too close. By planning a strategy before getting
close I can increase the chance of getting the image I want.
Dragonflies
Dragonflies can be photographed from above with wings outspread, composing
along the diagonal, but there is scope for a more creative approach by
using narrow depth of field and using the wings as an out of focus lead
in to the picture. The resulting images won't appeal to the traditionalists
but they do portray the alien looking nature of dragonflies especially
if the compound eyes are the main focus in the image. Even an aperture
of f16 is not normally sufficient to provide enough sharpness throughout
the image for these shots as close up depth of field is normally measured
in millimetres.
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| Small Skipper - Hill Quarry EOS30 with 100mm macro
12mm extension tube and 2x convertor AV f/11 |
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I have found the females more willing to settle on the
vegetation. Once again a cool, damp summer morning just as the sun is
coming up is ideal as the insects have not yet absorbed enough heat for
the flight muscles to activate and this makes photographing them so much
easier than during the day when the slightest movement will cause them
to take flight.
I would highly recommend that you contact the warden or
ranger of your local butterfly/dragonfly location as these people can
save you a huge amount of time in identifying the best time of the year
and precise locations. Many reserves have local experts who would gladly
share their wealth of experience in exchange for some prints.
Book references
For flash photography I would recommend you read The Complete Guide to
Close Up and Macro Photography by Paul Harcourt Davies. There is a good
discussion of the various options for close up and macro photography,
a good summary of using flash for lighting and some very useful charts
in the appendices for depth of field
For ambient light photographs one of the finest books I have seen without
doubt is Close up on Insects a Photographer's Guide by Robert Thompson
ISBN 186108238X. The author uses medium format equipment to create some
spectacularly beautiful photographs which show the insects in the most
natural and beautiful way possible.
John Shaw's book Nature Photography Field Guide ISBN 0-8174-4059-3 also
contains a very helpful summary of the options for close ups giving practical
advice on their use, advantages and disadvantages in a range of field
situations.
