How to photograph insects.pdf

Insect photography should belong to the category of macro photography. The purpose of macro photography is to strive to show the details of the subject in detail, that is, the subject captured in the photo should be larger than or equal to the size of the original subject. The professional term for lenses is magnification. A true macro lens must have a magnification ratio of 1:1.

Preparation

1

SLR camera

2

Macro lens

3

Large-capacity memory card

4

Sufficient battery

5

Tripod

Photography Tips

Control the depth of field focal plane to take clear pictures of bugs

As a macro lens, its depth of field is very small. When the lens magnification is 1:1, the aperture Shrunk down to F22, the depth of field is only 2mm. If you use f22 aperture at a magnification of 1:2, the depth of field is only about 6mm. Therefore, the slight movement of the lens and the subject during the shooting will affect the final focus position. This is why most photographers reported that I clearly focused on the insects, but in the photos, only the flowers in the background were in focus. Real, insects are virtual. Therefore, it is recommended that everyone use a tripod, and qualified photographers can also use it with a shutter release to minimize focus drift caused by movement.

Secondly, when photographing insects, you should also pay attention to the choice of focal plane. For example, when photographing a butterfly, if the butterfly's wings are attached to the back, the best way to photograph is to adjust the camera position so that it is parallel to the butterfly's wing surface, so that all the detailed textures of the butterfly's wings can be clearly displayed. We can create depth of field without opening a very small aperture, which can also increase the shutter speed and ensure the success rate of shooting.

What we need to remember is that whether we shoot from the front, side, or even the tail of an insect’s head, we must place the photographed content in a plane. The adjustment of depth of field and focal plane is a delicate process, which requires considerable patience and skillful and quick techniques, so as not to let our "model" escape in the end.

Use light to show the details of insects

In many photography textbooks, it is mentioned to avoid taking photos when the sun is directly exposed to the sun at noon or when the light is strong. On the one hand, the light ratio is too large for the digital camera sensor. The latitude is relatively small, which will result in overexposure of bright areas or underexposure of dark areas and loss of details. On the other hand, direct light is very dazzling, causing the color saturation of the subject to decrease, affecting the overall effect of the film. These are also suitable for macro photography of insects. Macro photography must use soft light, that is, scattered light can produce the best effect, so that the entire picture is evenly illuminated.

Front-light shooting is the most common way of shooting, using light to shine directly on the insects. I mentioned before that we should pay attention to the strong light. If the light is very strong, we can put a soft light cloth in front of the insect being photographed to achieve the effect of scattered light. It can be replaced by ordinary printing paper or used for art. of sulfuric acid paper. Of course, you can also choose soft light in the morning or afternoon for shooting.

Front-light photography can mainly express the lines, texture and color of the insect surface, so insects with rich colors and beautiful textures are more suitable for shooting with front-light. For example, for insects like seven-spotted ladybugs or beetles, it is easy to express the smooth texture of the shell by using smooth light. Evaluative metering should be used when selecting camera metering, and we should not do too much exposure compensation at this time.

If you want to highlight the crystal clear feel of insect wings, shooting with backlight is the best choice. The light shines through the subject directly towards the camera. This light can make the edges of the insect's body more translucent.

When shooting with backlight, the background is usually very dark, which can better highlight the details on the insect. For example, the hair on the body of a bee is clearly outlined by the light when backlit. If you encounter a scene with a large light ratio, use a small reflector to fill in the front of the main insect. Choosing reflectors of different colors will also change the local tone. For example, gold will produce a warm tone. In terms of exposure selection, it is recommended that when shooting with backlight, if the background is very dark, the exposure compensation should be appropriately reduced, so as to avoid the problem of overexposure of the entire picture.

A simple background sets off the insect subject

When photographing insects, the choice of background is also very important. In order to take an excellent picture, in addition to the clear subject of the insect, a simple background is also essential. The depth of field of a macro lens is very small, so creating a blurred background that highlights the subject is not a problem. This can be achieved by simply increasing the distance between the background and the insect.

For good insect photography, we all find that the simpler the color of the background, the better, and it must be different from the color of the insect. For example, when photographing light-colored insects, choose a dark background to better highlight the subject. If the on-site shooting environment is not what we want, we can also prepare a piece of black cardboard and place it behind the insect as a background.

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The strangeness of insects surprises us, but their smallness cannot be discovered by us. Through macro photography, we use appropriate equipment and reasonable photography techniques, and use light and shadow techniques to clearly present small insects in front of everyone's eyes, and to appreciate the greatness of nature.

Notes

When photographing insects, you should choose to shoot outdoors in sunny weather

When photographing insects, you must capture the lens boldly and pay attention to the depiction of insect textures< /p>

In order to ensure the clarity of the photo, it is best to shoot on a tripod