How to shoot different ecological photography at macro?

Lead: What is eco-photography? Different people have different answers to this question. But generally speaking, ecology refers to the living conditions of all living things and the interlocking relationship between them and the environment, and ecological photography is photography that shows the relationship between living things and the environment or between living things.

First, experience and sentiment

A preliminary understanding of ecology

Some photographers around me know me, mostly because of portrait photography. In fact, I also have a little hobby, that is, shooting insects with a macro lens, starting from 20 13. In retrospect, when I was in the third grade, I saw an advertisement for a microscope in Science Illustrated, so I asked my parents to order one for me. I didn't expect my passion for small things to correspond to each other in photography many years later.

I always like to adjust the saturation and contrast of the fuselage to the highest when I just shoot the macro, and I don't forget to increase the saturation and contrast later, because it will be more stereoscopic and sharper.

Concept change

Later, I gradually found out that it was really seen by bugs? More like insect slices? Or make insect movies more like illustrations in biology classes. However, it seems that making things more like things themselves is not the whole responsibility of photography, because we are not photographers of National Geographic magazine or biology teachers. Until one day, I found that my macro fragments were missing? Human intervention? . It says here. Human intervention? Unlike those lunatics? Indian photographer? Fix animals with rope, steel wire, glue, etc. Just like that, and then what? Hey? There are all kinds of amazing moments, but trying to use insect slices as an ideographic medium.

According to Baidu Encyclopedia, jumping spider is the only spider whose vision is comparable to that of human beings. So when you aim the camera at it, it will probably stare at you curiously. )

In a sense, create one for yourself? Look at the picture composition? Opportunity. But I don't want this, okay? Figure? Very dull. I began to pursue the artistic conception of capturing the natural, amazing and vigorous moments of insects in photos, or the quiet integration of insects and the environment.

A new attitude

This reminds me of the Renaissance in Europe in the16th century, which broke the pedantic theocracy and re-established human status. For a while, in the spiritual space of the public, godhead? Start disenchantment, personality? Start to recover. Now my attitude towards insect slicing is a bit like following the idea of Renaissance. Instead of strictly following some laws to restore insects themselves, I try to explore how to express my ideas through insect slicing.

And express it with exquisite static photos? What can it be like? So as to achieve a visual tension.

Next, I will talk about some experiences of shooting dynamic macro insect films in detail.

Second, how to find bugs and what kind of bugs to find.

According to my shooting experience, the temperature is lower than 15? C, there are relatively few bugs. 20? The temperature around C, if the north wind blows on cloudy days, there may not be many bugs, but if it is sunny, you can rest assured to find bugs. There are several situations that I think are ideal:

(1) wet, warm and cloudy. Although the light is not very good at this time, smelly bugs, ladybugs and some small beetles will appear at this time. Don't expect bees and butterflies.

(2) The flowering period in late spring and early summer. On sunny days, there are often several bees stopping on flowers with big stamens. They will be busy picking honey, so you can take photos at will. Other insects also broke out on a large scale. However, I personally prefer the environment after the rain, because at this time many insects are stained with water droplets, or there are water droplets around them, which have their own literary style. It is worth mentioning that in summer, during the sultry period before the rainstorm, insects usually hide and come out after the rain.

(3) If you are in Lingnan area, you can still shoot macro in autumn. There are not as many kinds of insects in autumn as in summer, but the number is considerable.

The above conclusions are based on my own macro shooting experience over the years. I'm not an entomologist. From a strict entomological point of view, the above description must be inaccurate. Relevant people are welcome to carry out popular science education.

Although I used Nikon D4, my macro animation was not made into GIF with continuous shooting of 1 1 sheet/second, as some friends guessed. My strategy is to make a video and turn it into a GIF. Therefore, after finding the bug, we need to determine which situation is suitable for shooting:

(1) The bug is moving. Calm down, just stay where you are, and don't shoot videos. After a few seconds, the picture stopped moving and the meaning of GIF was gone.

(Bugs can stay still, but there must be a moving frame of reference. Just like a beetle clinging to a grass, it moves when the wind blows. This situation can also be made into GIF.

(3) Choose the time when the alertness of insects is low. Slowly approach them, adjust the breathing frequency and amplitude, don't exhale too strong airflow, and don't cause too much vibration because of too big a step. You know, many insects perceive things around them by smell, airflow change and vibration, instead of vision. If an insect stays in place for a long time, it may be relatively calm and can approach slowly; If insects are looking for food or hey hey (I need a pack of detergent), this is a good time for them to forget to make videos.

Third, the recording process

Friends who have played macro lenses know that this thing has a strong magnification and will be burned if it is shaken a little. I hold the macro in my hand every time, thinking that I don't want to sacrifice mobility for more favorable shutter speed and small aperture. Under this premise, your center of gravity is very important, and the support points of your limbs are also very important:

(1) When recording, try to hold your breath and don't breathe to reduce jitter. Anyway, it's only a matter of a few seconds. People who can swim have no pressure.

(2) Try not to hang your hands, and try to lean your elbows on the trunk, railing or ribs.

(3) When squatting on the ground, your knees can almost become your half monopod. Elbow and knee, steady.

(4) In macro state, try to focus manually, because autofocus is really unreliable at this time.

(5) The photos can be cropped, and even if the video is cropped, it is easy to look terrible. Therefore, at this time, you are often required to be as close as possible to the bug swatter.