How to Photograph Insects
Practice with your point-and-shoot camera., Add a lens to your phone’s camera., Enhance your SLR camera for insect photography., Move up to a macro lens., Use a sturdy tripod or a steady hand., Ensure adequate lighting.
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Practice with your point-and-shoot camera.
If you’re more interested in finding a new hobby than you are getting images published in National Geographic, there is no shame in starting off with whatever camera you have available.
Grab your camera, go outdoors, and start snapping away.
Practice finding bugs, getting as close as you can, focusing in tightly, and keeping a steady hand.
Many point-and-shoot cameras have a “macro mode,” which can give you additional practice with the extreme close-ups used in insect photography. -
Step 2: Add a lens to your phone’s camera.
What if you’re not prepared to invest in an expensive new camera and equipment but want to delve a bit deeper into insect photography? As a compromise, you can buy specialized lenses that will attach right to your smartphone.
There are numerous clip-on lenses available for iPhones, for example, which range in price from roughly $30
- $200 (U.S.).For insect photography in particular, choose an add-on macro lens, which will provide the necessary magnification level to capture fine insect details.
High-quality options are available for around $150 (U.S.). , A Single Lens Reflex (SLR) camera — or its digital counterpart (DSLR) — is a basic necessity for pro-quality insect photography.
To truly get the detailed close-ups you’ll be seeking, though, you’ll need to enhance the zoom capabilities of your SLR / DSLR.
An extension tube is, as it sounds, a tube that further separates your camera lens from the camera itself.
Extension tubes are an affordable entry point into extreme close-up photography.You can also utilize magnifying filters, alone or in combination with extension tubes.Reverse focus rings offer the neat trick of letting you put the lens on your camera backwards.
If you’ve ever looked through the wrong end of a pair of binoculars, you’ll get the idea of how this method can provide substantial magnification., Virtually everyone who develops a sincere passion for insect photography ends up utilizing macro lenses on their SLR / DSLR cameras.
While the term gets thrown about a bit haphazardly, a “true macro” lens provides a magnification level of at least 1:1.
This means that, for a film SLR camera, the actual image projected onto the film plane will be at least the same size as the object itself (the insect).The major camera manufacturers produce numerous models of macro lenses within the 50mm to 200mm focal range and at magnification ratios of 1:1 or above (2:1, etc.).
The greater the focal range, the further away you can be from the subject and still capture a life-size (1:1) shot.
Digital cameras don’t use film and have no film plane on which to project an image, of course.
However, DSLR macro lenses produce a similar type of magnification output. , Even experienced insect photographers will end up with plenty of blurry images.
Moving in so closely limits the depth of field, making it difficult to maintain focus even if the little critter isn’t moving at all.
Even slight movements on your part can cause blurring in these conditions, so consider setting up the camera on a sturdy tripod with a remote shutter (so you don’t have to touch the camera to snap the photo).Of course, if you’re trying to capture bugs in their native elements and in action, the tripod may not be very convenient.
Work on your technique — that is, just keep on practicing — so that you can catch good shots with the camera in your hands., Extreme magnification results in less light reaching the sensor, so you’ll need to enhance your lighting set-up in practically any situation other than outdoors on a bright, sunny day.
Especially when working indoors, practice setting up two or more external strobes that you can manually adjust; eventually, you’ll find the angles and settings that produce the light you need.Especially when outdoors, you can try a ring-light flash, which is donut-shaped and fits like a collar around the end of your lens.
Bringing the light this close to the subject can help reduce shadows. -
Step 3: Enhance your SLR camera for insect photography.
-
Step 4: Move up to a macro lens.
-
Step 5: Use a sturdy tripod or a steady hand.
-
Step 6: Ensure adequate lighting.
Detailed Guide
If you’re more interested in finding a new hobby than you are getting images published in National Geographic, there is no shame in starting off with whatever camera you have available.
Grab your camera, go outdoors, and start snapping away.
Practice finding bugs, getting as close as you can, focusing in tightly, and keeping a steady hand.
Many point-and-shoot cameras have a “macro mode,” which can give you additional practice with the extreme close-ups used in insect photography.
What if you’re not prepared to invest in an expensive new camera and equipment but want to delve a bit deeper into insect photography? As a compromise, you can buy specialized lenses that will attach right to your smartphone.
There are numerous clip-on lenses available for iPhones, for example, which range in price from roughly $30
- $200 (U.S.).For insect photography in particular, choose an add-on macro lens, which will provide the necessary magnification level to capture fine insect details.
High-quality options are available for around $150 (U.S.). , A Single Lens Reflex (SLR) camera — or its digital counterpart (DSLR) — is a basic necessity for pro-quality insect photography.
To truly get the detailed close-ups you’ll be seeking, though, you’ll need to enhance the zoom capabilities of your SLR / DSLR.
An extension tube is, as it sounds, a tube that further separates your camera lens from the camera itself.
Extension tubes are an affordable entry point into extreme close-up photography.You can also utilize magnifying filters, alone or in combination with extension tubes.Reverse focus rings offer the neat trick of letting you put the lens on your camera backwards.
If you’ve ever looked through the wrong end of a pair of binoculars, you’ll get the idea of how this method can provide substantial magnification., Virtually everyone who develops a sincere passion for insect photography ends up utilizing macro lenses on their SLR / DSLR cameras.
While the term gets thrown about a bit haphazardly, a “true macro” lens provides a magnification level of at least 1:1.
This means that, for a film SLR camera, the actual image projected onto the film plane will be at least the same size as the object itself (the insect).The major camera manufacturers produce numerous models of macro lenses within the 50mm to 200mm focal range and at magnification ratios of 1:1 or above (2:1, etc.).
The greater the focal range, the further away you can be from the subject and still capture a life-size (1:1) shot.
Digital cameras don’t use film and have no film plane on which to project an image, of course.
However, DSLR macro lenses produce a similar type of magnification output. , Even experienced insect photographers will end up with plenty of blurry images.
Moving in so closely limits the depth of field, making it difficult to maintain focus even if the little critter isn’t moving at all.
Even slight movements on your part can cause blurring in these conditions, so consider setting up the camera on a sturdy tripod with a remote shutter (so you don’t have to touch the camera to snap the photo).Of course, if you’re trying to capture bugs in their native elements and in action, the tripod may not be very convenient.
Work on your technique — that is, just keep on practicing — so that you can catch good shots with the camera in your hands., Extreme magnification results in less light reaching the sensor, so you’ll need to enhance your lighting set-up in practically any situation other than outdoors on a bright, sunny day.
Especially when working indoors, practice setting up two or more external strobes that you can manually adjust; eventually, you’ll find the angles and settings that produce the light you need.Especially when outdoors, you can try a ring-light flash, which is donut-shaped and fits like a collar around the end of your lens.
Bringing the light this close to the subject can help reduce shadows.
About the Author
Jeffrey Lopez
Professional writer focused on creating easy-to-follow DIY projects tutorials.
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