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Introduction to Insect Macro Photography (Part II) – How to Approach Insects

February 24, 2014 by Huub de Waard 1 Comment

Photo by Huub de Ward / Portrait of the Common Yellow Dung-fly (Scathophaga stercoraria), sometimes called the golden dung fly:  Magnification 9, f/6.4, ISO 100 and 1/250 sec
Photo by Huub de Ward / Portrait of the Common Yellow Dung-fly (Scathophaga stercoraria), sometimes called the golden dung fly: Magnification 9, f/6.4, ISO 100 and 1/250 sec
This is part II of a guest post by Huub de Waard, an exceptional photographer who specializes in close-up shots of insects. After reading his post, be sure to check out more of his awesome photos at his website. And, if you’re also interested in writing a guest post here on PhotoNaturalist, please contact me, thanks! –Steve

Although most insects do not have orifices in their body for picking up sound vibrations, many use parts of their body, such as their wings, antennae, or special hairs, like TV antennae to detect vibrations in the environment or in the air. Any errant movement on your part could cause you to miss a shot, so be sure to tread carefully when approaching your subjects.

Your job is to make yourself appear non-threatening. The first thing you want to do is move very slowly. Look before you move, look at where you place your feet, look at where your equipment is, and most of all plan where you are going to put the front of your lens. Many potentially good shots have been ruined by the front of a lens bumping a branch or leaf where an insect was resting, causing it to flee. [Read more…] about Introduction to Insect Macro Photography (Part II) – How to Approach Insects

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: approaching, close, close up, insect, lens, Macro, micro, photography, small, up, vision

Introduction to Insect Macro Photography (Part I)

February 17, 2014 by Huub de Waard 2 Comments

Photo by Huub de Waard / Portrait of a little fly: Magnification 8, f/8, ISO 100 and 1/250 sec
Photo by Huub de Waard / Portrait of a little fly: Magnification 8, f/8, ISO 100 and 1/250 sec

This is a guest post by Huub de Waard, an exceptional photographer who specializes in close-up shots of insects. After reading his post, be sure to check out more of his awesome photos at his website. And, if you’re also interested in writing a guest post here on PhotoNaturalist, please contact me, thanks! –Steve

One of the most popular books that I read during my childhood was Eric in the Land of the Insects, written by the Dutch author Godfried Bomans. In this humorous fantasy, nine-year-old Eric enters the landscape painting that hangs on his wall and he discovers a world of man-sized wasps, bees, butterflies and other insects that is stunningly similar to the world of humans. Once photography became a part of my life and I purchased the Canon extreme macro lens MP-E 65 mm f/2.8, which has combined with a 2x teleconverter a maximum magnification of 10:1, my world was populated with grasshoppers, spiders, snails, flies, dragonflies and butterflies—Eric’s world.

Magnification describes the relationship between the actual size of the subject and the size of its image on the sensor of the camera. Photographing a 3 cm (1.18 inch) long blue-tailed damselfly so that its image size is 1 cm (0.39 inch) on the sensor means that the magnification is 1/3 (1:3) life-size. Dividing the size of the subject’s image on the sensor by the actual size determines the magnification. At 1:1 life-size, the size of the subject on the sensor is as big as it is in real life. Macrophotography is restricted to magnifications in the order of 1:10 to 1:1 life-size. Microphotography is the extreme form of macrophotography, dedicated to the photography of small objects from life-size to modest enlargements of up to about 20. [Read more…] about Introduction to Insect Macro Photography (Part I)

Filed Under: Close-Up, Macro, Tips Tagged With: bellows, close, close up, distance, extension, focus, focusing distance, insect, Macro, micro, photography, teleconverter, tube

Benefits of a Full Frame Camera

September 23, 2013 by Steve Berardi 16 Comments

CMOS SensorOne of the most common questions that comes up when upgrading your digital SLR is whether or not to go with a “full frame” camera or stick with a crop sensor. There’s good and bad things about both types of cameras, but here are a few benefits of the larger “full frame” sensor: [Read more…] about Benefits of a Full Frame Camera

Filed Under: Tips Tagged With: camera, close up, cmos, crop, depth of field, frame, full, gear, landscape, photography, sensor

Three Quick Tips For Close-Ups

April 8, 2013 by Steve Berardi 2 Comments

California Wild Rose / Photo by Steve Berardi
California Wild Rose / Photo by Steve Berardi
Now that spring has arrived here in the Northern Hemisphere, it’s time to start thinking about photographing all those wonderful wildflowers and insects. It’s the perfect season for close-up photography.

So, here are three quick tips to get you started:

#1 – Get down to your subject’s level

Many of the plants and insects that come out in the spring live very low to the ground, so your first reaction may be to photograph them from where you first spot them (standing up and looking down at them). But, many times it’s better to get down to your subject’s level and photograph them from there because it captures a more friendly point of view (almost as if you’re seeing eye-to-eye with your subject). [Read more…] about Three Quick Tips For Close-Ups

Filed Under: Macro, Tips, Wildflowers Tagged With: butterfly, close, close up, dragonfly, extension, flower, insect, Macro, nature, photography, telephoto, tube, up, wildflower

How To Focus Closer With your Lenses

March 5, 2013 by Steve Berardi 3 Comments

Every lens has a minimum focusing distance: the closest point where the lens can get a sharp focus. Generally, the longer the focal length of the lens, the greater the minimum focusing distance.

Most of the time, this distance isn’t a problem because with longer lenses you’ll generally be photographing a distant subject.

But, those longer telephoto lenses are also great for close-up photography, because they help you isolate your subject against a specific part of the background. In these cases, this minimum focus distance often becomes a problem because many lenses won’t let you get close enough to fill the frame with a small subject (such as a wildflower or insect).

So, how do you make your lens focus closer? [Read more…] about How To Focus Closer With your Lenses

Filed Under: Macro, Tips, Wildflowers Tagged With: close, close up, distance, focus, insects, lens, lenses, Macro, minimum, photography, up, wildflowers

Nature Photography In The Least Expected Places

January 29, 2013 by Vic Berardi Leave a Comment

Photo by Vic Berardi
Photo by Vic Berardi
It’s the dead of winter, you live in an area that doesn’t have classic winter scenery, then you look outside and see that it’s cold and dreary. The last snowfall was at least a week ago, so taking photos with beautiful fresh snow in the background or foreground isn’t an option. So, you decide to stay home and wait for a better day…you shouldn’t. There are opportunities out there on any given day to take nature photos, if you just look hard enough.

A couple of weeks ago I ventured out on such a day and after becoming exhausted at trying to find something to photograph, I happened to drive over a small creek and stopped to look and see if any water was moving. There wasn’t but something else caught my eye: autumn leaves & ice! I pulled over to the side of the road, got out with my camera and tripod and slowly looked at all the small scenery along this very small and mostly frozen creek. What I saw was limitless in compositions and beauty! [Read more…] about Nature Photography In The Least Expected Places

Filed Under: Tips Tagged With: close up, cold, ditch, ice, leaves, Macro, nature, photography, winter

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