Tips for Photographing Insects

Get ready for some tips on photographing insects without all the f-stop/shutter speed gobbledy-gook. I have a simple setup and some simple techniques I would like to describe for photographing insects.

I won’t be dealing with anything like bellows or extension tubes, just your plain old everyday ordinary macro lens. I use a 50 mm macro lens with a minimum focusing distance of 7.2 inches. I can get a 1:1 life size ratio image using the lens. Meaning the image on the film is the same size as the object being photographed.

I do this photography outside for lighting purposes. You will need a tripod, a translucent or transparent plastic utility/storage box, the homemade gadget shown below, a remote shutter release, a few colors of construction paper(sky blue, grass green, and earth brown are good choices), and of course your subject…an insect.

If you find construction materials that fit the bill then my all means use these as a substitute. These are just guidelines to follow for ideas and without going to great expense. If you shoot lots of small objects you may already have a photo cube or light tent that might even work better.

Tape your chosen color of construction paper to the bottom of the storage box and place the box on its side onto an outdoor table or platform of your choosing that is at a comfortable working height.

Assemble the gadget so it looks something like what you see in the picture. As they say a picture is worth a thousand words. It is really rather simple and I included two pictorial angles.

Basically the parts include: a clothes pin, 2 nuts with washers and long bolt that will screw into the camera body where your removable tripod attachment ordinarily fits, padding for camera(I used a small section of foam core) which not only protects the camera bottom but also aids in movement due to less friction, and a wooden board for a rail. Depending on your arrangement you may also need an additional nut and washer or a C-clamp as I explain later.

Find a scrap of wood wide enough to accommodate a camera body and with enough room to cut a slot in the board/rail. I used a jigsaw. Also consider rail length. You’ll need a section long enough to slide the camera back and forth towards the subject and still have enough length left over to keep your subject within your box/”wind barrier”.

The board I used was 21” long X 2.5” wide and ¾” thick. I cut a slot in the board approximately ½ wide leaving about an inch of wood at each end. This is plenty wide to accommodate a bolt with threads the same size as the threads on your tripod mount which will fit to the camera body. If the rail is too thin it won’t support the camera’s weight and similarly for length, if too long and thin, and mounted to the tripod at the far end it will bend with the camera’s weight or tip the tripod.

You will be able to adjust the rail length by sliding it along the top of your tripod mount with the mount screw through the slot. The screw on my mount was too short to have room to fit through the rail and still have room for a bolt and washer to grip. In fact a rail thin enough for the screw would have been too flimsy. I used a C-clamp instead and fastened the rail to my tripod mount that way. If your screw is too short you will either have to slot one end of your rail at the tripod end to accommodate an additional washer and nut to mount the rail to the tripod or use a C-clamp as I did.

At the opposite end glue a clothespin or other clamping device so the opening is towards the top. You could affix the clothes pin with Velcro as well depending on your subject’s weight. The Velcro would give you a way of adjusting the pin up and down for further focusing ability.

Place your mounting bolt through the slot and mount your camera on the rail. When you are ready to take pictures you can slide your camera along the rail towards your subject until the subject is in focus and then tighten the bolt nut to secure the camera’s position. If your macro lens telescopes, place your camera within close range of focus to your subject and then make minor adjustments with the lens barrel or autofocus. This way the camera to subject distance will be fixed. When ready use your remote shutter release to reduce movement.

Your subject(or in this case his or her perch) will be placed at the end of the rail and held in place by the clothespin or other clamp of your choosing. This arrangement will work best with larger insects like grasshoppers, butterflies, praying mantis, etc.(I’ll explain later). Your subject ideally will be gripping a twig, leaf, piece of grass, etc. so fasten that perch material to the clothes pin with your subject aloft.

This setup will provide a steady environment in which to shoot. Naturally you can always use specimens from your butterfly or other insect collection if you have one. If you are like me and most folks you don’t own a collection, so you will have to improvise, besides live subjects look better. Capture your live subject in a container with perch material, and with the lid on of course, place the container in the refrigerator for at least 15 minutes. Then affix the perch your insect is on to the clothespin.

Your “frozen”/immobile subject along with your wind barrier will permit you to use slow shutter speeds for a longer exposure which also permits smaller apertures for better depth of field. The chilling should immobilize your subject long enough to get a few shots in. If your subject begins to move before you are finished, redo the chill technique. I mentioned the technique working best with larger insects earlier. This is because they will be easier to focus on than tiny insects since this is macro photography without bellows or extension tubes. Close focus would be much harder on smaller creatures. Secondly it will be easier to find creatures to grip to some plant material and stay put.

Disclosure to PETA: No animals were harmed in any way during these photo shoots and when completed the creatures were returned to the wild. All insects were knitted tiny garments made from synthetic material to add to their comfort during the chilling process.

authored by Lon Britton

For an informative nature site on bee behavior and other bee keeping facts go to: http://www.bees-on-the-net.com/index.html