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Learning Macro Insect Photography
Insects, bugs and spiders make great close up photography subjects in that most of us have easy access to them, and done properly the images created can be quite spectacular. Here are a few suggestions for any photographers getting going in macro insect photography.
Camera Settings:
Switch to manual focus and lock it off at the distance you need. Then move backwards and forwards till you find the sweet spot. Try experimenting with macro rings and tele-convertors as well as your macro lens, and get an understanding of the ways that you can apply both magnification and zoom in a single image. (When using zooms, watch for vignetting).
Switch to Aperture priority and use the smallest aperture for the maximum depth of field. Magnification decreases your depth of field so you usually wish to be using the fastest possible lens at maximum aperture.
Lighting Options:
Pick your days for perfect light. Bright overcast days are good and permit for quicker shutter speeds. Play around with fill flash and reflectors to light your subject. With fill flash, use only the bare minimum to even things out and store color. If your background isn't ideal, try utilising shades to darken problem areas.
External Flash will give you much greater control and better results. Always diffuse the light and/or reflect it. Bracket as much as you can and take a note of the settings you use, and get an understanding of the best settings for your get at different distances and magnifications.
Experiment with a Tele-Converter after your Macro lens as this lets you get the same magnification from farther away, which helps you light your subject more evenly.
Practical Considerations:
Be patient and move slowly. Study your subject and see how it behaves, then work out how to capture it. Decide on the most vital feature "usually the eyes "that must definitely be in perfect focus for the photo to work.
Get to know your subject before you start. When are they most active? What do they do at night? What plants do they feed on? What behaviours or traits make them unique?
Be aware of the background, depth of field and shadow areas. Watch that your own shadow does not fall on your subject. Most insects are very attuned to temperature, so even your breath may cause the insect to take flight. (Conversely, some beetles will freeze if you breathe on them, so be sure you experiment)
In an open environment, give your subject time to become used to you before you move in. Once you are set, move in shooting fast as you get closer. Get plenty of shots from different distances and angles, bracket your exposures and alter your flash.
Editing Your Images:
Be super hard on your self and be prepared to dump lots of your images. This will be simpler if you're totally clear on what you were trying to capture before you started, especially with regards the main feature of your subject.
Once you have removed the images that missed the mark, you can do lots of digital editing to improve the shots. Most will be improved with some adjustment to the curves, contrast and color saturation.
Stronger shots can be improved further with easy cropping and rotation. On borderline photographs you can apply selective sharpening to your subject and blur the background as required.
Commercial Considerations:
If you want to sell your macro insect photography, then it's worth taking some time to analyze both the market and your competition.
It should come as no great surprise that competition is steep. Nearly all photographers with a macro lens will go looking for bugs to shoot at some point or other, and with a little practice and patience, most will do a fair job of it.
You just have to look thru some of the photo sharing sites to see that there's just as many great images there as you're going to find on most professional stock photo libraries. Basically, insect photo buyers are spoiled for choice when it comes to striking insect macros. You can stand out from the masses though.
Usually it boils down to shooting 'behavioural ' shots as well as the 'portraits'.
Most macro insect photographers always focus on the portrait type shot, so any time you can capture an image that demonstrates a behaviour or feature which make a species unique, you are getting something that most other people miss and photo buyers can use.
The next thing most photographers do not do well is, identify their subject. At best they might give their image a common name like 'caterpillar ' or 'stick insect ' which is no use at all to a photo researcher in need of a particular species.
So. always ensure you identify the species with it's full sclientific/llatin name, plus any common names, and if you can add some engaging behavioural facts and figures too , even better!
Matt Brading
Visit GlobalEye Stock Photo Library to view extraordinary examples of macro insect photography. If you have great macro insect photographs to sell, please review our Photographer Info (and download your free stock photography business kit) you'll find out more about selling photographs online here.
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