Work with insects
Capture better close-up shots of arthropods and other skittish subjects
Shooting plants and flowers is challenging enough, but while they may be prone to movement through wind motion, they are, in most circumstances, fairly stationary. Insects, spiders and other arthropods, as well as small mammals like shrews, are an entirely different challenge. Not only do we have to contend with the fundamental technical hurdles of the macro photography genre, but we also have to be able to work with highly mobile subjects that are rapid and easily disturbed. If we attempt to move in close with a short macro optic to achieve high magnification, we are likely to activate the organisms’ alarm responses, which usually includes an immediate dart for cover!
It is necessary to adapt our creative approach even further to anticipate subject behaviour, and make use of camera settings that are appropriate for the shooting conditions. For this we have a choice to make: aim for motion-freezing shutter speeds at the expense of background detail, or find the ideal shooting position to take rapid motion out of the equation. It’s tempting to push your exposure duration as fast as possible, as you might for other forms of wildlife photography, but this is no guarantee of success.
Many insects move so quickly that, at the close focusing distances likely in use, there is little chance of rendering them sharp midaction. If this is your end goal it needs to be planned from the outset, and requires yet more adjustment to your setup, including the use of high-speed flash. If you wish to capture sharp images of a still subject it is better to avoid causing it to move, and craft the lighting for a stationary scene. This enables you to lengthen the shutter speed by at least one stop, thereby allowing a smaller aperture for increased depth-of-field coverage. It also brightens the background by permitting more ambient light into the camera, which generates a more balanced frame.
As for focusing, the techniques discussed on this page cover almost any circumstance where the subject is stationary, but if your insect is walking slowly, consider focusing on a single spot and waiting for the creature to walk into the frame.