04 Here be dragonf lies!
Look close enough and you’ll find the undergrowth swarming with little creatures
The biodiversity in ordinary back gardens is amazing. Spend five minutes sitting still in one spot on a warm day, and you’ll notice myriad varieties of little creatures within your grasp. These small and alien-looking beings make fantastic subjects, but they can be a little tricky to photograph. You can’t tell them to stay still, they dart back and forth, and most fly or dash away as soon as you get your camera into position, if not before. However, there are a few measures you can take to increase your chances of getting a great capture. The first consideration is numbers. The larger the number of insects in one setting, the more likely it is that you’ll be able to capture a keeper. One place where you’ll be sure to get lots of action is by a pond or riverside. If you don’t have either of these in your neighbourhood, then try just about anywhere that’s naturally damp or wet. Look under rocks or pieces of wood around your garden, for instance. The ground underneath will be teeming with life.
The second consideration is the time of day. Early morning is by far the best time. Ideally, you should get out before the morning dew has disappeared. Not only is the light soft and warm in these hours, but the air temperature is cooler, making the insects slower and more docile. If you’re lucky, you may even spot one covered in small dew drops drying out in the sun.
No matter how sluggish they are, it’s always best to photograph insects when shooting with your camera handheld, so you can keep up with them and make the most of fleeting opportunities. If you have a particularly unstable hand, a monopod may come in handy.
“Use the green vegetation to isolate your subject, and avoid distracting grasses creeping into the side of the frame”
When it comes to camera settings, aperture is the first consideration. You’re shooting at such a close distance that you want to try to keep the aperture around f/8. This is to try to keep as much of the creature in the frame as sharp as possible. You also need to consider your shutter speed setting. For a better guarantee of sharpness, aim for a shutter speed around 1/1,000 sec or faster. You may have to push the ISO setting up to get this. It’s better to have an image that’s a little noisy than one that’s blurred and completely unusable. If you’re photographing insects in flight, then you’ll need to alter the autofocus setting. Shoot in a continuous high burst mode sequence, and alter the autofocus mode to the tracking feature. This these will increase your chances of getting a sharp shot.
Finally, when photographing insects, think about the background. Essentially, the less cluttered, the better. Use the green vegetation to isolate your subject, and avoid distracting grasses creeping into the side of the frame.