Infrared insects
Sara Jazbar combined two of her photography passions and ended up with this incredible, ethereal series of infrared macro images
Ilike using photography to magnify small subjects and the details that aren’t (or are just barely) visible to the naked eye. I also enjoy experimenting to spice things up, which is how I became interested in infrared photography. Exploring this medium was like entering a new dimension, an invisible world I had dreamed of as a child that I could finally capture with my camera. It was then just a natural progression for me to start combining my interest in macro and infrared to produce something completely different.
A whole new world
The kit for this genre is important, because you need a converted camera to shoot infrared at normal shutter speeds. Infrared lens filters are like ND filters – you’d need a tripod, but I didn’t want to be limited.
A macro lens is crucial too. You could use methods like extension tubes or close-up filters to avoid purchasing a dedicated lens, but I’ve never found that convenient, because each of these has drawbacks: you lose stops with extension tubes and image quality with close-up filters.
Three years ago I bred swallowtails.
It was my first experience home-breeding butterflies and it was amazing! To follow these small caterpillars as they hatch from eggs to become big, beautiful butterflies that can fly free is priceless. When the butterflies hatch from the chrysalis, it takes some time before they are ready to fly, their wings have to unfold and dry out. This is a fantastic moment to photograph them [1].
Last year I bought a bird bath, but hadn’t considered insects might take advantage of the fresh water too. When the neighbours installed an apiary our garden swarmed with bees and many came to drink from the bird bath. I picked up my Nikon D600 and sat in the middle of the garden, with all the bees buzzing around me! I started taking pictures of the flying insects and then I moved to the bird bath and saw there were dozens of bees drinking from it. This shot was taken handheld [2]; the greatest challenge was keeping the bee in focus with such a shallow depth of field.
This shot [3] was taken handheld at some lakes near my home in Trieste. At seven in the morning damselflies are already active and flying around. Most are quite stationary though, once they find a nice stick to perch on. The trick is to move closer slowly and a little bit at a time, being careful not to scare them so much that they fly away for good.
This was taken during a macro Facebook group gathering near Modena, Italy [4].
We had to wake up early to find insects that were still inactive, so we met at 5:00am. I was in Bologna the day before to shoot the city with friends and arrived at my hotel at 3:30am. That gave me an hour to get some sleep! I had never seen a mayfly before and I loved how my infrared camera gave it a surreal feeling, making it look like a fairy.
I love these butterflies [5]! I was thrilled to find one asleep in my garden – it was the first time I was able to photograph an Aporia crataegi. I usually look for insects at sunset, I find where they rest at night and come back the next day, hopeful nothing has disturbed them. Here, I was lucky, because at 4:30am the butterfly was still there.
I picked up my Nikon D600 and sat in the middle of the garden, with all the bees buzzing around me!