Photo advice
Macro photography zooms in on a very different side of the natural world, writes Gail Ashton
Macro photography and the joy of insects and invertebrates
First of all, an admission. I am not a birder. Don’t get me wrong, I love birds and have done since I was very young. I don’t, however, possess the birder’s ability to respond to a 3am phone alert with the diligence of a first-response paramedic, to hurtle the breadth of five counties for a distant glimpse of some accidental migrant, through a high-powered telescope. That kind of madness and commitment I will leave up to you.
Also, I am a terrible bird photographer. I am in awe of the photos I see of birds in flight – I just don’t have the eye, or quite possibly the reaction speed, to freeze high-speed moving objects so beautifully. It is a completely alien concept to me, brought home last week when I was sitting on the waterline of a small lake with a woefully under-powered 100mm lens, trying to capture Emperor dragonflies thundering across the water at speeds of up to 30mph, with increasing desperation, to the point where I openly pleaded with them to please just sit down for a moment. At that point, I would have happily traded my house for a 600mm/f.4 L, just to get one decent shot. I eventually conceded defeat, whereupon I reverted to my familiar tactic of creeping through the grass for three hours until I had the plain good fortune to see an Emperor sink briefly to the ground, just long enough for me to sneak within a metre or so and get the shot.
I am a macro photographer – a very different beast. I am usually no further than 30cm away from my subject, and, get this, they often let me cuddle them. Through a macro lens I can observe the exquisite detail and colour of members of the most diverse taxa on the planet. Macro photography is the enlargement of small objects to life-size, or larger, on the chip (or negative in old terms). You will often see more distant shots of insects loosely referred to as macro, but a true macro lens is 1:1 ( life-size) or greater. There are a wide range of lenses and optical accessories available to suit all tastes and budgets, from a £20 clip-on lens for your phone to a £1,000 top-of-the-range optic for your DSLR.
When choosing macro kit, it’s important to put some thought into its potential weight and bulk. Whereas bird photography is usually two handed, or supported by a monopod or tripod, insect photography is more of a one-handed job; the left hand will often be keeping a leaf still, or pinning back vegetation. My equipment, the Canon 5D Mark IV, with the 65MP-E 1-5x macro lens and dedicated ring-flash is about the best that is available, and I absolutely love it, but it weighs in at a mammoth 1.6kg. Mirrorless full-frame camera systems reduce weight and bulk somewhat; micro four thirds systems even more so. I have seen very impressive macro results from the Olympus OM cameras and lenses, and the lighter profile is a big plus. In terms of lenses, are you looking for a more versatile all-rounder,
or a dedicated extreme close-up lens? I use two lenses; the aforementioned 65MP-E, and a 100mm/f2.8 L macro. The 65MP-E can sharp-shoot handheld right down to at least 3.5x magnification, maintaining superb clarity right down to every puncture and seta on a ruby-tailed wasp. But it cannot fit anything larger than a good-sized bumblebee in frame. The 100mm takes over here, allowing me to shoot larger insects both 1:1 (macro) and further away (not macro). Between the two, I have pretty much everything covered.
For obvious reasons, one thing that the bird photographer will not be familiar with using in the field is artificial lighting. Unlike birds, invertebrates are relatively unbothered by flash, which is fortunate because lighting is a fairly necessary tool for insect macro photography. It is possible to light naturally, if you are happy to sacrifice depth of field by opening the aperture right up; this can create a gorgeously soft, ethereal feel in the right conditions. Many insects, however, will be concealed in shadier spots under vegetation. Some are crepuscular, for example Stag Beetles; some nocturnal, such as most moths. In these circumstances, artificial lighting is just about essential.
Cloud cover
Shooting insects with flash can be tricky. Some have very dark surfaces, which seem to absorb all light; and some, particularly the metallic individuals, play havoc with the visible colours, owing to the structural colour in their exoskeletons, known as iridescence (a phenomenon researched by physicist Dr Damien Leech). When you photograph a beetle such as a Rose Chafer with on-camera flash, the green beetle you see with your eyes magically turns deep crimson in your photograph! Iridescence is common in many insects, and can result in overexposure, underexposure or, bizarrely, both at the same time.
The remedy for this paradox is diffusion. The principle of diffusion is simple: the larger and softer the light source, the more evenly lit your exposure will be. You’ve probably experienced the difficulty of shooting in bright sunlight; shadows are much harder and exposures uneven. The perfect
scenario is a high, thin layer of cloud cover which acts as a giant soft box to even out shadows and highlights. In a similar way, a flash gun emits a very hard light unless it is diffused. Some flashes have built-in diffusers and you can also buy mini softboxes that attach to the flash, but the thin layer of built-in fabric does not always soften the light enough (for me, at least). Many insect macro photographers build their own diffusers using a range of household items and often on an impressively low budget; you will find some brilliant tutorials and DIY videos online. I, too, have custom-built a diffuser for my ring-light using nothing more than foamboard, electrical tape and tracing paper. The diffusion panel is six layers of tracing paper thick and works a treat. Once you have your diffuser perfected you basically have a portable studio – a stable, consistent light source against which you can set your exposure and leave it, with only minimal tweaks. When using the 65MP-E, I simply set my camera to 1/200, f.13 at
ISO 200, shifting the aperture up and down a little, when necessary. No more guesswork, and no more bad light excuses.
Sun and shadows
Photographing invertebrates is much easier than birds, as they are far more abundant and let us get a lot closer. Beetles are fairly ambivalent to your presence, whereas flies and bees can be twitchier, but woodlice really couldn’t care less. When you approach a flightier subject, approach with the sun in front of you. Flying insects will perceive a shadow as a threat and swiftly escape. It’s worth knowing that insects also have individual personalities; one Marmalade Hoverfly will drive you to distraction as you chase it around the Cow Parsley; but another one will happily sit and let you shoot away. Just like birds, insects have behaviour patterns; the longer you spend observing them, the easier it will become to predict their habits, which will in turn improve your photography. If there are key differences between bird and invertebrate photography, then there are also similarities. Both demand patience and benefit from a good knowledge base. Once you get started, and turn your gaze from the distant to the very close up, you will find a spectacular universe of colour, pattern and behaviour in this fascinating group of animals.