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My primary intent in reinvigorating my interest in photography was to photograph dragonflies for my work on the Odonata of Michigan. It was a typical case of "I can do that..." of course, if I had the right equipment, I could, or at least thought I could. Like any longlost love, my affair was rekindled and I soon branched out into other avenues of photography, such as black and white. However, my main focus is on how to improve my photography of insects, and especially dragonflies and damselflies. The problem with insects is that with a few exceptions, they are small and fast, and humans are big and slow. Therefore, you have to use a true macro lens or close-focus telephoto with extension tubes or close-up lenses. It also helps if you have some sort of tripod that's easily adjustable and can get low to the ground. Since you lose light when you magnify the image, a flash is a good idea, especially if you can separate it from the body of the camera and get it as close to the subject as pssible. Fast film is often, but not always a good idea, depending on the light. The photo at left is of a mantis that I followed around in Ann Arbor at Nichols Arboretum. I shot the photo with a Ricoh KR-5, 50mm lens w/a 3x diopter close-up lens. Not the optimum setup, but the composition is neat. |
Damselflies are more easily approached than most dragonflies. However, their small delicate nature means that you also have to get close to them and use a true macro lens.
Taken with a 200mm Pentax SMC lens, extension tubes, and a Ricoh KR-5. Film: Kodak Gold 100.
Dragonflies that perch, like this Sympetrum costiferum below, can be approached rather closely and if they fly off, will often return to the same perch if you keep still, and your camera ready.
Above - Taken with Chinon CM-5 and Tamron 80-210mm zoom with 25mm extension tube.
Below - Another shot of a Sympetrum - S. obtrusum, taken with Chinon CM-5, Tamron 80-210mm zoom + extension tube, and Kodak EPN-100 slide film.
This one taken on Imation 100 chrome film with Nikon FE, Tamron 90mm SP macro + 2x converter & Vivitar ring flash. 1/125th @ f11
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You can't beat an hour in a butterfly house to have fun with close-up photography. The butterflies are abundant, usually slow-moving, and are often feeding on nectar sources.. It's a lot cheaper than a trip to the tropics, too. I shot mostly slides that day, and will post some shots when I get some slides scanned in. You might ask why I shot in aperture-priority mode. Well, the scene changes when you are following the butterflies around in your viewfinder, and I wanted to get maximum DOF with a reasonable shutter speed, so I set my f stop at around f8 and that kept the shutter somewhere between 1/60 and 1/250 when I was shooting.
March 15, 2004