Butterflies of the World - Lifecycle, Ecology, Taxonomy, Conservation, Photography, Butterfly Holidays, Photo Galleries, Book Reviews and more.........
Text and photographs protected by Copyright © Adrian Hoskins 2007, and must not be published in part or in whole elsewhere without prior written permission from the author.
Butterfly photography PAGE 3
 
PAGE 1 - Digital cameras and lenses
PAGE 2 - Film cameras and lenses
PAGE 3 - Shooting techniques by flash or daylight
 
Techniques
 
shooting distance | shutter speeds | apertures | metering | bracketing | using flash | natural lighting steadying the camera | varying the style | photo-manipulation

Shooting distance

If you are new to butterfly photography, it is tempting to fit your camera with a telephoto or long zoom lens, and to take your pictures from a distance. There are two problems with this approach : Firstly, it is difficult to hold the camera steady, so you need to use a fast shutter speed. This often means using a high ISO setting / fast film, which results in high levels of "noise" or "grain". Secondly, it is much more awkward to manoeuvre a heavy camera / lens combination to get in plane with the subject.

There are of course occasions when you have no choice but to shoot from a distance, e.g. when a butterfly is basking high on a tree trunk, so it makes sense to carry a long lens in your camera bag, but for 90% of the time you are better off using a medium focal length macro lens ( 70mm for an APS format DSLR, or 105mm for a 35mm SLR ).

A camera equipped with one of these shorter lenses will be more manoeuvrable, lighter, and will have a wider maximum aperture, resulting in a brighter viewfinder. OK, you are shooting from a much closer distance - and it takes a bit of practice to get close to the butterfly without scaring it off, but if you wear dark clothes, approach carefully, and avoid casting your shadow on the butterfly, you'll be fine.

Shutter speeds and apertures

The easy option is to put the camera on Program mode, and let the camera take care of everything, but if you do so, you need to use a 400 ISO film, or set your digital camera to 400 ISO to be sure that the camera chooses a shutter speed of 1/200 second or shorter duration ( to "freeze" movement ), and sets the aperture to F11 or smaller ( to keep more of the subject in focus ). The actual setting chosen by the camera will of course depend on the lighting conditions.

Serious photographers like to have more control. When shooting digital images for the website, I set the camera to 400 ISO, and use Shutter Priority mode, usually with the shutter speed set to 1/250 sec. The camera then "chooses" an appropriate aperture for the lighting conditions - typically between F8 - F22.

When I'm shooting with my film cameras, I also use Shutter Priority mode. I normally shoot on Fuji Provia 100F, which reproduces colours the way I like them ( neutral, and not over-saturated ). The film's relatively slow ISO speed means that in poor light I might have to use shutter speeds as long as 1/30, and apertures as wide as F4 or F5.6, but usually if the light is poor the butterflies are very inactive, which makes life a lot easier.

Metering and bracketing

Digital SLRs have extremely sophisticated light metering systems which compare the scene in the viewfinder with an on-board database representing thousands of different scenes. Using advanced algorithms they calculate the precise exposure needed, and set the correct shutter speed / aperture combination. Thus it is very unusual for a digital SLR to deliver an inaccurate exposure. Even if the exposure is slightly off the mark, it is easy to correct the situation afterwards with image editing software such as Photoshop or PaintShop Pro.

The metering systems in film cameras however are comparatively crude, and incorrectly exposed slides are unsalvageable, so whenever possible "bracket" the exposures. This simply means that if your camera tells you the correct exposure is 1/125 at F11, you should take a shot at that setting, plus extra shots of 1/125 at F8, and 1/125 at F16. This way you can be pretty sure that at least one of the shots will be perfect. Most modern cameras allow you to take a rapid bracketed sequence automatically.

A
Bracketed plus one stop
B
Automatic metered exposure
C
Bracketed minus one stop

The benefits of bracketing can be seen in the series of photos above. The exposure as chosen by the camera ( B ) would have produced an excessively dark picture, but the shot bracketed at plus 1 stop ( A ) looks far better.

Using flash

Funnily enough, when the sun is shining brightly, I usually use flash ! This may seem odd, but in sunny conditions butterflies are often very active, and the short duration of the flash ( typically about 1/2000 sec ) is better at "freezing" their movement. Although the flash duration is short, the light output is very high - brighter than sunlight at close distances. This means that apertures as small as F22 or F32 can be used, resulting in greater depth of field ( more of the subject in focus ).

Dedicated flashguns

So-called "dedicated" flashes automatically set the appropriate shutter speed for correct flash synchronisation, typically 1/125 second. They also transmit a "correct exposure achieved" signal to the viewfinder, and usually incorporate a timer which turns the flash off after a few minutes to conserve battery power, and turns it on again when you put half-pressure on the shutter release.

Dedicated flashes are produced by Canon, Nikon, Olympus, Pentax and Sony for their respective cameras. Independent manufacturers including Sigma, Sunpak, Braun and Vivitar also produce models dedicated to certain cameras.

TTL flash

All modern SLR cameras ( both film and digital ) meter the flash intensity directly from the image plane behind the lens, and automatically control the duration of the flash burst to achieve correct exposure. Some systems work better than others, and it is sometimes necessary to use exposure compensation if the subject is very pale, very dark, or if the background is some distance behind the subject.

With film cameras the metering is usually done at the time of actual exposure, with the meter reading taken directly from the surface of the film when the shutter is open. This method cannot be used by digital SLRs because the surface of the image sensors is to shiny, so metering from it would result in inaccurate exposures.

Pre-flash

Digital SLRs fire a low power "pre-flash" a fraction of a second before the main flash. The pre-flash is used to set the flash burst duration of the main flash. Unfortunately for us, Satyrines and many other butterflies have extremely sensitive eyes, and incredibly fast reflexes. Consequently when the pre-flash fires, the butterfly instantly flicks it's wings, or flies off, leaving the photographer with a blurred image, or nothing at all !

For these sensitive species alternative methods must be used :

One option is to set the flashgun to fire manually on full power ( or fractional settings if available ), in which case the camera does not trigger a pre-flash. In these cases the flash burst duration is fixed, and the aperture is adjusted to achieve correct exposure. The appropriate aperture will be dependent on subject distance, flash output and ambient lighting conditions, so it is necessary to take a few test shots beforehand, and use the results as a guide to which settings to use out in the field.

The other option is to shoot these species by natural light.

Off-camera flash

Flash often produces unnatural results - butterflies can look like cardboard cut-outs, and reflections from the flash can make the wings look too shiny, particularly if they are worn and have lost a few scales.

You can avoid the problem by using a flash mounted on a bracket at 45 degrees above and to the side of the camera. This provides a more 3-dimensional lighting, and eliminates the reflections, but sometimes produces very dark shadows. You can improve the results by using the integral flash as a supplementary light to "fill-in" the shadows.

Ring flash

A ring flash normally consists of a single circular flash tube which surrounds the lens. Some models have a different design, with 4 tiny flash tubes built in to a housing that screws into the filter mount of the lens.

Both types produce soft and virtually shadow-less illumination similar to that produced by daylight on an overcast day. Their devotees extol the virtues of soft lighting and ease of use, but the textures of the wing veins, scales and the foliage on which the butterfly is resting all tend to get lost, leaving a dull lifeless image.

Ring-flashes are marketed by Canon, Nikon, Sony, Pentax, Olympus, Sigma and various other brands, and are dedicated to particular cameras.

Twin-macro flash

Twin-macro flashes consist of a pair of small flash heads, mounted on a ring surrounding the lens. The flash heads are linked by cable to a "controller" which sits in the camera's hot-shoe. The controller allows the user to set automatic TTL flash-metering, or to set each flash unit individually to provide manual flash at full power or fractional settings down to 1/64 power.

Normal practice is to have one flash operating at full power to provide modelling and texture, and the other at half power to fill-in the shadow areas. The effect is usually very pleasing.

The flash heads can be set to a number of positions around the ring, and can be angled to point the light directly at any subject regardless of distance.

Most twin-macro flashes come as a complete kit, with diffusers, wide-panels, extension arms and adaptors to fit various lenses. Canon, Nikon and Sony market models dedicated to their respective cameras, Currently there are no independent models available.

Balancing flash with daylight

The power of the flash diminishes with distance, so backgrounds receive less illumination than the foreground subject. This often results in a dreadful "taken at night" look, but fortunately this can be easily overcome by ensuring that the flash output and sunlight are balanced.

The easiest way to achieve this is to set the flash compensation to zero, and the daylight compensation to minus 1 stop. The subject is then correctly exposed by flash, while the background appears slightly darker - enough to minimise any "ghost" images, but still providing plenty of detail in the background.

Don't forget to reset the compensation afterwards though, or your daylight-only shots will be under-exposed !

Large Skipper  Ochlodes venata - Photographed by weak sunlight, in combination with the built-in flash unit. Nikon D50, 18-55 zoom at closest focus, aperture priority metering, F16.

 
White-letter Hairstreak  Satyrium w-album - Shutter priority, 1/125 sec. The camera set the aperture and flash duration automatically, balancing the flash and ambient lighting perfectly.

Natural lighting

As any good photographer will tell you, the lighting is at least as important as the subject. In overcast conditions, lighting will be flat and virtually shadow-less, and ideal for bringing out the most subtle hues and tones on a butterfly's wings. Bright sunlight on the other hand will make the colours much more vivid, and give photos more visual impact.

Brimstone Gonepteryx rhamni at rest. The overhead midday sun has enhanced the textures of the veins and wing scales.

To bring out the texture of the wings, you need the light to be directional. Use the low angle of early morning / late afternoon sunlight to accentuate the surface textures of basking butterflies; or use overhead midday sunlight to bring out the textures of species that hold their wings closed above their bodies whilst feeding or resting.

Whites, Sulphurs, Brimstones and Orange tips look particularly beautiful with sunlight streaming through their wings, so try shooting "contre-jour" ( into the light ).

Brimstone Gonepteryx rhamni with sunlight streaming through it's gorgeous yellow wings. A shot like this would be impossible by flash. This was hand-held at a shutter speed of 1/125. Most cameras tend to under-expose very bright subjects like this, so I set the exposure compensation to "plus one stop".

Some butterflies, e.g. Coppers, Metalmarks, Morphos and Blues, have structural colours. This means that the colour varies according to the type of lighting, and the angle at which it hits the wing-scales. It is very difficult to predict the way that flash illumination will affect the colours, so it's much better to shoot these species by natural light, so you can see the precise effect through the viewfinder.

Steadying the camera

When using shutter speeds slower than about 1/125 sec, slight movement of the camera caused by shaky hands causes the image to become blurred. To overcome the effect, most digital cameras incorporate hi-tech "anti-shake" mechanisms, but with film cameras, other methods of minimising camera shake must be found.

With landscapes and other static subjects you can mount the camera on a tripod, but butterflies rarely stay still long enough for this approach to work ! Many people use a monopod, which is a lot easier to manoeuvre than a tripod, and will usually enable you to drop your shutter speed to about 1/60 with a static butterfly.

Grizzled Skipper  Pyrgus malvae - The light was very poor when I took this shot, but I didn't want to use flash, so I set the sensitivity to ISO 800, and hand-held the camera at 1/30 sec, aperture F4. The plant on which the butterfly was roosting was quivering in the breeze, so I took a series of about a dozen shots, amongst which were about 4 sharp images, including the one reproduced here.

If you don't use a monopod, you need to get your camera holding technique spot on. This means kneeling, or standing with your legs apart, and your elbows tucked into your waist, and holding the camera firmly against your face. Always try to press the shutter button smoothly.

Note that all these methods are designed to compensate for unintentional camera movement, and will do nothing to prevent blur caused by SUBJECT movement, so try to use a fast shutter speed whenever feasible. You can also maximise your chances of getting a fairly static subject if you photograph your butterflies on calm days, or by visiting hillsides or woodland glades that are sheltered from the breeze.

Varying the style

It's always a good idea to set yourself a project or theme, rather than shoot randomly. You could aim to record all the butterflies in your area, or to shoot the entire lifecycle - eggs, caterpillars, chrysalis and adult of a selection of species. Other themes could include illustrating survival strategies such as mimicry, camouflage, or warning coloration. Straight "portraits" are fine, but you can add variety and interest by shooting not only uppersides, but also undersides, and close-ups of wing details.

Dingy Skipper  Erynnis tages - Shooting to a theme. This was shot as part of a series illustrating butterflies at roost. Hand-held at 1/30 sec, aperture F5.6. At such wide apertures the depth of field is very limited, so it is vital to align the camera so that the butterfly's wings and the image sensor are in the same plane.

Try to vary the distance, sometimes going in close, but at other times shooting from a bit further back to include some of the surrounding habitat, to give the picture a sense of "place". Try also to vary the backgrounds and substrates - if all your shots depict butterflies basking on foliage it soon becomes boring, so shoot them on various flowers, at rest on grass heads, basking on tree-trunks, or mud-puddling alone or in groups. You can increase the variety further by shooting behavioural aspects such as courtship, mating, egg-laying, or roosting.

Photo-manipulation

Some over-keen photographers use an image editor such as Photoshop to "enhance" or doctor butterfly pictures by dramatising the colours, or by "cloning" - a procedure that can be used to remove distracting details from the background, or even to "patch up" damaged wings by copying a bit of the pattern from the opposite wing. There are even folk who will fake a picture by "lifting" an image of a butterfly from one photo, and "pasting" it onto a completely different background !

Putting such ill-conceived fakery aside, image editors have many more practical uses such as cropping, resizing or correcting exposure errors. It's also important to realise that despite the increasing sophistication of modern cameras, the contrast, brightness, colour balance and saturation of an unprocessed photograph will rarely if ever match the original scene. It makes sense therefore to use an image editor to ensure that the images are "corrected" to match the natural scene as closely as possible.

Before proceeding with adjustment for contrast, brightness, saturation or colour balance, be sure to calibrate your monitor. This way you can be sure that your images will look good on other people's monitors, and reproduce accurately when printed. There is a guide to calibrating monitors on the Test Page.

By way of example here is a photo of a pair of Brown Hairstreak eggs which I found on a blackthorn twig. The photo was taken in situ, using a macro lens and flash illumination. As can be seen, the eggs are way too small in the original photo, and the contrast between the dark twig and the white eggs is so high that almost all detail has been lost.

In the edited photo I have cropped the image to home in on the eggs themselves, and I've selectively darkened the eggs and lightened the twig to ensure there is detail in both. Finally, controlled use of the "sharpening tool" has allowed my to bring out the hidden detail and texture on the surface of the eggs :

In the original photo ( reduced in size ), the high contrast between eggs and twig has caused all detail in the eggs to be lost.

In the cropped photo, selective darkening and sharpening techniques have brought out the details on the surface of the eggs.
 
 
 
Text and photographs protected by Copyright © Adrian Hoskins 2007-2008, and must not be reproduced or published in part or in whole elsewhere in any form without written permission from Adrian Hoskins. Breach of copyright will be pursued by litigation.
 
Website designed, produced and owned by Adrian Hoskins