Hear Me Roar!
A meadow brown butterfly, sitting on a leaf, looking a bit like a hairy lion-type thing.
A meadow brown butterfly, sitting on a leaf, looking a bit like a hairy lion-type thing.
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Dec, 2014Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
I took this outside in my garden, at my home in Guernsey, Channel Islands. I found the butterfly resting on a leaf.Time
It was taken early in the morning, about 6:30am, in late summer. Landscape photographers have the time of day they call the 'golden hour'; for macro photography I call the hour after sunrise the 'dopey hour'. Dopey for me (I'm terrible early in the morning) but also for insects which, if you're lucky enough to find them, can remain very still before they have warmed up.Lighting
This was taken in natural light. It was quite cloudy, giving nice soft diffused light, perfect for detailed close-up photography. Crucially there was practically no wind at all. A shot like this would have been impossible with the subject bobbing about in the breeze.Equipment
I used my canon 5D mkII, with the mother of macro lenses, the MPE-65. I used a tripod and focussing rail and took many shots at very slightly different distances from the butterfly. These were later combined to make the final focus-stacked image.Inspiration
I love butterflies. I'm obsessed by them but there are many rare and exotic species which we simply don't find here in Guernsey. I therefore set about to make the best photo I could of a common species. This is a very ordinary meadow brown butterfly but up close like this, I think it looks a bit like a lion.Editing
The images I took were merged together using special focus stacking software. (Each individual photo had only a tiny sliver in focus, so focus stacking was required to make the sharp image you see here.) After focus stacking, I used Photoshop to clean up a few dust spots and other blemishes before adding a little contrast.In my camera bag
I have two main fields of interest in photography: landscapes and macro. For landscapes I mainly use my Canon 17-40mm lens but for macro photography I have a Canon 100mm macro lens (which I occasionally also use for landscapes) and the MPE-65, a specialist macro lens, which can be used for those extreme close-up shots like this one. As well as my tripod and cable release, for macro photography, I also carry around a couple of small light reflectors, which are great for bouncing light onto your subject.Feedback
This type of shot is very fiddly. You need patience and a steady hand, but one of the greatest challenges when photographing insects early in the morning is simply finding them! On a warm summer's afternoon you may see hundreds of butterflies whizzing about but they are very hard to photograph. Early in the morning they will remain still but this can make them very difficult to spot. I've lost count of the number of times I have got up ridiculously early only to return home empty handed. I would recommend you get to know your subject - their habits, where they feed and where they go to rest, so you stand the best chance of finding them. Also get to know your equipment. Go through the motions of setting up your tripod, focussing rail and cable release to practice focus stacking at home. Then, if you are lucky enough to find the perfect subject, you stand a better chance of getting it right out in the field.
