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Feb, 2015Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
I took my photo at my children's school which is on a property out of town where we live. I am self taught, doing a lot of reading to try and get the best photo I can which sometimes I get out of pure luck.Time
This photo was taken at pickup time, so around 3pm. My children were taking delight at seeing the chrysalis' of the Monarch Butterfly on the fence near the carpark as they waited for one another to arrive.Lighting
The weather this day was clear and sunny. Daylight Saving was still in place so the sun was still quite high. This meant there was quite a lot of bright light around.Equipment
The only equipment I had on my was my camera, a Canon 550D. The lens on it at the time was the 55-250mm Canon EF-S lens.Inspiration
When my children noticed the chrysalis' and I realised what they were I started looking around and saw the catapillars. It reminded me of when I was growing up and how we'd see them on the underneath of leaves on particular trees, even in our next door neighbours yard. I hadn't seen them for many years so I took this photo.Editing
As the catapillars were on property fencing I zoomed in to make the catapillars the focal point. As I have told many who have seen the photo the green is simple the grass of the field in the background that has blurred, nothing I have added to it. In order to bring it in a little closer I cropped the photo to leave a bit of the wire and the catapillar.In my camera bag
Since taking this photo I have upgraded my camera a few times. I now have a Canon 6d Mark ii with an EF 24-105mm lens. I also have a Canon 100mm macro lens now which I love, and still have the Canon 100-400mm telephoto lens. I carry this for now in the bag it came in. I also have a spare battery, spare SD cards, a remote control for the camera, a CPL, plus other filters, and I carry my SD card attachment for my iPad.Feedback
As a beginner I read a lot and try to find as many tips and hints for capturing the right photo. I also play with the camera and settings to see what they do and how they affect photos. My advice for taking this type of photo is to play and experiment and read as much as you can. If something small like the catapillar is your subject, then make it fill the photo so that you don't need to do too much to it. Try the macro settings on your camera also for capturing the small things.
