Archives

TRY SOMETHING NEW – MOTH PHOTOGRAPHY

Aug4

       Recently, my wife and I decided to try our luck at moth photography.  Experience has taught us that success at this endeavor is just a matter of being in the right spot at the right time, equipped with the right equipment.

       Over the years, we have been photographing Carolina Sphinx moths feeding at four-o‘clock blossoms at dusk.  We have several small patches of these perennial plants growing in our backyard.  We planted them close to the house because we enjoy their colorful, trumpet shaped flowers and the hummingbirds and moths they attract.

       On this particular night, I did not go outside until it was very late in the afternoon.  In fact, hummingbirds were still feeding at nearby hummer feeders as we stepped into our backyard.  This provided us with the opportunity to photograph a hummingbird feeding on the nectar found in four o’ clock blossoms before the moths arrived.  Unfortunately, on this particular late afternoon, the hummingbirds were content to feed on sugar water.

       My wife was equipped with a smart phone, and I carried my Nikon D-7500 35mm camera. 

       We had our cameras poised as we checked out patches of yellow and bright pink four-o’ clocks.  For several minutes, no moths appeared.  Then, suddenly a large sphinx moth flew in and began probing the flowers.  Since the moth was constantly moving, it seemed that every time we got ready to snap a photo is flew away.

       After vainly trying to snap photos of this month, four other moths flew in.  This greatly increased the odds that we would capture one in a photograph.  With that in mind, each of us just stood still near a stand of four o’ clocks and waited for the moths to come to us.

       As the afternoon faded into night, we kept taking as many pictures as we could before calling it a night.

       When we returned to the house, we evaluated our results. My wife was not happy with any of her photos.  While most of the shots I took were not very good, a few turned out great. One of these shots accompanies this blog.

       We both set our cameras on automatic. After the session was over, I found that the camera took my photos at F/4.5, 1/60th of a second, and an ISO of 2500.

       We always enjoy our forays to try to photograph moths.  However, next time we are going to apply insect repellent before we venture outside.

       If you decide to try your hand at moth photography, don’t become discouraged it you do not immediately enjoy success.  You simply have to find what works best for you.  Once you discover this secret, you will find your efforts to photograph moths very rewarding.

BUTTERFLIES AND AIRPLANES WARM UP BEFORE TAKING TO THE AIR

Jul10

 

Recently while I was taking a morning walk before the temperature began to soar; a female eastern tiger swallowtail slowly flew in front of me.  In fact, the large butterfly seemed to glide more than fly.  When she did beat her wings, they flapped slowly.  As I watched, the butterfly landed on the leaves of a nearby shrub.  She chose to land in a spot that was bathed by the light of the rising sun.  Upon landing she kept her wings outstretched and remained motionless for quite some time.

This butterfly was warming up.   This something each butterfly does every day of its life.  Like an airplane, before it can fly efficiently, it must warm up.

The butterfly is a cold-blooded animal.  This means that it cannot control its body temperate such as warm-blooded animals like you and me.  Consequently a butterfly’s body temperature reflects the air temperature.  In comparison, our body temperature remains constant at all times.

The next time you are out and about on a sunny, cool morning be on the lookout for basking sites.  Once you find one, you can often find butterflies there day after day,

In the case of the butterfly, most are not seen flying about when the temperature dips below 55˚F.  In fact the ideal temperature for butterflies to be winging about is roughly between 80 and 100˚F.

When the temperature is below this zone the insect’s flight muscles are not capable of contracting as quickly as they are when temperatures are high.  In addition, butterflies expend more energy moving their flight muscles when it is colder.

Since butterflies need to start moving about as quickly as possible to escape predators and find food and mates, it behooves them to take to the air as soon as they can each day.

One way they are able to do this is to take advantage of the warming effects of solar energy.  The butterfly that drifted to a nearby bush in front me was doing just that.  She positioned herself to maximize the amount of solar radiation striking her wings and body.  This would allow her to begin daily activities much sooner than would have been possible if she perched in the shade.

Dark butterflies, such as the female eastern tiger swallowtail, are able to fly sooner in the day than butterflies that are lighter in color.  The reason for this is darker colors absorb more solar energy than light colors.

As you can see, one of the best times to watch or photograph butterflies in your backyard is early in the morning.  During this special time of day if you find a basking butterfly, it will often remain motionless longer than it would if you found it in your garden later in the day.  As long as you do not disturb a basking butterfly, you can take pictures of it to your heart’s content.

You can create additional butterfly basking sites by placing large, flat, dark-colored stones about your garden and yard.

 

 

BACKYARD SECRET: HOW TO TAKE GREAT CLOSE-UP PHOTOS OF FLOWERS AND BUTTERFLIES

Apr18

If you have ever been disappointed with an attempt to take a great close-up shot of a butterfly or flower, I have a suggestion that may help.  This tip is especially helpful in eliminating shadows and enhancing the bright colors of your subject.

Begin by setting your camera on the Program mode.  On my camera it is represented by the letter P.  I then pop up the camera’s built-in flash and snap the picture.

The result is I eliminate any shadows that may be shrouding part or all of my subject.  This also makes my subject seem to pop out from the background.

One thing to keep in mind is you need to be fairly close to your subject since most of these small flashes don’t effectively illuminate subjects more than six or so feet away.