How to photograph butterflies. Part 8: Butterflies and flash

Sulphur butterfly photo taken with 70-200 f/2.8 lens, 1.7x teleconverter, and flash.

Flash is one of the best ways to improve an image.  It allows you to shoot when the light is poor, it improves contrast and saturation, it removes or reduces shadows significantly, and it can freeze action in some circumstances.

Although flash is not needed for many situations, I think you will find that it makes a difference.  To explore this, take two photos, one with flash and one without.  Compare them to verify things.  It may be as simple as turning a flash on, usually a flash requires a few specific considerations for it to work well and improve a shot to its potential.  Below I list some of those issues.

Built-in flashes typically are neither strong enough or located high enough above the camera to adequately expose an image.  A long lens and a close subject will mean that the lens actually blocks some of the light producing a lens silhouette.  And even if the lens wasn't the issue, the low power output of built-in units means underexposure.  That means if you want to use flash for your photos, you have to consider an external unit.

There are three considerations for an external flash unit.  You can have a flash attached directly to the hot shoe, you can have the flash off-camera either through a cable or wireless connection, or you can have a specialized macro flash that attaches to the end of the lens.  I have used all of them and find there are pros and cons for each of them.

Regardless of the type of flash used, it is often a good idea to dial down its power.  Although most flashes are TTL (through the lens) and are metered off the sensor and exposures are calculated with distance, ISO, and aperture values, it is common for the flash to be putting out too much light.  The flash itself may have exposure compensation built in or the camera may have flash exposure compensation available through menus.  I typically use -1/3 or -2/3.  Keep in mind that for digital media, it is easier to correct an underexposed image than an overexposed one.

A hot shoe mounted flash is useful if you are using long lenses.  It is preferable to have a powerful flash with a telescopic head that gives you better flash distances with longer focal lengths.  I have SB900 Nikon flashes that do this and have performed well for me this way.  Your camera may be able to communicate wirelessly with a flash or you may have to use a hot shoe mounted cable that enables all flash functions remotely.  Either way, you can then remove the flash from the hot shoe and place it near the subject.  The great thing about this is that you can soften the light by using a diffuser of some sort.  The challenge here is that you have to hold the flash with one hand and the camera with the other.

A single flash will have the problem of creating unbalanced lighting and producing harsh shadows.  This is where a macro flash comes in handy.  Equipped with two or more light sources, these units are capable of providing excellent lighting to subjects that are close to the camera's lens.  Objects, even at some distance, will suffer here because these flashes are very weak compared to hot shoe mounted ones.

Consider purchasing good quality OEM units with your camera's brand name.  You may be able to shoot at faster shutter speeds than what is normally possible using HSS (high speed sync).  This way you can shoot faster than the limited maximum shutter speed for flash which often is 1/200th of a second or abouts.  With HSS you can shoot at 1/1000th of a second with flash and still get a proper photo.

The greatest advantage of using flash comes with increasing depth of field.  Without flash I am often shooting at an ISO of 200 with an aperture of f/5.6 and a shutter speed between 1/500th and 1/1000th of a second.  Flash allows you to add light to a scene, so you can shoot with an ISO of 100, a shutter speed of 1/200th or higher if you have HSS, and any aperture you care for.  Want a properly exposed, low ISO shot at f/32?  Flash is the way to go.

A disadvantage of using a small aperture with flash is that the background ends up being black.

There is a problem with black background if there is nothing close to the subject when using small apertures and fast shutter speeds with flash.  You can prevent this by photographing your subject with something immediately behind them, but that may affect the natural look of the photo.  Most butterflies will not tolerate being manipulated or having their immediate environment changed while you prepare to take their photo.  You can use AI selection tools to cut and paste backgrounds, but this means extended post work and may produce an artificial appearance.

Much of what I have written about comes from experience.  All I can say is to play with your equipment and do the best you can with what you have.  If this is something you are passionate about, consider upgrading your equipment to something that will meet your needs better.  Whatever you do, do it to have fun and learn something.  

Thanks for reading.

Eric Svendsen     www.ericspix.com



 

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