Macro photography - part 8: Techniques (part 1)

Xestoleptura crassipes on the end of a stick.  A macro technique I have been successful with.

How do your photograph an organism once you have found it?  There are many answers to that, which is why I am going to have several sections on technique.  I mostly try not to hurt my subjects and prefer to release them into their natural environment when done.  One of the best ways I have found to photograph them is to have them crawl around on the end of a stick.  It requires one-handed camera operation and stick manipulation on the other, but you can't argue with the results.

I get a lot of my macro work done while camping.  We have an RV and I find that the fridge is an invaluable tool in macro photography.  Simply put, a cold bug is a cooperative bug.  I often will catch something, place it in a container, and store it in the fridge for a few hours.  Then I will remove it, place it in whatever environment I am going to use, and shoot.  You often don't have too much time, a few minutes at best, but that's often enough to get the job done.

I mostly use sticks because they are everywhere and somewhat natural.  I like them to be about 9 or 10 inches long as it allows easy manipulation.  I hold one end and adjust the position so that the subject is in focus.  It will be too cold to fly and it will crawl slowly, so there is plenty of opportunity to get photos.  And I take lots of them.  Many will be out of focus, will be at an awkward angle, or may be OK but other ones are better.  I pick the best one or two and work with them.

I also will take something and work with it as I found it.  If I am out on a hike, feel that I don't need to refrigerate something, or some other reason, I will just go ahead and take photos.  Some creatures are naturally slow, it may be cool out (early mornings), or perhaps its just worth a try.  Of course, I have to have my macro equipment with me and ready to go.

Top:  Red-shouldered pine borer, solifugid (sun spider), ground beetle.
Bottom:  Female praying mantis, golden jewel beetle, hawk moth caterpillar. 

All of the above photos were taken using a stick as the medium of contact.  The creature was free to crawl about and the stick was manipulated accordingly for position and focus.

An important note:  If you don't place something behind the subject, the background will be BLACK.  This is because, at small apertures, there is not enough light returning from behind to affect the sensor.  I will often try to put something behind the creature, perhaps a paper plate, a piece of wood, or even open sky if it is bright enough.  Since you already have two hands busy with the camera and stick, this has to be mounted somewhere you can work with it.  Since it will likely be out of focus, what it is does not matter a great deal.

I will discuss other techniques next day.

Thanks for reading.

Eric Svendsen     www.ericspix.com



 

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