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If you’ve read my other posts on shooting insects (Shooting Dragonflies: Link and Shooting Butterflies: Link ) then you can photograph the majority of the critters out there. But there are a few more useful tips that I can give you for shooting bees that are different than photographing other creatures so I’m listing them here.

Bees feed in a predictable pattern, both in the area that they are in and on the flowers that they get nectar from. If you see a bee feeding on a flower and it takes off odds are it will be back later (or one just like it). Honey bees communicate the location of the food sources that they discover, so if the

Sunny 16 Rule for Macro

Sometimes I like a black background because it helps to isolate the subject -very handy in situations where the background might ruin the shot because there’s just too much going on. But what about those situations where you want to show the subject in its natural environment? When shooting close-ups it’s easy: Just set you camera to shutter or aperture priority and use a little flash for fill (about -1 1/3 to -2 FEC). The range of exposures will be limited by the amount of natural light and the ISO you want to use, but you’ll get even lighting throughout the frame.

But what if you don’t want to be limited by the availabl

Shooting Dragonflies Tutorial

I’ve spent a lot of time at Lago deAverno (Lake of Averno) shooting dragonflies. There are several species of them but the most common is the Violet Darter in the photo. After a while you start to pick up on their habits and quirks, and you learn when you can get close and when you're wasting your time. The trick is to find one that's busy. If they are feeding, mating, or otherwise occupied then they are less likely to fly away. If they do fly off then just freeze -if the dragon comes back to the same spot (or close to it) then try again. If the critter lands several meters away from you then look for a new subject to shoot.

If you try

MT-24EX Users Guide

Due to the number of questions I’ve received I feel the need to do a step by step guide on how I set up and use the MT-24EX. But before I dive in there are a few things that you need to understand…

I’ve spent a lot of time experimenting with the MT-24EX and looking for a way to get the light I want from a flash that, out of the box, is really harsh. I started by learning how a flash works from reading the HiViz web site and reading the tutorials at Strobist like Aperant Light Size. There is a huge difference between getting good results with a flash and understanding how you’re getting the light that you’re seei

Shooting Butterflies Tutorial

As beautiful as they are fragile, butterflies are one of my favorite subjects to shoot –and one of the most difficult to get close to in the wild. I’m often asked how I get so close to them and here is what I’ve learned.

Shoot them when they are distracted.

Like all insects, butterflies are more likely to stay put if they are occupied. Go looking for them early in the morning when they are trying to dry out from the previous night’s dew, feeding, or mating. In the heat of the day they are very active and less likely to let you get close.

Don’t act like a snake.

Predators, like snakes and lizards, move slowly when

Macro Technique Tutorial

I’ve been asked a couple of times to do a tutorial on macro photography, and I’ve given a few "quick and dirty" explanations on various forums. But it’s easier to write about it formally in an article and just point someone to a link. So here goes :)

Disclaimer: I am not the last word, nor in my humble opinion is anyone the last word, on any photographic discipline! There are many different ways to take a photo, and I really don’t think that any technique is inherently wrong -just different. In this article I’m going to explain how I shoot macro and hopefully there will be something that you can use. The important th

Left Hand Brace

I've put off writing this tutorial for a while because the technique I'm going to describe falls into a category that I call a "cheap trick" but it's so useful and results in such razor sharp images that I felt it was time to commit it to words. Even though I stumbled onto it on my own I'm sure that I didn't invent this technique -it's probably as old as macro itself.

I do all of my macro hand held (the critters I go after are normally too active for a tripod to be practical) and I'm always looking for a way to brace the camera. I don't crop and composition is important (keeping the camera steady helps me to place the critter where I want it

Dragons In Flight Tutorial

Given the choice I’d much rather shoot dragonflies on the ground, but there are some species that always seem to be in motion when I’m out with the camera. After a few attempts at shooting them in flight, and a lot of trial and error, I found a way to take shots of airborne dragons that seems to work pretty well –at least for me ;) Hopefully there will be something in this tutorial that you can use or adapt to your own style of shooting.

I don’t have a high end camera so my 40D only has nine auto focus points. Since I’m into composing with the view finder and will not allow myself to crop there never seems to be a us

Closeups in Harsh Light

Often I find myself shooting in less than ideal conditions and if I waited for perfect weather or light I’d rarely get a chance to shoot, so one of the things that I wanted to teach myself was how to photograph insects using a mix of natural light and flash. Since portrait photographers often under expose the ambient light in a scene and then use a flash to expose the subject I thought that would be a good place to start. After reading several examples at Strobist (a site that you should all be reading as well) I set out to play. This is what I’ve learned so far…

The trick is to keep the sun at an angle that's either to the si

Canon's MPE-65mm Macro Lens

Another one of those frequently asked questions that I get is about Canon’s MPE-65mm macro lens. There doesn’t seem to be very much information on the web about it –even Canon’s own web site gives very little details. So if you’re curious about one of the best pieces of macro equipment on the planet then keep reading…

The MPE-65 doesn’t really have a focus ring -it is always focused at the maximum magnification that you have it set to and there is no infinity focus. No auto focus either –not that it would really do you any good anyway. The depth of field is so thin when shooting at life size and higher

MR-14EX verses the MT-24EX

One of the reasons why I started writing was to answer common questions, and one of them is “What’s the difference between the MR-14EX and the MT-24EX?”. I’m no expert, but I own both of those macro flashes so here is my .02 on their strengths and weaknesses and what really separates them. In a nutshell I could say that the MT-24EX allows greater freedom in where the flash heads are placed and call it a day. But things are never quite that easy are they… ;)

One note: Both Canon macro flash units can be used to wirelessly control another flash like the 430EX or 580EX (II). The slave flash shows up as a ratio controlle

Canon 500D Filter Tutorial

In one of the conversations that I had with Mark Plonsky he mentioned that he had used a 500D close-up filter with his 100mm macro and liked the bokeh that the close-up filter produced. Since I had been having problems with isolating the subject in the areas where I shoot, and I hate spending time in Photoshop doing things with the computer that I could be doing with the gear, I decide to give the 500D a try.

Mark, as usual, was right -the bokeh is excellent!

The 500D does take a little getting use to. I don't think that it gives me less depth of field, but it seems to compress the area of focus in the sense that a scene goes from being in

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Field Studioby *dalantech

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On cold mornings when the critters are too lethargic or too wet to move I like to use this simple wood clamp to hold the perch they are on. Instead of shooting them in place and having to deal with poor angles and distracting backgrounds I can create a field studio just by cutting the perch, moving the critter to a comfortable location (like the park bench in the photo), and secure the perch with the wood clamp.

I modified the clamp by cutting the retaining rod since I don't need to hold large objects. Also this clamp has two triggers, one to control opening and the other to close it and it's easy to operate one handed.

I've used this simple "trick" to take a lot of solitary bee, and now dragonfly, images by shooting them early in the day before they've had a chance to dry out and warm off. Here are two sample photos using the field studio:

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~deedee20382 Sep 7, 2010 Hobbyist Photographer

That's a smart solution!

~PhotuBug Sep 27, 2009

All your photos are absolutely stunning. I hope to get a camera and lens like yours so I can even attempt something like that

. One question though. You said that you cut their perch and clamp it. Whereabouts do you usually found these critters perching, and what on? You said that you use this trick for dragonflies and bees. If it's in the morning, shouldn't the bees be in their hive?

Anyway, thanks for the tutorial and great photos!

I hope one day I can go from my Macro filter photos to something like yours

*dalantech Sep 28, 2009 Hobbyist Photographer

Thanks

There are a lot of bees (called solitary bees) that don't make hives or nests and sleep above ground by clamping onto plant stems (usually close to where they eat or mate).

~PhotuBug Sep 28, 2009

Thanks, I think I'll go bee hunting tomorrow morning

*dalantech Sep 28, 2009 Hobbyist Photographer

Good luck!

`Kjherstin May 14, 2009 Professional Digital Artist

The problem is to get them to perch there. However do you do it?

*dalantech May 14, 2009 Hobbyist Photographer

I find them perching on something and I cut the perch so I can put it in the clamp

`Kjherstin May 15, 2009 Professional Digital Artist

aah amazing how they don't fly away afterwards. Damn you're good!

*dalantech May 15, 2009 Hobbyist Photographer

Well they eventually do dry out, warm up, and take off. But I shoot them in the heat of the day all the way up to 7x life size. I've just been shooting them long enough to pick up on their habits so I know when, and how, to get close. Practice

`Kjherstin May 15, 2009 Professional Digital Artist

Oh I see now. Thank you for your help

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