Equipment for insect photography

CAMERA CHOICE

The best camera type for insect photography is the single lens reflex, because you can accurately frame your subject through the viewfinder without concern about parallax error. (See Viewfinder camera for information on parallax error.)

However, determining the ideal camera size, whether 35 mm (or its digital equivalent) or medium format, is not that easily made. In many respects, it’s a toss-up and depends on the photographer’s preferences and intentions. Of course, if you only have one or the other, then discussing camera choice is moot. You shoot with what you have.

When you have a choice in format, it is affected by subject size, resolution, shooting conditions and how big an enlargement you may wish to make.

MEDIUM FORMAT CAMERA

Larger insects - some moths, for example - can be photographed at or close to their normal size when using medium format film, and enlargements can be made quite big while retaining great detail. A huge blow up of a tiny insect can make quite an impression. If the insects you are shooting are generally found on or close to the ground, a waist-level finder (common to many medium-format cameras) can be more convenient than having to get down on your stomach in order to get the subject in the camera’s viewfinder. Medium format film also permits you to keep the image size small (relative to film area) in order to gain more depth of field. (Note: Some medium format cameras, such as Hasselblad and Mamiya, can be equipped with digital backs in place of film.)

35 mm CAMERA

There is a lot to be said for the 35 mm camera when shooting insects. Its size, versatility, ease of use and wide choice of lenses may place it a notch above the medium format camera. Image quality with a well-made 35 mm camera can also be very good, permitting quite big enlargements. The 35 mm eye level viewfinder is easier to use for insects a few feet and more above the ground. Some 35 mm camera systems offer a waist-level viewfinder as an option. Because 35 mm film is available in rolls of 36-exposures, less frequent film changes need to be made. If you are shooting transparency film, the 35 mm slide may be more convenient for you to handle and store, and is pretty much the standard size for slide shows. The editors of many publications prefer slides to prints. If you are shooting with a digital camera, selecting a high image resolution setting will show significant detail in enlargements.

BOTH FORMATS HAVE ADVANTAGES

What it seems to come down to is that some insect subjects may be best photographed with a 35 mm camera while other insect images will benefit from the advantages of a medium format camera. Either format will make good insect images if properly used.

VIEWFINDER & TWIN LENS REFLEX CAMERAS

If you have a close-focusing viewfinder or twin lens reflex camera, you may be able to attach a focal frame device - an arrangement of framing wires at a fixed distance in front of the lens - to your camera. The wires will outline the area that will be captured on film in close-up photography, and their distance from the camera should be along the lens’ plane of focus when set for close-ups. This kind of arrangement unfortunately does not permit precise focusing. It is kind of hit or miss and will give mixed results, but it is better than guesswork and the probability of not being able to capture an insect’s image at all.

LENS CHOICE

Any lens used in photographing insects or any other tiny subjects must be able to focus closely (to fill the frame) and magnify the image, while providing lots of depth of field. Occasionally, an insect will be large enough that you can use a telephoto lens to photograph it and fill the frame, which has the advantage of not having to approach closely to the subject and risk frightening it away. But, the best larger-than-life, detailed images of insects are taken with macro lenses or lens attachments that provide macro capability. The word “macro” comes from the Greek, and means “large.” A macro lens enlarges what it is focused on.

Today’s macro lenses, particularly those that are high end, are of superb quality, having extreme close-up capabilities and providing great depth of field. Many cameras with fixed lenses will also focus at surprisingly close range. You can also use your camera’s normal lens, achieving the necessary magnification through the use of a bellows or extenders (also called "extension tubes".) Extension accessories like these create a greater lens to film distance, magnifying close-up subjects so that their image on the film is larger than normal. Shorter focal lengths need less extension than longer lenses to produce an identical image size. For outdoors work, extension tubes are quite durable and less bulky than bellows attachments.

Magnification is not the only desirable characteristic of a lens used in insect photography. Because depth of field is so shallow when focusing at close range, the lens that has an aperture that can be closed down to a very small size, ƒ32 for example, will provide more depth of field, and therefore more of the insect and its surroundings will be in focus. Depth of field is so shallow at extreme close range that an insect that is 1/8 of an inch long may be only partially in focus if minimum aperture is not used.

LIGHT

In close-up photography, light that strikes the film can be much reduced due to the small apertures needed for sufficient depth of field, and the light-robbing characteristics of extension tubes, if you employ them. To add to the problem, many insects are not found in bright daylight, but prefer to inhabit darker places. This usually means that slow shutter speeds are needed for proper exposure in ambient light, making hand-holding your camera impractical. A tripod, though, is usually also impractical since your small subject may be in motion, and tripods are best when the camera is kept totally stationary. Furthermore, most tripods can’t be adjusted quickly to get the camera close enough to a small subject. Besides, if the subject is in motion - and few insects remain still for long - then, they will be a blur on film if a slow shutter speed is used.

What does this all mean? You will need supplementary light for most of your insect images if they are to appear sharp and properly exposed. Although a reflector can sometimes be used on sunny days to get more light on the insect subject, it is generally impractical since you only have two hands and you cannot always count on being able to accurately bounce the light onto your subject. The answer is in using electronic flash, preferably from a flash unit that is either mounted off camera (to avoid flat lighting and provide three-dimensionality to your image) or from bounced flash off a reflector that is held close to the subject but out of the viewframe. If the flash unit is built into the camera, it may not be angled properly to illuminate a subject that is so close to the lens, and a reflector may need to be held above the insect to bounce the light onto it.

You will, from time to time, come across a tiny subject that is stationary and is in bright light, permitting you to photograph without flash, although you may have to use a tripod. One example is a slow-moving caterpillar that is munching on a leaf at an unhurried rate. Another example that comes to mind is a spider resting immobile in the middle of its web. Unless it is disturbed, it’s probably not going to go anywhere unless startled or until an insect becomes caught in the web. Most insect subjects, however, will require flash for sharp, well-illuminated images.

A milk jug, surprisingly, can be used in insect photography to diffuse sunlight or the light from a flash, softening contrast and providing even illumination.

FILM

Since you will be using either bright sunlight or flash for most of your insect photography, there will be ample illumination, particularly at such close range, to use slow color or black and white film with its finer grain. If you find that you are unable to use your smallest aperture at a satisfactory shutter speed, then switch to a faster film that will provide you with more options.

SENSITIVITY SETTING IN A DIGITAL CAMERA

In digital photography, "sensitivity" is the equivalent to film speed. It is also sometimes referred to as "ISO equivalency." The higher the ISO number, the “faster” or more sensitive to light is your digital camera's sensor, meaning you need less light to get a properly-exposed image.

Using a low sensitivity setting (a low ISO, such as ISO 100) is generally more desirable from a quality perspective, similar to the effect of the finer grain of a slow film. At a low ISO, however, you may not be able to use an aperture that is small enough to provide sufficient depth of field to keep all of your small subject in focus (as shown in the lower picture of the caterillar on the left). You may like the look of a shallower depth of field, but if not, switch to a higher ISO setting so yolu can use a smaller aperture to solve the problem.