Wes Jenkinson Photography for me has been a trial and error exercise (not to mention patience!!) I prefer to not use a flash as with closeups it can easily overexpose the object. The images I have sent you have all simply been taken with a canon 7.1 mega pixel digital camera. I use the digital macro setting for the eggs, larvae and pupae. The key most important issue is the amount of light hitting the image. The more light means a faster shutter speed, which means less blur or a sharper image as i dont use a tripod. The best time to photograph the adults is when they are newly emerged and the wings have fully expanded. They can be placed on a suitable position on the host plant or another plant where the light works well. Sometimes in full sun the specimens tend over expose. I also use the amount of backlight coming through the plant to help with correct exposure of the object. Cropping the photos also helps chop off any unwanted background details, as often the object is correctly exposed with the background overexposed. The adults in the field are harder to approach are they are generally active during the day. Another time is to find the adults resting during cloudy weather. Another trick is to place them in a cold fridge to slow them down. however you need to act quickly as they some become active again and could fly away. Another trick I have found with the larvae (for eg) on a thin blade of grass is to place a thick blade of grass or a leaf directly behind, so the camera will focus on the front image rather than focusing on a larger object in the background. The depth of field at this close range can be tricky to keep the object in focus. A lot of images taken can be blury but I try to pick the best ones. My pinned specimens are photgraphed on white paper. Once again no flash is used, i set the specimens up between two windows with light coming in from both directions. Sometimes what happens with these images is that they are under exposed. I cheat with these and correct the exposure/contrast with the computer to match the original specimen best i can. Nick Monaghan I currently use a Canon EOS 450D (12 megapixel), which is an SLR digital camera. For my insect photos, I attach a 100mm macro lens and a ring-lite flash. The macro lenses are purpose built for close-up photography and allow you to get within 15cm of the subject. The closer you can get, the more detail you will capture, and with higher megapixels (mine is 12) you can crop images without losing too much quality. However, when dealing with things on such a small scale, the depth-of-field is greatly reduced, menaing things can become unfocused within millimeters. You can have a perfectly sharp image of a bugs head, but everything before and beyond that is blurred. The ring-lite flash is also specifically designed for macro photography. It consists of a power/settings unit that attaches to the camera's flash hot shoe, with a cord that attaches to the actual flash. As the name suggests, the flash is a circular shape and attaches to the front of the lens. The circular shape throws light from 360 degrees, effectively surrounding the subject with light, thus filling in the little nooks and crannies to bring out more detail and eliminating those harsh shadows that regular front-on flashes can create. Another key component is flash compensation, something most high-end cameras have these days. This gives you complete control over the amount of flash that is used, which helps prevent "washing out" the image with excessive light. My old camera, a Konika-Minolta Dimage A200 (8 megapixels), only had the standard built-in flash and when I first started out I had no idea about flash compensation, which meant a lot of photos looked over-exposed. The day I discovered the flash compensation my photography improved dramatically. I was able to take photos in low light, but by controlling the amount of flash being used, they looked as if the flash wasn't used at all, which preserved the natural colours and retained a richness in the images. I don't know what other insect photographers do, but I never carry a tripod. They are just not practical when you are dealing with subjects that tend not to sit still for any great length of time. Besides, when you're halfway up a tree or in amongst dense shrub, a tripod is more of a hindrence than a help. If I need the camera to be steadier than my hands will allow, I find that a rock or branch can be quite useful. If they are not immediately available, the flash will allow photos to be taken at higher shutter speeds. The rest is patience and plain luck. I have stumbled across some great finds purely by chance (Calcarifera ordinata is a perfect example - a couple of pics attached for you), and at other times I have sat and waited for an hour or more for one good shot. I waited over an hour for a Banded Flutterer dragonfly to land on a particular twig for one shot, and I spent almost two hours watching a cicada emerge from its final moult. I chased Blue Tigers and Blue Triangles for over two years before I finally managed to get a few decent photos. But I am probably fortunate because my site is dedicated to all insects and spiders, so I don't have to go out looking for anything in particular. I suppose I'm what you would call an insect opportunist; if it happens to be there when I pass by, I'll photograph it. I'm sure the people who target particular species/families/orders suffer from disappointment and frustration more than I do. Don Herbison-Evans To photograph a flying insect, it is a good idea to pop it in the fridge for a while. They are cold blooded and just go to sleep when it is cold. When I have my camera set up and ready, I let it warm up to the point where it can walk but not fly, to take its portrait. This is easy if you have reared it in captivity, but for a wild one you first would have to catch it. To do this I suggest you use a large clean glass or polycarbonate bottle with a wide mouth. You hold the bottle so that the mouth is to the insect, holding the bottle at the other end so the insect cannot see your hand. In the other hand you hold the lid. You slowly bring the mouth of the bottle over the insect, and then frighten it with the lid so that it flies into the bottle, put the lid on quickly behind it while the insect explores the bottle, and there you go. For many years I would photograph them : with a SLR camera so that one can see exactly what is being photographed, at f22 to get a good depth of field, with extension rings between the lens and camera body, to be able to focus up close and personal, using a flash to eliminate my shakes, with the flash bulb half taped over to reduce the light intensity. with 100 ASA film from the local supermarket. putting the specimen on a plain surface (not fabric as the weave is rather distracting in the resulting pictures). Lately I have been using digital camera which has a macro capability. It is a Nikon 5400 but it declines to use the flash on the macro setting so needs rather a lot of light to get both a a good depth of focus, and also a brief exposure (to reduce the effects of the shaky hand). Todd Burrows Firstly you don't need expensive equipment to get decent images of butterflies. All of the photos I have sent to you have been taken on a Canon Ixus 75 with 7.1 megapixels that I purchased in late 2007 for about $350. I don't use a ring flash just the cameras inbuilt flash, also the flash is well positioned so that the lens doesn't put a shadow across the image even on the closest macro. The Canon Ixus 75 has a good macro setting and can focus within 3cm of an object. I try to carry my camera with me so I am ready when an opportunity presents itself. Some species are certainly more co-operative than others. I try to approach a butterfly that is at rest slowly and if I disturb it wait a short while close to where it was as they sometimes come back, especially males with a territory or females showing interest in food plants. If I don't know what the species is I try to get a photo with my zoom lens on my other camera for ID purposes and then try for a close up one. I regularly use the flash unless there is good sunlight on the subject. The flash sometimes causes the butterfly to flinch and have blurred wings in the image, but take a few photos and at least one will turn out nicely. The flash can overexpose the subject so I lower the cameras exposure setting to compensate, some cameras you can lower the flash output also. I usually try to photograph the butterfly to get as much of it in focus as possible with the spot focus on the eye or head. Some species I have encountered are always difficult to get close to or never stop moving, but I have been lucky to find pairs mating providing great opportunities or individuals freshly emerged. Certain flowering trees attract plenty of butterflies, so if you can position yourself close to some flowers you are bound to get some good opportunities. Sometimes persistence pays off when you follow a butterfly again and again until it keeps still long enough to get a good photo. Caterpillars and pupae can be collected of course, and I have raised a few species, allowing me to get some good photos before release. Some of the basic photography points include holding the camera as steady as possible when taking the shot. Once you have focused by pressing the shutter half way down be careful not to move the camera, this will cause loss of focus. If it is quite windy it can be worth trying to hold the plant still that the butterfly is sitting on to improve the shot. Most images I will crop to my preference on the computer, and sometimes adjust contrast and brightness. There are certainly plenty of times when I miss out on a good photo as the butterfly just flies away, but if you keep trying anyone can build up a good collection of butterfly images.