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Butterfly tips
Q I’ve bought myself a macro lens with the specific intention of building up a portfolio of butterfly photos. Can you give me some tips to get me started?
A From April through to October, different butterfly species will give you lots of subjects to practise on, whether that’s in your garden or at a local nature reserve. With your new macro lens, you’ll be able to get some stunning shots but it’s not always easy. You are best shooting earlier and later in the day, not just for the softer light but because the butterflies are less active, although they can also be harder to find.
When using a specialist macro, the thing to remember is that your depth of field is limited. Therefore, you must be careful with focusing and if you want a shot with the wings closed, try to shoot from an angle that keeps as much of the subject in the same plane of focus to maximise the depth of field. I try to focus on the eye or the thorax of the butterfly, using apertures such as f/5.6 or f/8. I am always conscious of the background and if one aperture isn’t allowing the subject to stand out enough, I’ll change it or sometimes look for a better angle to shoot from that means the background is further away or a more contrasting tone. If you expect to do a lot of butterfly photography, I’d also suggest getting a kneeling mat or even wearing knee pads, because, in my experience, you are going to spend a lot of time low down and you need to be as comfortable as possible.
Make sure shutter speeds stay high enough for handholding the camera, too. I like to have at least 1/250 sec for this but preferably faster. Even in sunny conditions, I will often be using ISO 400 or 800 to achieve this.
