I often have friends ask me, how to shoot butterflies?
For this question, it is actually difficult to make a simple answer. Because there is no standard for this "good", it is the form that the public likes to hear, and it can be a purely personal expression.
Previous:How can I shoot butterflies well? " has talked about the soft power that the photographer himself should have, and this article reminds everyone that there are several points to pay attention to at the technical level of shooting:
Tip 1: Focal plane and depth of field
The powerful wings allow the narrow-spotted anchovy butterfly to fly to a long distance in a short period of time, and the greater the amount of exercise, the greater the energy consumed, so it is almost non-stop to eat except for the sun. Butterfly habits vary widely from other species, and their main food source is a variety of fermented fruits, sap and a variety of foods rich in organic matter.
In addition to good eyesight, you also need to have good luck to meet them and appreciate their windy posture.
Macro lenses can shoot at closer ranges, but the shallow depth of field brought about by close ranges is a challenge for focal plane control.
In terms of the depth of field in millimeters, if the focal plane is not selected, it will look only partially clear, and a lot of elements and information will be lost. Many times everyone is accustomed to shooting from the flat angle of view from the side, which will make the butterfly wings in the depth of field of the focal plane. But it is not necessarily a specimen photo, looking down, looking up, and looking up, will each have different psychological feelings.
Tip two: The choice of focus
Many tutorials emphasize that the focus must fall on the subject's eyes, which cannot be generalized.
Just like in portrait photography, the silhouette of the back or side can sometimes express the photographer's feelings and intentions. This problem also exists in macro photography, and it is not the focus on the eyes of the butterfly that qualifies for photographs. It depends on what you want to represent, what kind of psychological feelings you want to convey on the picture, and sometimes something slightly subjective is more likely to resonate with the viewer than the cookie-cutter dogmatism.
Tip three: dynamic and static
With more shooting opportunities, try to grab them at different shutter speeds as much as possible. Depending on the flight status of the butterfly and the frequency of different kinds of flapping wings, the shutter speed setting is also quite different. The shutter setting of the dynamic screen is usually between 1/30 and 1/200, which produces different dynamic effects.
High-speed solidification of static images generally requires a shutter speed of more than 1/500 second. In the case of insufficient natural light conditions, flash is often needed, because of the principle of curtain shutter, the shutter synchronization of flash is generally between 1/200 and 1/250, and the actual flash time varies according to the size of the output power. Low power high speed, high power low speed. The flash's FP high-speed synchronization is only a low-power strobe, which is suitable for filling light in a strong light environment with a large aperture lens, and is not suitable for shooting dynamic targets at high speed.
Tip four: control of light
Pure natural light can better restore the color and texture of butterflies; artificial light (including flash, LED flashlight and other continuous light sources) can more freely control the angle and texture of light; mixed light is a frequently used light, but also a combination of natural light and artificial light, can be more flexible to cope with the shooting environment, which requires a lot of practice.
As for whether the ring flash or double flash, the top or off the machine, this is not a problem. The ruler is shorter, the inch is longer. Smooth light or backlight is also not a problem, horizontal view into the ridge side into the peak, can not give up any kind of shooting possibility, any attempt will have a corresponding harvest and experience accumulation, which is more valuable than any reference materials.
Tip five: Use a tripod, or hand-held
Although the gray butterfly is very small, it has two large metallic blues on the front of its wings, as if the American blue glitter butterfly is distributed. They flash very high-profile when they fly, but when they stop, they are low-key like a small dead leaf and are not easy to detect. The bodies of the butterflies are connected when they cross their tails, and the couple inadvertently lands on the heart-shaped plant leaves while in love, subtly forming a beautiful and rare picture.
When the natural light conditions are insufficient, a low-speed shutter can be used when using a tripod, which relatively ensures the clarity of the picture and is suitable for use in a windless and relatively open and flat environment. In the wild, when the tripod is moved and positioned and structured, the best time to shoot is often missed. The tiny streams of air in the woods or by the stream are enough to have a serious impact on the shooting.
In the wild, wait for a windless gap or use a tripod with a windproof clip. It is best to also take into account the weight of the tripod to ensure full physical strength.
Handheld shooting requires better lighting conditions, a higher degree of flexibility, and can enter the shooting state faster, but it requires more practice to improve the success rate of shooting. The key point is to control the coordination of the equipment and the body, try to find objects that can be attached, and grasp the timing of releasing the shutter in a relatively static moment.
Although there are several stabilization macro lenses on the market now, to a certain extent, reduce the dependence on tripods and improve the success rate of handheld shooting, in practical applications, the current stabilization technology is still not ideal in macro lenses, and the shooting success rate of low-speed shutters is still not ideal.
Tripod and handheld shooting require simultaneous practice in both prongs to make the fastest and best choice before the opportunity.
Tip six: Use manual, or automatic
High-end camera bodies provide faster and more accurate autofocus, but in some cases, such as when the target is shaking or the light conditions are poor, it is still often difficult to close the focus.
At this time, the lens that can be manually focused at full time can be completed by hand immediately, and those who do not have this function need to be quickly adjusted to the MF file. In shooting, it is often conscious to switch between manual and automatic gears to form a conditioned reflexive reaction in order to truly grasp the precious shooting opportunity.
Tip Seven: Composition and Scenes
The dead-leaved butterflies that are hidden in the city are arguably the top masters of insect mimesis, and when they don't move, they are leaves. In order to survive in the natural world, it must constantly evolve, and natural selection is also the source of every life.
Photographing butterflies can have the ancient Chinese painting intention in terms of composition, which can be the style of modern Europe, or the golden section in textbooks, and it can be completely out of personal subjective choice. Forgetting the rules is the true meaning of composition.
Really on the shooting scene, in the face of unlimited choice space, learn how to organize the scene, pay attention to and grasp the details, and break through the traditional perspective.
Tip Eight: Magnification
The larger the magnification, the more difficult it is to control. Reduced light flux reduces shutter speed dramatically, which is not conducive to handheld and capturing dynamic scenes. Although the high sensitivity setting compensates for it to some extent, the reduction in image quality is noticeable. The larger the magnification, the shallower the depth of field, the easier to lose focus, and the shallow depth of field will also make the control of the focal plane more difficult to grasp; often more people are only willing to shoot the subject larger and fuller.
We should not just zoom in on the view, the relationship between the subject and the environment is often more content and more intriguing than the subject itself. It is also necessary to use different magnification rates reasonably according to the actual application needs.
Excellent photographic works often need to be able to find an unusual vision from the ordinary, so that the work is full of the photographer's true feelings, which is a creative process, not just a simple and ordinary reality record.
All the equipment of the photographer is limited and insufficient, the best is to use the existing equipment, skillful application, play to the strengths and avoid the shortcomings, in order to create more and better works.
Photo: Cheng Bin
Discover the wild and magical beauty of nature and inspire a heart of love and protection
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