Author: Pan Jiangwei
Editor: Xu Xiaogang
I live in Jiujiang, a small city on the Yangtze River, and my work and home are at the foot of Lushan Mountain, along the Lianxi River. Flowers are constantly flowing here, birds and insects are singing at night, especially the colorful and graceful butterflies that become the favorites in the camera. Whenever I have free time, I walk alone to the fields and forests, meet the beauty, and feel the magic of nature and the excitement of life in the light and shadow. Unconsciously, it has been seven years since the butterfly shooting, although the footprints of the butterfly are only confined to the square inches of the landscape behind the front door, but the butterfly species photographed have accumulated more than 100.
Tabby Butterfly Pan Jiangwei Photo
First, my equipment
My device for shooting butterflies is very simple, one machine (Nikon D810) and one lens (Nikon 105mm macro lens). Outdoor butterfly shoots are handheld shots in natural light, never using a tripod or flash. Butterflies are active and easily disturbed, always flying and stopping, even above the flowers are constantly flapping their wings, frequently changing angles and directions, in this case, when you set the position on the shelf, the butterfly has long disappeared. In addition, outdoor butterfly shooting rarely stays in one place for a long time, and most of the time is walking in the mountains and woodlands, so minimizing weight is especially important for outdoor butterfly shooting. Butterflies are diurnal creatures, and natural light is enough to take well-exposed photos. Occasionally, when the light is dark, the sensitivity can be appropriately increased, and I basically do not use the flash.
Willow purple butterfly Pan Jiangwei photo
Silver and white butterfly Pan Jiangwei photo
Second, parameter settings and focus mode
I'm used to manipulating the camera in manual mode. Usually, the white balance is set to automatic, the shutter is kept above 1/125s or even higher, the aperture is between f/5.6-f/8, the sensitivity is adjusted as needed, and the focus point is pre-centered for timely capture. The only constant is the focus mode. Although autofocus can also run out of focus, autofocus is still my only option when photographing butterflies. I have seen some articles about butterfly shooting, saying that manual focus is used to achieve accurate focusing. In my opinion, it is unrealistic to photograph live butterflies in natural outdoors with manual focus.
Photo by Pan Jiangwei
White-spotted eye leech Photo by Pan Jiangwei
3. Photograph the season, time and place of the butterfly
Butterflies can be seen in the spring, summer and autumn of the year in most parts of China, and can be seen all year round in the southerner regions. In general, butterflies in spring and autumn are more active from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., and often appear in places where there is a source of honey (flowers). In summer, the butterflies are concentrated in the quiet mountain forests and flock to the creek to drink water. In the height of summer, before 10:00 a.m. and after 5:00 p.m. to the evening, it is the best time to shoot butterflies.
In spring, the salphie gray butterflies on the rape flowers pan Jiangwei photographed
In summer, the blinding butterflies in the bamboo forest are photographed by Pan Jiangwei
Tabby butterflies on wildflowers in autumn Photo by Pan Jiangwei
Fourth, butterflies can be encountered, not chased
Many friends say that butterflies are too difficult to shoot! I couldn't shoot it after half a day of chasing. Of course, this can not be filmed, the butterfly is most afraid of being disturbed, so much fanfare, desperate pursuit, can only let the butterfly away from you more and more. The most common case of outdoor butterfly photography is the sudden encounter with a butterfly. At this time, do not rush forward immediately, but should immediately stand in place, first observe the terrain and light around the butterfly, roughly determine the position of the camera and then slowly approach, the movement should be very, very slow. Slowly approaching is actually an adaptation to the butterfly so that it does not feel threatened. If it's a new butterfly species, I'll take a few shots a little farther away to ensure first-hand information. If you don't wait to get close to the butterfly and fly, don't chase, but stare at it, look at the landing point and then slowly approach. Generally speaking, butterflies are territorial and do not fly too far, or will fly back after a while.
Photo by Pan Jiangwei
Photo by Pan Jiangwei
Fifth, seize the opportunity of butterflies to eat
Butterflies are very focused when eating or absorbing water, and their alertness to the outside world is relatively reduced, and the success rate of using this opportunity to get close to the shooting will be greatly increased. But many times we only find butterflies when they are frightened to fly, at this time, we can stay by the butterfly's food and wait for the butterfly to fly back again. I once squatted for half an hour in a vegetable field that had just been watered with farm manure, and finally photographed the yellow powder butterfly that was usually difficult to access.
Wide-rimmed yellow pink butterfly Photo by Pan Jiangwei
Sixth, the method commonly used when shooting butterflies
Parallel shooting: Most butterflies have their wings erect when they are stopped, and shooting with a side parallel view can show the beautiful markings on the reverse side of the butterfly. Shooting in frontal parallel at the moment of the butterfly spreading its wings can achieve unexpected results.
Top-down shooting: The same is the moment when the butterfly spreads its wings, and the top down is shot down, which can show the butterfly's frontal markings.
Shooting on the top: When the background of the butterfly stop is more chaotic, you can squat slightly and shoot with an upward angle of view.
Backlight shooting: Some butterfly wings are bright in color and light in texture, and if there is sunlight obliquely shining through the butterfly wings, they can be shot in the backlight.
Smart use of background light spots: Sunlight through the gaps in the leaves or the highlights of flowers in the background, water stains, will form a beautiful spot of light outside the focus.
Side parallel photography, black veined butterfly Pan Jiangwei photographed
Frontal parallel shot, grey-red butterfly
Looking down at the shooting, the emerald blue eye butterfly Pan Jiangwei photographed
Shot on the upper back, photographed by Pan Jiangwei
Backlit shot, curved purple gray butterfly Pan Jiangwei photographed
Skillful use of background light spots, ramie butterfly Pan Jiangwei photography
Seven, freeze-frame butterfly romantic love
In traditional Chinese culture, pairs of butterflies are a symbol of beautiful love, reminiscent of the beautiful legend of the Liang Zhuhua butterfly. When the butterflies are focused, I will focus on the relatively stationary butterflies, and when other butterflies are close, I will use high-speed continuous shooting to capture the double butterfly picture. Mating butterflies are relatively accessible, and as long as they are not too disturbed, they can still accept you as a newlywed photographer.
Black-veined butterfly and yellow-hooked butterfly Pan Jiangwei photo
Photo by Qingfeng Butterfly Pan Jiangwei
Bright gray butterfly Photo by Pan Jiangwei
Photo by Pan Jiangwei
Eight, the ballet on the fingertips
It is common to see a flock of butterflies congregating in moist soil or sand, sucking up minerals dissolved in water through their beak tubes. The most important of these minerals is sodium, and human sweat has thus become a flavorful snack loved by butterflies. I often use this feature to lure butterflies to climb to their sweat-soaked left hands and shoot them with a right-handed camera. The trick to success is still slow movements and enough patience.
Curved spider butterfly Pan Jiangwei photo
Densely veined butterfly Pan Jiangwei photo
Photo by Pan Jiangwei
Lonely spot with butterflies Pan Jiangwei photo
9. Record the life process of butterflies
The classic life story of insects is that the caterpillar transforms into a beautiful butterfly. From egg → larvae→ pupae → adults, butterflies have completely different life forms at each stage, subverting each other, making people can't help but sigh the magic and beauty of life. When photographing butterflies in the wild, if I encounter a butterfly egg or larva that I know, Tongjin can easily collect the host plant, and I will take them home to raise and photograph their growth process. Whenever the feathered butterfly flies from the window to the blue sky, it always feels that it has gained a new life, and my heart is extremely happy and happy. When shooting indoors, a tripod and flash are indispensable auxiliary equipment.
Blue phoenix butterfly egg Pan Jiangwei photo
Bifeng butterfly unlearned larvae Pan Jiangwei photo
Blue phoenix butterfly pre-pupae Photo by Pan Jiangwei
Blue phoenix butterfly into pupae Pan Jiangwei photo
The butterfly is about to feather Pan Jiangwei photo
Bifeng butterfly feathering success Pan Jiangwei photo
In life, there is always a beautiful encounter,
Don't ask by chance or fate, hold hands for a ride,
Accompanied by mountains and rivers, all the way is the blossoming of Yanran.
One day, we will eventually grow old.
When I stand at the crossroads of time and look back,
Those encounters that have been,
Will be like the stars that fill the sky tonight,
The dots are beautiful memories...
I always feel that the butterfly is spiritual, love it and cherish it to meet it, and shoot butterfly films full of natural beauty. Sometimes due to terrain or other reasons, you can only watch the butterflies flying in the sky, and it is common to not be able to approach, at this time, you can only have a fancy heart, looking forward to the next time.