Photographing Insects: Finding Insects
How to find nice insects to photograph
To photograph insects you need to find them first. Fortunately, there are insects everywhere, but that does not mean you see them. Here are some things I learned about finding interesting insects.
An extended version of this article has appeared in my free book My Journey into Insect Photography that you can download here.
Finding nice insects to photograph is not hard. Initially though I had some trouble with this. I was running around too much and was in particular looking for things that moved. But that is not the best approach. Here are some tips that worked for me.
Location
Up to now, I took most of my insect pictures at four places: my garden, an area near a little pond 1 km away, along a bike lane next to my house, and in a nature garden in a nearby town (some 6 km away). I also plan to go to some flower garden and herb garden in the near future, that are close by. There is really no need to travel far.
It helps when there is water nearby. Insects are abundant there. And in the Netherlands there is water almost everywhere. Of course, insects near water will be rather different from insects in dry areas. But there are so many species that there will be enough variation everywhere. Already in my garden I photographed dozens of different species.
It is useful to come back to the same location regularly. You start to realize that on certain plants there are many more insects than on other plants. It also helps when the plants are a bit high. It makes looking for insects and photographing them a lot easier when you don’t have to kneel down all the time.
Season and time
There are no insects in the winter. The best time in the Netherlands is from April till September. This might be different in other countries. In the morning, insects tend to move less than in the afternoon. This makes photographing them easier, but finding them harder. In the evening there will be different insects which might be interesting, for example spiders, but they are harder to find. Use a flashlight.
Conditions
Photographing insects in the rain is not going to work. They will be hiding. Also, just after a rainstorm you will have a hard time finding insects. Moreover, you will get all wet. Sunny weather works best. Wind is also not good. The insects will be there but they are harder to spot on moving leaves and branches, and even if you spot them, they will be very difficult to photograph. Find a spot in the lee, and things will be a lot easier. I will do a full article on weather in the future.
Chasing insects
Initially I was looking for moving (flying) insects. They are easy to spot. I followed them until they sat still and then tried to photograph them. That is a poor strategy (although sometimes unavoidable; like with butterflies). Moving insects are active and alert, so they quickly move away again. If a bee flies to a flower and you try to photograph it there, it most likely immediately moves to a different flower. On the other hand, if a bee is sitting still on a flower, it most likely stays there. So don’t chase insects!
Look around very carefully to find insects that are not moving. This can be hard, because they are small. Move very slowly and look for any tiny difference. A dark spot on a leaf, a thicker part on a stem, some color change. Get closer and inspect the spot. Make sure your camera is ready and shoot. Never first check whether it is alive! I sometimes tend to do that, and when the answer is positive the insect is gone.
Don’t move
Just stand in front of some bushes and slowly let your eye move over them. Look from different directions. Initially you might not see much but almost always, after a while, you start seeing insects. When you find one, don’t move on. When there is one insect there are often more.
Also look under the leaves. Some insects prefer that side of the plant. And don’t forget to look at the stem. Many insect sit on the stem; not on the flowers or leaves.
Sometimes, when photographing one insect, you find another in the picture, like in the following image. However, it is rare that it is sharp. Better be aware of this. I have found nice little insects while I was actually photographing something else.
Butterflies and dragon flies
These are somewhat special. You can easily spot them, as they move around a lot. But that also makes it hard to photograph them. When I see an interesting butterfly I follow it around with my eyes, without moving, until it sits down somewhere. I set my camera in the right mode and then slowly approach it. I first take a picture from the distance and then slowly try to get closer. When it flies away I repeat the process. When it continues flying, I give up. It is simply too active.
It is surprising that with a bit of patience you can actually get very close to them. It feels like they get used to your presence and then ignore you.
Conclusions
It is easy to find interesting insects when you take your time. Soon you will find a couple of favorite spots that you keep returning too. Try to concentrate on a particular type of species or a particular size of insects. When you are looking for everything you see nothing.
Up to now I always went photographing insects on my own. I guess that with two people you will see a lot more. On the other hand, the quietness of being alone in nature with your camera also has its charm.
Next: The Little Ones
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Mark Overmars is a dedicated insect photographer that loves to share and regularly publishes about his work and about photography in general. You can visit his website at www.insectphotography.org. Download his free insect photography book at www.insectphotography.org/book.
