Photographing Insects: Using a Monopod
Does a monopod help for insect photography?
It is often recommended to use a tripod for macro photography. But a tripod is heavy and takes time to set up. So you need very patient insects that do not move around. In this article, I discuss using a monopod instead.
An extended version of this article has appeared in my free book My Journey into Insect Photography that you can download here.
Keeping your camera steady while taking shots of insects is difficult. The recommended solution to avoid camera motion is to use a tripod. But, a tripod is heavy to carry around and takes at least a minute to set up. Most insects will be gone by then. And when the insect moves around, it is basically impossible to follow it with a tripod. Also, wind makes the use of a tripod very hard.
Still, a way to keep the camera more steady would help, in particular when you want to get really close, or do focus stacking. The problem is not that you get motion blur. A fast shutter speed avoids that. The problem is with focusing on the desired spot. Small camera motions will change the focus point resulting in poor focus or focus on the wrong position.
So I decided to investigate whether a monopod would also do the trick. However there is very little information on the web about using monopods for insect photography. Here is one video, but it did not help me very much. So, I had to figure it out myself. Here are my observations and tips.
The monopod
There are many monopods available at very different prices. As I will always hold the camera while shooting, it does not need to carry a lot of weight and I do not need a fancy head. But it has to be light, long enough, and quick to set up.
I decided to get the cheap Fotopro X-Aircross 160 monopod (costs only 35 euro) that is made of carbon and, hence, very light. But this was a big mistake. You lock the sections by rotating one with respect to the other. You need two hands for this. If you also need to hold the camera, this is difficult. And the sections easily loosen when you e.g. rotate the camera. That is really annoying.
So I bought the more expensive (90 euro) and a bit less light (370 grams) Leofoto MP-284C. It consists of just 4 segments which makes it fast to extend. I also bought a cheap Utebit ball head (10 euro). Didn’t need anything more fancy. This combination worked a lot better.
Using a monopod definitely requires some practice. Just putting it vertically with the camera on top of it is not the correct way to use it. For a general description of how to use a monopod, look here: https://www.wikihow.com/Use-a-Monopod. But using it for insect photography requires some different techniques I discovered, which I describe here.
Six degrees of freedom
You can move a camera in six different ways. You can move it up-down, left-right, forwards-backwards and rotate it around three axes (left-right, up-down, and around the line towards the subject). When using a tripod you normally fix all of these, unless you keep the ball-head loose, in which case you keep the rotational degrees of freedom.
With a monopod this is different. When you fix the ball-head, you still have two degrees of freedom left (by pivoting around the point where the monopod contacts the ground). You must fix these with your body.
And for insect photography you do not want to fix the ball-head. You want the flexibility to position your camera at the correct position with respect to the insect, and you also need to move the camera back and forth while keeping it pointing to the insect. So how do you achieve this? Here is my approach.
General advice
Keep the ball head somewhat loose. You need the freedom to rotate the camera while pivoting it around the bottom of the monopod, to keep it pointing towards the insect. But it should not move too easily.
Hold the camera with two hands. They say you should put your left hand on the monopod. But, because you loosen the ball head, this does not work for me. Better hold the camera with two hands as if you are shooting handheld.
Press the camera to your face and press your arms to your sides. Do this in exactly the same way as if you are shooting handheld. The monopod is just going to give you extra support.
Push in the direction of the monopod. This will create the support you need. Don’t push too hard though.
Positioning the monopod
Putting the monopod vertically is not the correct way to use it. You will only limit vertical motion, which is not enough. So you best put it under an angle. My preferred method is to put the bottom of the monopod backward and a bit to the right, both with an angle of some 20 degrees. So slightly to the right of, and behind my right foot. In this way I can use my left hand to push the camera against the monopod for stability. (For extra stability you can push your right leg against the monopod. )
The advantage of this position is that you can still move the camera towards and away from the subject, although you will also slightly change the height and orientation while you do so. This works best when using autofocus but also with manual focus it can be used.
Alternatively, you can put the monopod under an angle forward. That gives a bit more stability as you can lean against it. But you loose the ability to move towards and away from the insect. With autofocus this can still work, but not with manual focus, unless you use the focus ring. Also, the monopod might hit the plant that contains the insect, scaring it away or causing motion.
In the field
Using the monopod did reduce the motion of the camera, so it indeed makes it easier to focus, in particular when using autofocus. My keep rate of sharp images did go up. In particular when using a high magnification, like for the planthopper above, it helped to keep the camera steady and get a sharp shot.
A monopod though also limits you considerably. It is basically impossible to photograph the insect under strange angles (like upside down) or between plants and branches. Also, getting the height right requires some practice. For small height changes it is easiest to change the position of the bottom of the monopod, rather than change the sections. So the insect still has to be a bit patient. Photographing insect that can fly is hard, but a caterpillar like the one below works really well.
Conclusions
A monopod is clearly not the solution to everything. It is a bit clumsy to use and still takes some time to set up. And you have to carry it with you, while I like to be as light as possible when photographing insects. There are two situation where they really help:
- When you want to photograph small insects and need considerable magnification. The insect though should be somewhat easy to reach.
- When doing focus bracketing and you need to take a number of shots without moving the camera too much.
Also, it is a great tool when you have trouble holding the camera still.
So from now on, I will take it with me if I don’t have to walk around a lot and can keep it, for example, on my bike, and fetch it when I need it.
Next: Positioning the Camera
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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.
