Glance at the summary firstThe summary from the end of the lesson, as a road map before you start reading.
You shoot early in the morning because insects are ectotherms: on a cool morning their bodies are cool too, they are slow and are often found on night roosts on a grass or a flower, covered with dew and motionless; as the sun warms them they speed up and fly. Insects are photographed in place, without touching, approached from low down and slowly; chilling, moving and setting up fake dew aren't accepted or are declared; a beekeeper's hands are photographed with permission, reading the light from the skin.
Learning goal
You will be able to explain why insects are slow in the cool hour of the morning and restless in the noon heat, through their body temperature depending on the air. You will know that many insects spend the night on the stem of a grass or a flower, and can be found covered with morning dew and motionless, and you will photograph them at this hour without disturbing them. You will approach an insect slowly, from low down and without casting your shadow on it, and work without shaking the plant. You will know why taking an insect from its place, chilling it or decorating the scene with water isn't accepted, or how it is declared. You will be careful with insects that can sting, such as bees and wasps. When photographing a beekeeper's hands working with bees up close, you will get their permission and show their skin in its real tone in the morning light.
The question
Toward noon your friend is chasing a butterfly in the garden. The butterfly lands on a flower, your friend approaches with the macro lens, the butterfly at once moves to another flower. A dragonfly plays the same game. At the end of an hour, only faint traces of wings are left on the card. The birdwatcher at the club tells them to come the next morning at sunrise. When your friend goes out into the garden at dawn, they find the same butterfly on a grass stem, its wings closed and covered with dewdrops, not moving at all. Why shoot early in the morning?
Context
In the light lesson you discussed the light of a flash very close to the subject, the ring and twin flash and backgrounds that stay pitch black (Lesson K.4). In the depth of field lesson you learned to set the millimeter-thin sharp slice on the plane of the wing or body and to put the focus on the eye (Lesson K.3). With wildlife ethics you had learned the flight distance and reading a creature's unease from its behavior (Lesson Y.1).
Insects are macro's liveliest and most demanding subjects: their colors, textures and eyes are extraordinary, but they are small, fast and shy. Many photographers can find them motionless only in the first hours of the morning, in the short time when the air is cool and the insects haven't warmed up yet. This lesson takes up the reason for this morning state of insects, where to find them, and how to photograph them without disturbing them or moving them from their places.
Simple explanation
Why is an insect slow in the morning?
An ectotherm is a creature that can't keep its body temperature steady by itself and warms and cools according to the temperature of its surroundings. Most insects are like this. On a cool morning their bodies are cool too; their muscles work slowly and many can't fly or move fast. As the sun rises and the air warms, the insects warm up too: butterflies open their wings to the sun and warm up, dragonflies and bees prepare their bodies for flight by shivering their muscles. Toward noon the same insects become fast, shy and hard to catch.
That is why the first hours of the morning, especially cool, windless mornings, are the most productive time for insect macro. The light is low and soft, the wind often hasn't started blowing yet, the insects are in their places. A cloudy, cool day can give a similar chance. As insects warm up, the time they stay in one place gets shorter; the moment the sun first strikes an insect is the moment it opens its wings and starts warming up, and will fly within a few minutes.
Where do insects spend the night?
A night roost is the place where an insect spends the night and often returns to every day: a grass stem, a flower head, the underside of a leaf. Butterflies spend the night with their wings closed at the tips of stems, some solitary bees by clamping their jaws onto a stem, small damselflies among the grasses. At dawn they are found on these roosts, often covered with dewdrops and motionless. Walking slowly at the edge of a meadow or a garden, in a flowery corner sheltered from the wind, and looking at the tips of the grasses is the best way to find them.
When dewdrops are natural they add a glittering detail to the insect; but creating fake dew by spraying water onto an insect means setting up the scene, and it is said when sharing. When approaching an insect on its roost you must not shake the plant, touch the stem with your leg or the tripod, or cast a shadow on the insect. Approaching from low down, from the insect's eye level and slowly, both gives a viewpoint that shows the insect from its own world and doesn't startle it.
Why isn't an insect taken from its place?
In-situ shooting is photographing an insect where it is, without taking it, moving it or holding it. Some photographers collect insects and slow them down by chilling them, put them where they want in a studio or glue them to a twig. These methods harm the insect and mislead the viewer; they aren't accepted in nature photography. In-situ shooting sometimes offers less control, but it protects both the insect and the truthfulness of the photo.
When working with insects that can sting, bees, wasps and wild bees, you need to be careful; not approaching their nests, avoiding sudden movements and people with allergies taking no risk at all are important. People who work together with insects, such as beekeepers, are also a valuable subject on this track. When photographing a beekeeper's hands with bees walking on them in morning light, you need to get their permission. The low, warm light of the morning paints light skin pink, dark skin a deep, warm brown; taking the metering from the skin itself keeps the hand in its real tone beside the bees' shining wings.
Visual evidence
The next day the alarm rings before dawn; your friend goes down to the meadow at the edge of the garden. They walk slowly, looking at the tips of the grasses. At the tip of one stem a blue butterfly with its wings closed, on another stem a small bee holding on with its jaws, both covered with dewdrops.
They kneel on the ground, come down to the butterfly's eye level and hold the camera parallel to the wing. They take care not to touch the plant. The butterfly doesn't move; the scales on its wing and the small lights inside the dewdrops are sharp. The moment the sun touches the meadow, the butterfly opens its wings; your friend photographs that first opening too, and a few minutes later the butterfly flies away.
The same morning they visit the beekeeper at the edge of the village; the old beekeeper, a man whose face and hands have darkened from the sun, lets the bees walk on his hand as he opens the hive. Your friend asks his permission and photographs his hand up close; they take the metering from the skin itself, and in the morning light the hand is warm and detailed, the bees' wings shining.
Common mistakes
Common mistakeChasing insects in the noon heat.
Warmed-up insects are fast and shy, the frames come out blurred. The fix: look in the first hours of the cool morning, on night roosts.
Common mistakeChilling an insect to slow it down, or moving it to a twig.
It harms the insect and misleads the viewer. The fix: photograph the insect where it is, without touching it.
Common mistakeSpraying water to create fake dew and not saying so.
The scene has been set up. The fix: wait for natural dew, or state the method clearly.
Summary
You shoot early in the morning because insects are ectotherms: on a cool morning their bodies are cool too, they are slow and are often found on night roosts on a grass or a flower, covered with dew and motionless; as the sun warms them they speed up and fly. Insects are photographed in place, without touching, approached from low down and slowly; chilling, moving and setting up fake dew aren't accepted or are declared; a beekeeper's hands are photographed with permission, reading the light from the skin.
Mini assignment
In this assignment you will find and photograph insects in the first hour of the morning.
- On a cool, windless morning, before sunrise, go to a meadow, a garden or the flowery edge of a park and look for insects on night roosts by looking at the tips of the grasses.
- When you find an insect, get down low, approach from eye level and without touching the plant, line the sensor up with the plane of the wing or body, and leave the focus on the eye.
- When the sun strikes, wait for the first movement as the insect starts warming up and photograph it; if a beekeeper or a gardener will enter the frame, ask first, then read the light from their skin.
Check yourself
- How much slower were the insects you found in the morning than those you saw at noon?
- Were you able to photograph the insect in place, without disturbing it at all?
- Is the skin of the person in the frame in its real tone in the morning light?
Glossary
| Term | Short definition |
|---|---|
| Ectotherm | A creature that can't keep its body temperature steady by itself and warms and cools according to the temperature of its surroundings; most insects are like this. |
| Night roost | A place such as a grass stem, a flower head or the underside of a leaf where an insect spends the night and often returns every day. |
| In-situ shooting | Photographing an insect where it is, without taking it, moving it or holding it. |
Mini quiz
1. Why are insects slow on a cool morning?
- A) Because they are sleeping
- B) Because their body temperature is low along with the surroundings and their muscles work slowly
- C) Because there is little light
- D) Because they are hungry
2. What is a night roost?
- A) A place such as a grass stem, a flower or a leaf where an insect spends the night
- B) An insect's nest
- C) A hide where a photographer hides
- D) A bird's perch
3. Why isn't chilling an insect to slow it down accepted?
- A) Because it spoils the light
- B) Because it is expensive
- C) Because it damages the camera
- D) Because it harms the insect and misleads the viewer
4. How do you approach an insect on its roost?
- A) Quickly and from above
- B) By shaking the plant
- C) From low down, slowly, without touching the plant and without casting a shadow
- D) By firing the flash in advance
Answers
- B — The muscles of ectothermic insects work slowly in the cool and speed up as they warm.
- A — Many insects spend the night motionless on a stem or a flower.
- D — Chilling harms the insect and bases the moment in the frame on an unnatural condition.
- C — Shaking and shadow alert the insect; a low, slow approach keeps it in place.
Summary card
- Insects are ectotherms: slow in the cool morning, fast in the heat.
- Look at dawn on night roosts, at the tips of grasses.
- Approach from low down, slowly, without touching the plant and without casting a shadow.
- Shoot in situ; no chilling, no moving; say if the dew is fake.
- Care with stinging insects; for a beekeeper's hand, permission first, then metering from the skin.
Bridge to the next lesson
It rains for a week and your friend can't go out into the garden. While brewing tea in the kitchen, they notice the mist on the rim of the glass turning into drops, a spoonful of olive oil on the plate forming round islands on the water. They bring the macro lens to the table. How do you make macro art in the kitchen? The next lesson takes up macro finding the abstract worlds hidden in everyday objects, in a drop, in a texture and in a pattern.