SHOOTING SKILLS
BACKLIT MACRO INSECTS
Follow Ross Hoddinott’s top tips for capturing beautiful backlit images of bugs and butterflies
Pictured
Butterfly effect Working with popular close-up subjects, such as butterflies, offers you the chance to alter or enhance the light
What you’ll need
• Digital SLR or mirrorless system
• Macro lens or close-up attachment
• Tripod with low-level capability
• Small LED Light or device Adobe Lightroom
Difficulty level: Intermediate Time taken: 2 hours All images © Ross Hoddinott
Photographing close-ups of insects can be frustrating and fiddly. Technically, it can prove challenging due to the depth of field growing increasingly shallow at higher magnifications. Light can also be in short supply when the camera is positioned so close to the subject. And photographers need to be careful their own shadow doesn’t obscure light or frighten the subject away.
However, close-up photographers also possess a huge amount of control over light. When working so close to popular close-up subjects such as flowers, fungi and insects, photographers can alter or enhance the light with relative ease – either for corrective or creative purposes. Reflectors, diffusers, flash, and small LED lights are all useful accessories.