In with the new

“We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day.”
~Edith Lovejoy Pierce

Camera: Canon PowerShot A710 IS
Date and time: January 1, 2012. 0:11 AM
Location: Isla Mujeres, Mexico
Exposure: 2
Aperture: f/8.0
Focal Length: 5.8 mm
Exposure Bias:0 EV
ISO Speed: 82
Handheld


I just came back from a 3-week vacation and my body clock is still messed up. Instead of wasting my time on reading some boring updates from social networking sites, I decided to bore others with my thoughts. So here I am updating my blog.

Before heading to the other continent, I planned to post my favorite shots from last year, but I didn't find the time to do that. The holiday activities kept my hands full. Anyhow, I mentioned last time I want to rekindle my love for photography, so kindly allow me to inspire myself as I look back at my personal faves from 2011...



1. see me through, 2. mysterious you, 3. almost there, 4. red and sweet are good to eat

Although I didn't take much photos last year, I realized that I still managed to accomplish the usual stuff in my bucket list: insect in flight, a survival-of-the-fittest moment, insect porn, and dramatic-to-me flower macros. My camera failed to focus a few times, but there were occasions when it was its usual self. Not bad at all. Although I failed to improve my photography skill last year, the few photos show that I haven't lost my touch yet, me thinks.

Self-praising, check. Now it's time to move on. As a photography enthusiast, I do have secret goals. They are quite far-fetched, and because of that I will never dare mention them here. My fading enthusiasm and procrastination prevent me from trying to reach those crazy goals, but I will do my best to get those hindrances off my system. Once they're gone, I'm off to the next level. You just wait and see :-)

Pause

“Idleness is sweet, and its consequences are cruel”
~John Quincy Adams

Camera: Canon PowerShot A710 IS
Exposure: 0.002 sec (1/640)
Aperture: f/4.0
Focal Length: 5.8 mm
Exposure Bias: -1 EV
Flash: Off, Did not fire
ISO Speed: 75


When my camera was new I took hundreds of photos a week, nowadays I barely use it. I do have an acceptable excuse: the dark Finnish winter, but I still remember that 4 years ago, that didn't stop me from experimenting with macro shots. I bought flowers and took pictures of them from different angles:




1. Beautiful & calm, 2. Center of attraction, 3. mum, 4. Better late than never..


During the spring and summer months, I was always outside looking for anything worth taking photos of. By the end of the summer, the amount of photos kept me busy for months. This year, however, was quite different. The last time I used my camera was almost 7 weeks ago when I was in London. I think that somewhere along the line, I lost my enthusiasm. Maybe it's because my camera has seen better days and I am hating myself for being too stubborn to upgrade.

In my attempt to regain enthusiasm, I visit my web gallery every now and then. Sometimes I couldn't believe that I was the same person who took those photos, no kidding! My lucky shots and the comments of photostream visitors inspire me somehow.I know some people who got bored with photography, treated it like something that they had to try once, and then forget about it. Pardon me for making it sound like a one-night stand :-) I don't want to fall in the same category, I prefer a longer, and more fruitful relationship with photography. So while I am on hibernation mode, I will think of moving on to next level. My next steps would be getting a new camera, attending workshops, entering photo contests.. anything that will prepare me for a long-term commitment with photography.

For now, kindly pardon my idleness. I assure you that this just a temporary phase. I'm giving myself some room to grow, hoping that next spring I will fall in love with photography all over again.

Lucky bird

“Be as a bird perched on a frail branch that she feels bending beneath her, still she sings away all the same, knowing she has wings.” ~Victor Hugo

Camera: Canon PowerShot A710 IS
Exposure: 0.002 sec (1/500)
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 5.8 mm
Flash: Off, Did not fire
ISO Speed: 75
Modifications: adjusted brightness and contrast

Last week, for the first time this year, I heard birds singing. I think that was a sign which indicates either I have auditory hallucinations, or spring is just around the corner. My camera has been hibernating since the first week of January, but since spring will be here soon, it has to prepare itself for yet another nature photography season. It has seen better days, but it would have to do for the time being.

Time and again I hear whining about my Flickr photo gallery, like "bugs again? When will you ever get tired of those?" I never paid attention, but today I realized that some people really find them creepy. I don't want my gallery to be the reason why some people get nightmares or suffer from sleepless nights. I won't delete the spider photos, but just to prove that I do have a heart, let's skip the bees and talk about the birds for a change. Hope you like my lucky shots of bigger winged creatures:


1. Lucky bird, 2. Untitled, 3. by her lonesome, 4. Tweet!

They obviously didn't mind my presence because I was was able to take photos at close range. Either that or they were too confused to care. The 'lucky bird' was a poor fella because it had an accident, it hit the glass of our living room window while I was gardening. I took photos of it a few minutes after it had regained consciousness. The bird in the 'Tweet' photo was also a casualty because I think fell of its nest. It was too young to fly, and that was the reason why I manage to stalk it. Boy, it's so cool to be at the right place and at the right time. I therefore conclude that I'm one lucky bird, not the kind that eats bugs though :-)

Summer report

“Review your goals twice every day in order to be focused on achieving them.”
~Les Brown

I had a lovely summer, it buzzed with activities and I enjoyed every minute of it. In three months' time, I worked in different health care facilities, took care of our garden, traveled outside Finland twice, and of course I took pictures of nature and some man-made structures. Looking back, I couldn't believe how I managed to juggle all of those. It was a fun and productive season, and boy it sucks how fast time flies.. sigh. Anyhow, in my previous blog entry I was brave enough to mention that I was getting bored with my photography style. I bet some of the people who has been viewing my work since I started showing them off on web galleries do feel the same. Because of that, I thought I should try my very best to make my macro photos look like art pieces, not just mere insect and flower photos that would look good on textbooks where kids could label every part. So... was it a success or a flop? You're about to find out..

A for effort
I tried my best, but I'm giving myself an F because I am simply not satisfied with how the flower macros came out. Yeah, my standards are way too high for an amateur, nothing can change that. However, I should get an A for effort and for always believing that my camera can do wonders. Actually, I deserve more than an A, I think I should get a medal for my false beliefs. I took at least a hundred photos of flowers, I set the aperture to f2.8, and voila! Only 10% turned up to be decent enough. Backed with my years of practice shooting on macro mode, I know quite well which part of the subject to focus on. The difficult part is adding drama to the image, allowing it to tell a story and making it look visually appealing at the same time. Since I do not excel in the creativity department, I ended up deleting so many shots because they looked so dull. Oh, I've still got a lot to learn. Below is one of the few photos that passed my standards, the aperture was f/3.5 though.


Passion for detail

I took that flower photo in a park when I was in a photowalk with my best friend. I was telling her about depth-of-field and its impact on the photograph.
For the record, I owe her big because she was the one who told me that I have to press that tulip button on my camera if I want to take close-up photos. If not for that tip, I probably wouldn't discover the wonderful world of macro photography. It's just but fitting that I share with her some photography tips, just the basic stuff because that's all I know :-)


A for confidence
Some hobbyists have inferiority complex secondary to the use of less expensive gadgets. Oh am I ever so glad I didn't develop that condition.
In fact my 'student's camera is way better than mine, but that didn't bother me at all. I gave her macro tutorials in the lovely parks of London. I enjoyed it so much because it made me realize that I actually know some photography stuff. I owe it to the people who take time to comment on my photos. My lack on insecurity as far as cameras and gears are concerned, also plays a significant part. I don't mind rubbing elbows with DSLR users, in fact the best part of my vacation in the Philippines has always been the photowalks of Pinoy Macro, my favorite Flickr group. I bet not all point and shoot users would feel comfortable being surrounded with guys using heavy cameras and powerful lenses, but I've got confidence in me :-) Most of my favorite shots were taken when I was with those macro masters. Perhaps it's due to the positive energy that I get when I hang out with them. Check out the photos below, you non-believers.


Bonding session


1. in the spotlight, 2. I'm a lady!, 3. Steady, 4. exotic little thing

A for going beyond macro
Whenever I travel, I see to it that butterfly sanctuaries are part of the itinerary. Sometimes I take the beautiful man-made structures for granted. Last summer, however, was different. I finally gave in to the long overdue request of my sister who wanted to see the more photos of the places I visit. So I revisited the buildings of the Finnish capital, took photos of the London street scenes, castles, and other lovely sights. It went well, me thinks. After all, buildings and bridges do not move. It was just a matter of choosing the best angle to shoot from.

Parliament House, Helsinki


1. Buckingham Palace, 2. London bridge, 3. Hampton Court Palace, 4. View from London Eye



Straight A's? That's too good to be true, so to balance things kindly allow me to bash myself as well. I already mentioned one F because I failed to deliver impressive flower macro shots, but it doesn't stop there.

F for post-processing skills
The functions of most stuff in the photoshop tool box remain a mystery to me. I can't even upgrade to newer versions because of my fear that it would again be a struggle to learn the basics. I barely exert effort on learning photoshop because it's time consuming. I would rather take new pictures than sit down and try to make an old one look better.

F for technical knowledge
I've been shooting for 4 years and I’m still confused about ISO. My attention span is exceptionally short for articles that mention numbers. I asked my husband about that many times, but I can't remember much about what he said because I always get lost in his beautiful blue eyes. I just end up saying: to hell with ISO settings, the world will not end if I don't know how to adjust it :-) Moral of the story: don't get tutorials from handsome guys, you won't learn much. Don't say I didn't warn you.

So there you have it. Now you know how this shutterbug spent summer. I tried, I failed, and I've still got more room for improvement. Oh, and I have always been a lady, haha! I had to point that out because one forum member once called me 'sir'.

Back to life

“Nature gives to every time and season some beauties of its own; and from morning to night, as from the cradle to the grave, it is but a succession of changes so gentle and easy that we can scarcely mark their progress.”
~Charles Dickens

It's been almost half a year since my last blog entry. I can't believe I didn't even write about spring this year. Well... a lot has happened, I didn't even get to take photos for about 2 months. That was an extremely long break for someone who normally shoots almost everyday. I'm not about to reveal the reason behind the hiatus, as I'm not comfortable announcing every bit of my life's details to everyone. That's not my thing, perhaps it will never be. I created this blog for my nature photos and its purpose should remain the same. And so without further ado, let's get down to business...

Since the last week of May, I've been taking photos whenever the weather is right and I am not busy with part-time jobs. Yeah, back to the old ways, but I've got a confession to make.. I'm getting bored with my style. I'm bound to take photos of the same flowers and insects every summer as long as I live, and as early as now, it feels like my bag of tricks is already empty. I really need to try new things.

I would still love to shoot on macro mode, because that's all I can do. I've been thinking about nature abstracts. Roe, one of my Flickr contacts has a very impressive collection and I wish I could be even half as good as him in that area photography. However, there are a few obstacles, and the most significant is my lack of artistic ability. Macro abstracts are not just about details, it involves a lot of drama, that's why it's not going to be easy for my robotic self. It may also require Photoshop skill, that's also something that I don't have. Moreover, the limitations of my camera may keep me from producing impressive shots. Oh well, I'll try not to let such hindrances to keep me from learning about macro abstracts. I need to unleash my artistic ability, whether I have it or not :-)

I think this flower close-up isn't too bad:

Hieroglyphics of angels
Camera: Canon PowerShot A710 IS
Exposure: 0.001 sec (1/1000)
Aperture: f/4.0
Focal Length: 5.8 mm
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: Off

I can't wait to experiment more on flower close-ups, but right now we still don't have much flowers in our backyard. It would be quite boring to look at photos of yellow weeds all the time. I'm waiting for the lupines, poppies, daisies, and lilies to bloom so that I can try the tips from this site. It's cool to learn something new again, it somehow reminds me of my first few months of exploring the complexities of insect photography. I think that if I would devote time on learning about nature abstracts, producing decent shots should be an attainable goal. After all, it shouldn't be as physically challenging as chasing bugs. In case it won't work after millions of tries, I can always go back to my photogenic tiny creatures who are also back in business at this time of the year. They're too cute to ignore especially when they don't mind my presence. The butterfly in the photo below, allowed me to take more than 10 close-up photos. It seems that my lucky star is also back :-)

Her good side
Camera: Canon PowerShot A710 IS
Exposure: 0.002 sec (1/500)
Aperture: f/4.0
Focal Length: 5.8 mm
Exposure Bias: -1/3 EV
Flash: Off

In the pink

“Colors, like features, follow the changes of the emotions.”
~Pablo Picasso


Camera: Canon PowerShot A710 IS
Exposure: 0.001 sec (1/1250)
Aperture: f/4.0
Focal Length: 5.8 mm
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: Off, Did not fire
Modifications: cropping, adjusted brightness level

I'm soo missing summer right now. I can't post new photos to my gallery simply because there aren't new ones to upload. I don't have the time nor lovely subjects to take photos of. The last time I was out in the yard taking photos was more than a month ago. Could you believe that? My passion for photography is still pretty much alive, it's just that the weather hasn't been on my side since last month. We've got snow already. Yup, winter- my worst enemy- is here again. No more lovely days in the horizon, take a look at our city's weather forecast:

source: Foreca

I am not a fan of neutral colors, I guess I never would be. I love colors that brighten my mood. Now that almost everything is grey and white, I terribly need an antidote for depression. My saving grace is my Flickr photo page where there are hundreds of colorful pics. The ones with pink subjects caught my eye the most. I love taking photos of pink subjects because they remind me of strawberry ice cream. Pink never fails to make me smile. In addition, it's an easy color to shoot.

Last summer, I noticed that insects are attracted to the color pink. Maybe I owe my macro shots to the pink items in my wardrobe. Here's one example, you non-believers!

I saw that huge dragonfly zooming around the garden. I wanted to stalk it for photos, but to my surprise it went to me instead. It landed on my leg for like 3 minutes and I took a couple of photos. Thank goodness for the color pink. My theory about insects' pink fetish started last summer when our guests who had pink shirts on were often bugged by wasps and other bugs. I also noticed that I have tens of bug-on-pink-flower photos in my Flickr page.


Pink subjects look their best on a nice weather. Whenever I see the need to adjust color levels, I add more blue to get a nice shade of pink. Try doing the same to your photos with pink subjects. Oh and wear something pink when you're taking nature photos. Maybe it will land you a pleasant surprise too.

Summer's best

Limitations live only in our minds. But if we use our imaginations, our possibilities become limitless.
~Jamie Paolinetti

Face the truth
Camera: Canon PowerShot A710 IS
Exposure: 0.003 sec (1/400)
Aperture: f/4.0
Focal Length: 5.8 mm
Modifications: Cropping, contrast and color levels
Date taken: August 2, 2009 at 4.06pm EEST

My summer vacation is almost over. Before school work and other projects get in the way, I reckon that I should first show everyone my favourite summer photos. Just some pieces of evidence to prove that little cameras can really produce nice images.

The number of photos I've taken from June 'til the first week of August is about 30% lesser than the previous summers'. That doesn't mean that I've lost my interest in photography. I used to take at least 8 shots of the same subject. Nowadays, 2 to 4 shots are usually enough. My goal is to get sharp head-on shots as much as possible. I incline to believe that my abilities can go beyond images like this one:

Though the backs of beetles and bugs have cool patterns, I still think that eyes and faces are their best features. Hence, I did my very best this season to capture the cute faces of insects, and guess what? My camera didn't fail me. Behold my best insect photos to date:


1. bee ready
2. Snack time
3. scavenging
4. Happy Pretty Pink Poppy Tuesday!

I always get comments like: How did you do that when you're only using a point-and-shoot camera? Perhaps it's because no matter how inferior my camera may seem to some people, when I go out to take photos, I really mean business. Yeah, my camera have limited features, but I just couldn't be bothered to pay attention on what it cannot do. If I'm not happy with the shots, I don't blame it on the so-called limits of my point-and-shoot. I don't whine, I just tell myself that I'd get it right next time.

Hobbyists often say: 'it's the arrow, not the Indian', whenever talks about cameras and gear come about. I think the same thing applies to photos of poor quality, it's quite pointless to pin the blame on the arrow :-).

Originality

You've got to be original, because if you're like someone else, what do they need you for?
~Bernadette Peters


Date & time: January 19, 2008 at 13.07 GMT+8
Location: Bulacan, Philippines
Camera: Canon PowerShot A710 IS
Exposure: 0.003 sec (1/320)
Aperture: f/4.0
Focal Length: 5.8 mm

I've got a confession to make. Almost 2 years ago I envied this shot so much and I even tried to imitate it. One summer morning, I found a similar bug in my mom-in-law's garden, I put it on top of a red flower and started to take photos. Then I realized that it was silly, why on earth would I copy one's work? I felt awful, so I brought the bug back to where it was and just took pictures of it in many different angles. Here's a pic of little greenie.

The morning light definitely did wonders to the photo. Composition-wise, I am not very proud of that shot but at least the colors and details look nice. More importantly, I learned that
imitating others' work for the purpose of gaining the approval of many is super insane. Some may think that my photos are nice but of course I can not please everyone. Since then, I just concentrated on learning how to take better photos and bear in mind that photography should always be fun.

I've got many Flickr contacts who are exceptionally skilled, each visit to their gallery brings delight to my senses because their shots never cease to inspire and amaze me. Time and again, I come across cool concepts for photos but I couldn't be bothered to imitate how the shot was executed, etc. I sometimes participate in Imagoism Thursday, but I just don't have the knack of composing shot the way V does. One thing that I learned from that weekly photo contest is that once in a while, I can apply the 'drama' my insect shots.


Bid me farewell

I haven't been actively participating in Imagoism Thursday because I just don't have many photos that would look good enough alongside the work of other Filipino photographers. Moreover, I just can be half as good as V when it comes to composing shots. I think I'm better off admiring her work from the sidelines.

Like in any form of art, originality is valued in photography. What's the point of imitating a shot that has been done thousands of times before? It's a waste of time. Coming up with unique compositions is the way to go. As usual I would like to emphasize that clever concepts do not require high-end gears, it's a matter of making brain cells work.

Uniqueness is what I've always been aiming at to the point that somehow it makes my shots extra weird. Nonetheless, I believe they deserve extra points in the originality department. Who else would be brave to get extremely close to spider webs or crazy enough to self-portraits from butt-level? Call it kick-ass originality, baby ;-)

Seasons come, seasons go

"Nature gives to every time and season some beauties of its own; and from morning to night, as from the cradle to the grave, it is but a succession of changes so gentle and easy that we can scarcely mark their progress.”
~Charles Dickens

Camera: Canon PowerShot A710 IS Exposure: 0.003 sec (1/400) Aperture: f/4.0 Focal Length: 5.8 mm Date & time: March 8, 2009 at 3.30pm EET Location: Kerimäki, Finland Well, what do you know? It seems only yesterday when the sight of the the first spring flowers delighted my senses and now it's already June. Hellooo summer! I don't have nice & bright summer pics yet because it actually feels like mid-autumn here. It's been raining for days and it's quite cold to do anything outdoors. So for now, join me as I reminisce about the sweetness of spring.. I think the cutest spring insect is the scarlet lily beetle. These critters munch on lilies like crazy, but I can't get rid of them because they are quite photogenic. Their color stands out from the sea of leaves, so spotting these insects should be a piece of cake. Moreover, they don't move much which makes them brilliant subjects. 1. A Beautiful Pest, 2. I'm back! From calm beetles let's move on to some action shots.. Experts always recommend taking photos of bugs either early in the morning or late afternoon because they are not hyperactive during those times. Since I am not a morning person, I've got to choice but to chase insects at mid-day. It's not a wise idea because the shots may be at risk for overexposure. Of course one can always adjust the exposure settings but I do have a tendency to forget that- dementia is catching, you know... A few days before spring bid farewell, I saw hoverflies fluttering over yellow daisies. But then I've got so many photos of insects on yellow flowers and I'm quite bored with them already. For that reason, I concentrated on capturing the hoverflies while in mid-air, luckily most of the shots turned out well. Picking which ones to upload, was as usual, a bit of an agony. Here are 2 of the successful captures: 1. Soaring over fields of gold, 2. They come in threes.. Blooming beauties It's a crime not to take photos of flowers on spring time. I experimented more on control of depth of field, the results were quite good. I tried to make the photos more dramatic by keeping them as simple as possible, it worked fine. At least they don't look too mediocre. 1. Thankful 2. Sunlight Beginners tend to include some not-so-important elements in their photos. As a result, the composition is all over the place, meaning that the photo fails to tell its 'story'. I was like that too, back when I thought that photography merely involves pressing the shutter. There are pieces of evidence like this pointless shot from years ago that one spring in my life, my photos sucked to the highest degree. I often here nice words from some people who are interested in photography, bless their hearts. They say that my work somehow inspires them, wow I am ever so flattered. If they would see my old shots, I bet they would come to their senses, haha!! The truth is, I am just someone who enjoys taking photos. I try to improve my skills through my own simple ways, hoping that I would always nicely capture the beauty that nature brings, season after season..

Back in business

Spring is nature's way of saying, "Let's party!"
~Robin Williams

Camera: Canon PowerShot A710 IS
Exposure: 0.001 sec (1/1000)
Aperture: f/4.0
Focal Length: 5.8 mm
Modifications: Cropping, adjusted brightness and color levels
Date & time: 25 April 2009 at 14.29 EEST
Location: Kerimäki, Finland

Spring has sprung! I couldn't help but get ecstatic about it. Yeah, I took nature photos during the winter months, but I was in Asia from Mid-December 'til February. To me, winter is not the best time of the year to take photos, lack of light always makes my photos look dull. Moreover, I always get blurred photos because my hands get shaky, thanks to the extremely cold weather.

Good lighting is a major ingredient of stunning photographic compositions. It's wonderful to be in here in Finland during spring and summer because of the lovely natural light. When I was in the Philippines I had a chance to meet my fellow macro addicts for a photowalk:


The weather wasn't perfect then, I had to use flash most of the time, as a result, 80% of the photos were quite dull. Although most of my shots sucked, I absolutely enjoyed shooting with the pros. I would definitely join them again on my next vacation. For the mean time, I'm back doing solo photowalks. I have a higher 'success rate' here in our own yard, thanks to the lovely spring sunshine. I took 20 photos a couple of days back, and most of them are good -according to my belief. Here are two new photos:



If you you want to give macrophotography a shot, keep in mind that it is about showing off the details. This can be achieved by taking photos when natural light is at its best. I still get emails from photographers who are curious about the brand or type of macro lens that I use, news flash: I don't have one yet. If Santa Claus will give me a DSLR plus the kind of macro lens that would best suit my usual subjects, of course I would accept it. I am not counting on it though because I can't be nice all year. My little camera is still okay, but it is no longer as efficient as it used to be. Its manual focus still works perfectly, which means that I can still make do with it.

I have always been focused on improving my so-called skills, setting goals have always been helpful. For this season, I will experiment on abstract macros and minimalism. Of course you would still see shots bearing my usual style. I hope that my photos in the weeks to come will be better than my 2008 spring collection. It's a tall order, but with the wonderful spring sunshine, I see better photos in the horizon. Do I sound ridiculously optimistic? Well.. blame it on spring :-)

Straight in the eye

“Never bend your head. Always hold it high. Look the world straight in the eye.”
~ Helen Keller

Straight in the eye
Camera: Canon PowerShot A710 IS
Date & Time: July 27, 2008 at 11.23am EEST
Location: Joensuu, Finland
Exposure: 0.017 sec (1/60)
Aperture: f/3.5
Focal Length: 5.8 mm
Modifications: cropping, adjusted brightness, contrast & color levels, noise reduction

Among the rules of animal and people photography is to focus on the eyes. It's a rule that I never questioned. I don't know about you, but I would definitely hate it if someone would take a photo of me and the camera is focused on the strands of gray hair on the crown of my head. Other than the fact that it would expose the ugly side of me, I am quite sure that no one would find it interesting.

According to Frank H. Philips: "On many bugs the eyes (and even bug “pupils”) lend a dramatic connection between them".. Hence photos focused on the bugs' eyes look very interesting. Since the day I read Frank Philips' tip, I have always aimed for the insects' or spiders' eyes. It is not easy, but eventually, you will get the hang of it. You just have to keep on practicing.

The major challenge in insect macrophotography is of course the size of the insects. To avoid immediate disappointment, look for bigger insects to practice on. Rhinoceros Beetles have big eyes and they are rather calm which means that you can take a hundred of photos of it if you want to. But those huge beetles are quite rare. Lady bugs and shield bugs are tiny but quite easy to photograph. Once you have spotted those critters, take as many photos as you can from different angles. Head-on perspective is my favorite. It is very challenging but I find it really cool, a hundred times more intersecting than a boring aerial view like this pic. Insects are beautiful and when photographed the right way, I think a lot of people would appreciate them more. I am quite pleased with the comments I got when I uploaded these pics:

1. in your face!
2. Fly
3. I dare you to move
4. face to face

To be fair with the bugs, I took a photo of my eye:

Vision of a sunset
Camera: Canon PowerShot A710 IS
Exposure: 0.017 sec (1/60)
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 5.8 mm
To view the large size click here

If you have the right equipment for macrophography then good for you. Your photos shouldn't suck, if they do, hmm shame on your gears :-) But if you are a P&S user like me, never ever focus on the limitations of your camera. The key is to get very close to the subject. Concentrate your efforts on following the basic principles of photography and you will never go wrong.

Bug stalking 101

“The policy of being too cautious is the greatest risk of all.”
~ Jawaharlal Nehru

Stalked!
Camera: Canon Powershot A710IS
Location:Punkaharju, Finland
Date & time: 5.36pm EEST
Exposure: 0.017 sec
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal length: 5.8mm
Modifications: cropping, adjusted brightness & contrast levels

I am keen on learning more about insect photography. I always read tips from some forums and blogs of professional photographers. Sometimes reading about some so-called tips make me wince. I was shocked to find out that some photographers resort to freezing bugs so that they could get 'better' photos of them. I think that is very wrong to sacrifice a bug's precious life for the sake of art. Talk about some human's selfish needs. No wonder so many species are now extinct. In my opinion such form short cutting defeats the real purpose of nature photography. There's nothing like capturing nature's priceless moments.

In case you find nature macrophotography very interesting, then by all means give it a shot. It's not exclusive to people with high-end cameras, if it was then I would not have the thousands of bugs and flower close-ups that are in my hard disk right now. I already have an entry about flower macros. For now I want to share with you how to find and stalk bugs in their natural environment.

One thing that you should do as you walk close to the subject is to adjust your camera settings. Lower the exposure if the light is too harsh. Do you think you need to change the white balance? Do all the necessary adjustments prior to getting up close to the bug.

Spiders
It's quite easy to find spiders. If not in their web, they are usually on leaves or crawling on the ground. These 8-legged creatures are not insects. They don't have wings, but once they sense your presence they will disappear in flash. Why? Because most of them have 8 eyes that's why they can easily detect human presence. Getting good photos of them is a bit difficult, but not impossible. Just don't do anything that will startle them, move very slow but press that shutter like a maniac. If you are very close, make sure that your camera won't accidentally hit the leaf or whatever the spider is on because it's going to blow your chance to take more photos. In a blink of an eye spidey will be somewhere else. Here are two spiders who didn't mind me taking photos of them:

1. Greenie
2. Spider on a stinging nettle

Bumble bees
These ever buzzing winged insects are very restless especially if they are surrounded by plenty of tiny flowers. A bumble bee will just stay on a flower for a few seconds. They are normally too busy to get intimidated by the camera, but you have to press on the shutter as fast as you can. I haven't had the luxury of time to use manual focus on bumble bees. My camera is always on full auto mode whenever I take photos of them. My best shots bumble bees:

1. Coming out of the shell
2. Another day in the office

Honey bees
If bumble bees are always in a hurry to get things done, honey bees are different. They are quite methodical. Hence, easier to photograph. You can follow it's movement from one flower to another and you can take many shots of it because it stays on a spot for a minute or more.

1. And yet another hard worker
2. Behind bars

Hover flies
I have plenty of hover fly photos in my gallery. Based on my experience, they are the easiest winged creatures to take photos of. You can find them on flowers and sometimes they rest on leaves or blades of grass. You can be just inches away from them but they would not care, except if you will shake the leaf or flower. Once you are used to taking photos of bumble bees & honey bees, then you can effortlessly photograph hover flies. You an experiment on many different angles. Hover flies are twice smaller than bumble bees, to capture more of its detail you have to be really close to them.

1. A praying hoverfly?
2. in the middle of something

Butterflies
These lovely creatures are probably everyone's favorite insect. Photographing them is quite challenging. Once you see one on a flower, approach it slowly. Your mere shadow will ruin your chance to take photos of these winged insects. So try your best not to cast your shadow over it. If you startled accidentally, it will fly away. But don't fret, because it will come back to the same spot where you saw it. I've seen it happen several times. Like when I took these photos:

1. A summer remembrance
2. Monday blues

The first time I saw a huge moth was when I was 5 years old. It was orange with beautiful patterns on its wings. The wing span of that moth as about 18-20 centimeters. It was my mom who saw it first. Until now I remember how that moth looked like. Sadly, it was the first and last time that I saw such a beautiful live moth. I saw something that looked almost like it but it was in a butterfly museum in Asia, pinned on a wall. I probably would never see anything like that in this lifetime. So while some species are still alive, let's not waste the opportunity. Photograph them while you can. A few decades from today they may no longer be around, but if you took the risk of getting up close to those critters then you will have beautiful pictures to show to your grandchildren someday.

Insect Porn

“All nature's creatures join to express nature's purpose. Somewhere in their mounting and mating, rutting and butting is the very secret of nature itself.”
~ Graham Swift


Make love, not war
Location: Pähkinärinne, Vantaa. Southern Finland
Date & Time: June 28, 2008 4.09PM EET
Camera: Canon PowerShot A710IS
Exposure: 0.008 sec
Aperture: f/4
Focal length: 5.8mm

Among the advantages of a compact camera is that its size and weight won't interfere that much with your daily routine. Take the photo above as an example. I took that on the way home from the grocery and I had two shopping bags at the time. I can't imagine taking photos of bugs by the road side with a heavy DSLR while carrying bags of groceries I am not strong enough to do that.

It's so easy to take photos of insects while they are mating. You can take 100 photos of them is you are quick enough. But that will leave you with so much work afterwards. If you want to upload the photos later to your online gallery, it's a must to pick the best ones, otherwise the photo viewers may get bored to death except of course if they are entomologists who would like to carefully document the bugs' mating process. Once you see a mating pair, don't be afraid to get very close to them. Trust me, they would rarely mind your presence unless startle them by moving the leaves or petals where they are. But when do they mate? The earliest time of the day when I saw mating butterflies was at 11 AM. I once took photos of beetles mating at 7 PM, the evening light was nice then. Of course if there is a butterfly park near you, there would always be mating couples there. But if you are like me who don't have much choice but to look for them in the wild, you have to be alert. Once you see two of the same kind of butterfly, there's a big chance that they are in the middle of a courting ritual. Try not to disturb them and just walk closer to their direction when they get down to the actual business. Beetles are easier to capture because they don't move much. In addition to that, they mate for hours. You will have a lot of time to take photos them. When I was on vacation in the Philippines, I saw mating tortoise beetles while I was on my way to a nearby mall. I took photos of that couple and then after my 2-hour mall trip, they were still at it. Get the picture?


Presenting.. my porn collection:

1. Caught in the act, 2. Size doesn't matter?, 3. Afternoon delight, 4. bugs in love, 5. mating beetles, 6. mating butterflies

If you find those photos funny & interesting, why not give insect porn a try? Forget about giving those bugs some privacy, they do it by the road side for crying out loud. Just look for them and keep in mind that sex sells.

Lucky shots

“Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity” ~Seneca



Hover fly in flight
Location: Filinvest Alabang, Muntinlupa Philippines
Date: January 1, 2008, 3:23 PM Manila time
Camera: Canon PowerShot A710 IS
Exposure: 0.017 sec
Aperture: 3.5
Modifications: Cropping, adjusted brightness, noise reduction


If you have visited my Flickr photostream, you may have noticed that usually my reply to comments is: "it's just a lucky shot" especially when it is about photos of insects in flight. I even referred to the photo above as 'my ultimate lucky shot', why? Because it really was. I took that photo while I was in the Philippines. It was the first day of the year and I was my nephew's baby sitter for the day. We were walking along Filinvest Avenue in Muntinlupa. Of course I was prepared to take photos. I hoped to find lady bugs, but I didn't find any. Then I noticed a bug in stationary flight! Oh joy, oh rapture! If I may borrow that line from Helga G. Pataki. I normally take more than 10 shots of my subjects but that time, I didn't have the chance to press the shutter more twice. Thanks to little Clarence John for scaring the bug with his hand. When I asked him why he scared it away, his response was: "it may bite me". A piece of advise: if you want to capture insects in flight, don't bring a kid along, it's for your own good. Fortunately one of the photos turned out okay and it's my most interesting photo to date.


Okay so I did it once, big deal, but can I manage a shot like that again? The geek in me analyzed the probability. Based on my experience, taking photos of bugs in the Philippines wasn't exactly a walk in the park. I think the warm climate is the culprit, it makes bugs hyperactive. The temperature during summer months here in Finland will never match the summers in the tropics. That means that insects here can't be as restless. In a addition to that, my nephew doesn't live here, so I though maybe I can capture bugs in flight again. It shouldn't be impossible. And besides taking photos of insects on flowers or leaves has become too easy for me. I wanted to challenge myself that's why not so long ago, I set a goal to capture bugs in flight, while they are around. I found out that it is not time-consuming because you will only have a few seconds to press the shutter. I considered that as a good thing because at least I was able to attend to other things in the backyard like weeding & watering the plants.

Here are some of my bugs in flight photos:

1. Ready or not, here I come!, 2. captured in flight, 3. Almost there, 4. Off to the next destination

"How did you do that?", some viewers asked. Well, I was prepared to capture those critters and grabbed the opportunity to fire a few shots at them while they were in midair. Based on Seneca's quote, I can consider it as luck. So if you want to take photos of flying insects, remember that you need patience, camera and luck :-)

A reason to smile

A smile is a curve that sets everything straight.
~Phyllis Diller

"
Camera: Canon PowerShot A710 IS
Location: Vantaa, Finland
Date & time: September 25, 2007 at 3.23pm EEST
Exposure: 0.002 sec
Focal length: 5.8 mm
Modification: cropping

It's another gloomy day here in the country. It's been raining and the temperature is 10 degrees centigrade. Not a good day to go out & take photos. The weather really affects my mood. I don't like autumn because it's the prelude to the dark winter and it's sad to see less of my favorite subjects.

A few hours ago, I was looking at the photos that I took at this time of the year because I wanted to know which insects will still be around 'til late autumn. I couldn't help but smile when I saw the above-posted pic. I took that photo after a long day at work. It was not that cold then, so I decided to walk around the nearest pond hoping to see lady bugs or any insect. I was so happy when I saw that dragonfly. I slowly walked close to where it was. It made a stop on a blade of grass and when I was about to press the shutter it flew to a tree, bummer! I had no choice but to get on my feet again and walk to the tree where my subject was resting. I took 5 photos of it. I was a bit surprised because it didn't seem to mind the camera even if it was very close to its face. It flew after the 5th shot and I headed home with dirty jeans. I didn't notice that I was kneeling on wet grass when I was taking photos. When I got home, my husband knew what I had been doing outside, based on how disheveled I was.

I laughed when I first saw this dragonfly pic from my laptop. It was smiling at me! Cool isn't it? Thanks to the nice natural light, because I didn't have to do much to the photo. I just cropped it.
Migrant hawkers should be around 'til late September, I just hope that I could spot some of them here. I wouldn't mind getting my jeans dirty again especially if they will smile for me.

Small beginnings

"From small beginnings come great things"
~ Proverb

My first sharp bumble bee photo
Location: Savonlinna, Finland
Date & time: 2007:06:28 14:22:31
Camera: Canon Powershot A540
Aperture: f/5.5
Focal length: 23. 2 mm
Exposure: 0.002 sec
Modifications: cropping, adjusted brightness & contrast, color levels

If you want to see the unprocessed image click here. I cropped it the wrong way, my bad. What was I thinking? The head of the bee almost didn't make it to the frame. There should have been more space in that direction. I also wasn't close enough to the subject. The DOF is okay though, and that pollen on its leg adds interest to the image. I only noticed that when the image was already in my laptop. I was quite amazed and the rest, as they say, is history.