July 29th & 31st 2021
| LOCATION: 29th - around KW. 31st - St Thomas | WEATHER: Sunny but with some cloud |
To start, I should explain about the quantity of insect images and the lack of bird photographs. As many of you know it can get really quiet with our avian friends during the months of July and August, so getting decent shots of birds is a tad more difficult than it had been in May & June, and of course when Fall migration kicks in during September and October, there will be a new flood of subjects, so in the meantime many of us bird nuts switch to insects ... as you can see from the posts over the last few weeks.
Most of the images below were shot around a couple of Conservation areas, near St Thomas. One in particular (Corner Corners) is excellent for Butterflies and I always love visiting this little butterfly paradise.
The Ambush Bug was shot here in Kitchener, and using a stacking technique of 15 images, using a Wemacro automated focusing rail and processed in Photoshop. Combined with the Wemacro I used my Canon R5 and the MP-E 65mm, which is one the best Macro lenses out there, but I will say it's not that easy to use, as it is a manual lens with no focusing, so to focus you physically have to move the lens (hence the focusing rail). Not a lens for the inexperienced unfortunately.
Most of the images below were shot around a couple of Conservation areas, near St Thomas. One in particular (Corner Corners) is excellent for Butterflies and I always love visiting this little butterfly paradise.
The Ambush Bug was shot here in Kitchener, and using a stacking technique of 15 images, using a Wemacro automated focusing rail and processed in Photoshop. Combined with the Wemacro I used my Canon R5 and the MP-E 65mm, which is one the best Macro lenses out there, but I will say it's not that easy to use, as it is a manual lens with no focusing, so to focus you physically have to move the lens (hence the focusing rail). Not a lens for the inexperienced unfortunately.
Tip of the Day: Macro photography often requires small apertures like f/16 or f/22 for most lenses and even f/32 for some lenses. These make the most out of the available depth of field, creating a sharp image. However, if you want to choose the other extreme and compose a soft shot, you can open up to full apertures like f/2.8 or f/4. Your subject will be in focus while the background will transform into bokeh, reflected points of light that can give the image an interesting look. But if you use these apertures be sure to focus on the insect's eye.
July 23rd - 28th 2021
| LOCATION: Out and about. 28th was St Thomas | WEATHER: Good sunny weather |
Scouting around wet and swampy areas looking for butterflies and dragonflies, with varying success
Tip of the Day: First, let’s look at the nuts and bolts of exposure. I find that a fairly high ISO in the 800 to 1000 range allows a very fast shutter speed and a medium aperture. The reason you don’t want too wide an aperture is that you want to maximize the depth of field — which is inherently shallow when working closeup with small objects. The difference between f/4 and f/8 might be the difference between a specimen that’s entirely in focus and one that only has part of one wing usably sharp.
July 18th - 20th 2021
| LOCATION: Kitchener to Paris | WEATHER: Mainly hot and sunny |
Just another couple of days out and about, but reasonably productive.
Tip of the Day: Use a tripod, but keep the head loose. Position your camera's sensor so it's parallel to the dragonfly or butterfly's wings. Wait until the butterfly or dragonfly is frontlit by the sun, and don't forget to use a fast shutter speed.
July 16th 2021
| LOCATION: Flamborough area | WEATHER: Muggy hot, but no sun |
It was sure a hot and muggy day, and I found myself sweating without moving, and of course the mosquitoes were out in force and making my life a misery ... even with lots of repellant. However ... no pain no gain, as they say.
Target area today was around Beverley Swamp ... which can be really good for birds at the right time of year, but can, during the hot months, be pretty decent for bugs as well. Over the last few days I have seen Question Mark Butterflies on a few occasions, including today, but they seem to be evading their chance of the limelight, as I have yet to get a snap.
Target area today was around Beverley Swamp ... which can be really good for birds at the right time of year, but can, during the hot months, be pretty decent for bugs as well. Over the last few days I have seen Question Mark Butterflies on a few occasions, including today, but they seem to be evading their chance of the limelight, as I have yet to get a snap.
Tip of the Day: This might sound obvious, but the first step in learning to take photos of insects is learning how to see them in the first place. Our six and eight-legged counterparts are all around us, but they don’t usually announce their presence with a trumpet blast. You often have to look just a little harder to see them, but you can great shots of bugs and insects on trees, shrubs, rocks, benches, buildings, or almost anywhere if you just keep your eyes peeled.
July 14th 2021
| LOCATION: Just outside Cambridge | WEATHER: Mix of Cloud and a touch of Sun |
It wasn't a great day for butterfly foraging, but still a few around ... even with the changeable weather. I took a run around one of my favorite local spots where there is quite a bit of wild flowers, so of course ... a few butterflies like to visit.
Today I was seen a few Duskywing species and managed a couple of shots of a couple of different species. In the past I have often ignored these drab ones, but when you look close they are quite attractive.
Today I was seen a few Duskywing species and managed a couple of shots of a couple of different species. In the past I have often ignored these drab ones, but when you look close they are quite attractive.
Tip of the Day: Some of your best photos are going to be taken lying down or kneeling. This makes for interesting angles and seems to spook the butterflies less. Many butterflies, including monarchs, contrast beautifully against a sky blue background. It’s much easier to utilize a blue sky backdrop from ground level.
July 12th & 13th 2021
| LOCATION: 12th at Port Dover. 13th Cambridge | WEATHER: Mainly cloudy with occasional sun |
Yesterday (12th) a couple of us headed to a spot along the Lake Erie coast that had been recommended to me by a good friend, as a great place for butterflies, and boy were they not kidding!! I have never seen so many individual butterflies, of many different species, in one place and in such concentrations. At one point we counted close to 60 individuals on 1 Butterfly Milkweed plant .. Generally the most common sub species were Hairstreaks and Skippers, but a couple of others - Sulphurs, Swallowtails, Crescents etc. The highlight for the day was the quantity of American Coppers that were around - a first for me, and I was surprised just how small they were ... I expected much bigger.
Tip of the Day: In the warmer months insects are at their most active, and they are very hyper-aware. The slower and stiller you can be, the easier time you will have setting up a shot. Try to vary your camera angles, as well as the distance from which you shoot your subjects. Start from farther away, and this will at least mean that if you accidentally frighten your chosen subject or it flies off suddenly, you will have something in the bag.
July 10th & 11th 2021
| LOCATION: Port Dover area | WEATHER: Mainly cloudy, but occasional sun |
There has been reports of a couple of rarities in the Port Dover area, so I made the 75 min drive down and initially looked for the first of the rarities .. a juvi Blue Grosbeak. I did get a quick glimpse of this beauty, but clicking a shutter didn't happen .. oh well maybe another time. The second rarity, or should I say a bunch of rarities - 16 or so Black-belied Whistling Ducks were in a small shallow pond in the middle of a sub division in the small town of Port Dover .. a most unlikely location, but they seemed quite content to be there - even with the dozen or so birders that were hanging around.
Tip of the Day: Insects are very similar to birds in that they are quite often in specific habitats in singular locations, so a bit of research is needed to identify these locations, and then head there in search of them.
July 5th - 7th 2021
| LOCATION: Kitchener area | WEATHER: Generally sunny |
The image shown top left is a Great Spangled Fritillary, which I processed using a stack. The stack was around 30 separate images, which was then post-processed in Photoshop to create this image. My first pass was actually 78 images, but the resulting file was gigantic (over 10 Gb), so I had to reduce the stack quantity to make it manageable.
What is focus stacking? Over simplifying, focus stacking simply means taking multiple photographs of the same subject, each with a slightly different focused spot. Achieving this I personally use a focusing rail, that I incrementally adjust to get a progressive focused point. This is followed by the use post-processing software .. I use Photoshop CC (there are several other programs that can do this), to align the focused portion of each image into one final-and-focused image.
What is focus stacking? Over simplifying, focus stacking simply means taking multiple photographs of the same subject, each with a slightly different focused spot. Achieving this I personally use a focusing rail, that I incrementally adjust to get a progressive focused point. This is followed by the use post-processing software .. I use Photoshop CC (there are several other programs that can do this), to align the focused portion of each image into one final-and-focused image.
Tip of the Day: The best time of day to look for insects, I always find, is late morning and into early afternoon. Hot sunny days are also better as the insects are generally more active. However on cloudy or cooler days I often just go off-path and walk through the long grass or through shrubby areas, which will disturb the insects and when they re-settle I have a chance at a shot.
July 2nd - 4th 2021
| LOCATION: In and around my home town of Kitchener | WEATHER: Hot !! |
Over the last couple of days I stayed fairly close to home, but still managed a few interesting shots. Highlight for me was probably the Edwards Hairstreak Butterfly - I was surprised how small the little critter was.
Tip of the Day: At this time of year always go out prepared for all kinds of species - whether it be birds, or bugs, or whatever. What I mean by being prepared is have appropriate lenses and other related equipment close at hand - telephoto for birds or distant mammals, macro for insects and mid range for that landscape shot.
