|
Nature Photography
My main photographic tools consist of a Nikon digital SLR
with a 200 mm telephoto lens for long-range shots of
birds and other animals, and a 50 mm macro lens for
close-up photography of flowers and insects.
I like to photograph landscapes, animals, flowers, and
other interesting natural scenes. To get good photos,
I've gone on several trips to various wilderness areas,
which include:
- Eno
River State Park, Durham, NC
- Pettigrew
State Park, near Plymouth, NC
- Mattamuskeet
State Park, near Plymouth, NC
- Pea Island
Wildlife Refuge, NC
- The
NC Outer Banks
- Great Smoky
Mountains National Park, NC
- Rocky Mountain
National Park, CO
- Great Sand Dunes
National Park, CO
- Okefenokee
National Wildlife Refuge, GA
- Quetico
Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada
- Arches National Park, UT
- Canyonlands National Park, UT
- Capitol Reef State Park, UT
Nighttime Insect Photography
Taking photographs at night requires the use of flash
units to illuminate subjects as well as to stop the
motion of flying insects.
I put together what I call an insect box--a styrofoam
cooler with evenly-spaced holes for 10 Vivitar 283 flash
units pointing toward the interior. A front panel has
a round entry hole with an infrared crossbeam photogate
mounted on it, and is the only route of entry into the
box from the front and sides. If an insect breaks the
crossbeam, it triggers the camera to open its shutter,
and the camera sets off the flashes. The camera is inserted
into the rear of the box through its own hole, which
is large enough for its macro lens. It and the insect
entry hole are adjusted so that the rim of the hole
doesn't show up on film, only the space inside where
the insect might fly through.
Focusing
The camera is focused beforehand on the crossbeam intersection
point by slowly inserting an object through the hole
and stopping when the flashes go off. The camera is
then focused on the front of the object, which will
be at the crossbeam intersection. This focusing step
needs to be repeated each time the camera is moved.
Getting Insects to Come to
the Photogate
It's advantageous to have a way to entice insects to
fly through the photogate so you don't have to count
on chance. Otherwise you'll be out all night without
getting any photos at all.
Nocturnal insects frequently come out at dusk and dawn,
and less frequently in the middle of the night. They
won't fly when there's heavy rain, but they will come
out after a rainstorm. They tend to be more active when
there's lots of moonlight out, but with such a bright
light source in the sky there's less of a chance they'll
be attracted to your photogate. However, if there are
tons of insects out, that will increase the number that
are attracted to your photogate, which means a moonlit
night might be better for photography than a moonless
night.
If there is light pollution from artificial light sources
nearby, this also decreases your chances of having insects
come to your photogate. They'll distribute themselves
amongst the artificial lights instead.
Attracting Insects with Ultraviolet
(UV) Light
UV light is highly attractive to nocturnal insects,
and a good UV source isn't too hard to find. Just power
up any old fluorescent blacklight; if you're in a good
area, insects will start flocking to your light like
party-goers to a rave. Incandescent sources aren't supposed
to be as attractive to insects as UV sources, but if
there are lots of incandescents around or they're really
bright compared to your blacklight, that will outweigh
its attractiveness.
To solve this problem, you can try to get away from
artificial lights so that your photogate is near the
only light source for a good distance. That will give
you lots of insects if they're out flying. If you can't
get away from artificial lights, then grab a jar and
go toward the lights. You can try catching the insects
that are flying around the artificial lights in the
jar, and then holding the jar over your photogate. It
takes some time to get moths to fly sideways into the
photogate hole, and if they're small they can sometimes
miss the photogate and end up flying around or sitting
inside the insect box. It's really hard to get beetles
to fly at all once they've settled down near a light
source.
Too Much UV?
There's something about UV light that attracts insects
from a near distance, but once they've made it within
inches of the UV light, they want to settle down and
not fly. That means they're not going to go through
your photogate. Sometimes they won't even crawl when
nudged. It's as though they're playing dead. If they're
removed from the light, they'll start moving around
again after a few minutes. Some take longer than others.
This can be a problem for photography.
At first I thought this might be because the insects
were being blinded by the UV, but if so, why wouldn't
they at least move when nudged? I guess this could be
a predator defense mechanism, to play dead if you can't
see. But then, nocturnal insects didn't evolve under
the intensities of UV light that blacklights put out.
In a natural environment, there's not much that could
blind a nocturnal insect except for possibly lightning
and fire. There's no need to play dead when those things
are encountered. So now I'm guessing the effects of
UV on these insects might just be a physiological reaction
resulting from the exposure to intense UV light. If
our eyes were exposed to intense light, we would be
blinded for a few minutes and it would be advantageous
for us to stay still so we don't bump around into things.
Insect Photography Links
Using Blacklights (UV) to Attract Nocturnal
Insects:
|
