Butterfly Photography
Hunt for the Flying Flowers!

Mastering butterfly photography isn't at all difficult. With just a few tips and practice time, you could net yourself some totally awesome images! Take a few minutes to read this page because photographing butterflies does require some special skills and preparation.

Use a macro lens of 50 - 200 mm. My macro lens is a Nikon 105 mm. (f2.8).

No macro? Use a good quality telephoto lens with an extension tube if you have one. Be warned - not all SLR cameras and lenses work with extension tubes. Before you run out and buy one, check your manual or the internet. .. speaking from expensive experience here!

You need a tripod for butterfly photography at night or just after sunrise but it will only get in the way if you're photographing butterflies during bright daylight.

And please, no flash! On-camera flash makes ugly flat light and awful shadows. Probably scares the wits out of your butterfly, too!

By the way, if you don't have a macro, many camera shops rent all sorts of photography equipment. A good tip if you plan on buying another lens! Try it out before you buy.. A good lens will set you back a big chunk of money so don't buy one that doesn't give you the results you're looking for!

You'll need a fast shutter speed for butterfly photography---> 1/250th or faster. Though, I got some good shots at 1/125th with my lens Vibration Reduction turned on.

The camera companies claim VR gives you the equivalent of using a shutter speed 3 stops faster, but many pro photographers say that's a sales pitch - only count on 2 stops! Besides, can you hold a camera as steady as the pros?

Use an aperture of about F8.0. There are exceptions to this if you're knowledgeable about exposure and you're in your "creative space".

The closer you are to a subject... and using a macro, the thinner the plane of focus. I'll show you...

Here's why you need to pay attention to your aperture! The wing on the left isn't in focus. My aperture is F3.2 - bad choice, it's too wide.

The wider the aperture, the skinnier your plane of focus. Think of your scene as a loaf of bread... the widest aperture - F2.8 on my macro lens - will only let you focus on one slice of the loaf. The second puts two slices into focus. The smallest aperture, maybe F32 on your camera, shows all the slices in sharp focus.

The left wing is not on the same plane as the right wing - 2 slices of bread - so I need a deeper depth of field. F5.6 or F8.0 would have been a safer bet. Then my background would still be blurry... and that's what I wanted!

If you didn't believe me, here's an enlarged view from that photo. Now you can really see the blurry wing! The butterfly moved his wing at the same time I pressed the shutter... the biggest challenge to butterfly photography!

F8.0 would have been a safe bet but F32 would be overkill... I'd end up with a tack sharp background. That's great for landscape and some other situations but not for butterfly photography.

My exposure might have been fine if butterflies didn't have attention deficit disorder! Since I know it's in their nature to be hyperactive, I'll adjust my aperture better next time.

Consider using manual focus.

If your focus is set to auto, it probably won't work very well here. Butterflies flit around like drunken sailors so the focus mechanism just keeps on working... and working! I find it really irritating to listen to the noise while it spins its wheels! More important than annoying me, it scares away the butterflies!

The Subject

The goal in butterfly photography is to get both the butterfly and the flower in focus and the background out of focus. Whatever is in sharp focus attracts the viewer's eye and you want all eyes to go straight to the subject!

One approach to butterfly photography... shoot the whole butterfly in focus with wings spread flat or from the side. All of the viewer's attention goes to the wings with their wild colors and patterns.

I wanted all of the butterfly with both of his wings in this shot... that worked out well. Both wings are sharp. But the picture has a few problems.

The edges of the wings are torn so he's not the best subject for top class butterfly photography. I noticed that in the viewfinder when the macro lens magnified it.

When you're photographing butterflies, try to shoot perfect specimens. Butterflies' wings get awfully mangled during their short life spans.

Another problem with this photo? The background... it's not soft and blurred. But, hang on to that thought for a minute.

I didn't want to give up on my friend here because he wasn't flying away and he really is incredibly handsome!

So I tried another picture and kept my fingers crossed that he wouldn't take off... and he didn't.

So my second approach to butterfly photography...

Focus on only one part of the subject, like the head and eyes. When you get eyeball to eyeball with a butterfly, you MUST have absolutely perfect focus or it's trash! I had my tripod with me and since he was being so obliging, I used it! Sweet success.

And the result is stunning! You'd never see all this fabulous detail with just your eye. Even the tiny scales in his wings show up clearly in the original - not so much in this small jpg. He's such a beautiful little creature. Isn't Mother Nature awesome?

And, problem solved. I cut the scruffy wings out of the photo by honing in on the head.

Actually, I fixed two problems... you'll probably guess what that is when you read about backgrounds in a bit.

Here's something you can be on the lookout for with your composition...

Lines and Angles

Butterfly photography is a sweet set-up for images with repeating lines, patterns and colors.

Butterfly wings are just busting with patterns, lines, wild colors! Their bodies, too!

If you've got lots of foliage in the shot, there are lots more repeating patterns and lines in the stems, leaves and flowers... even if they're not in focus.

This swallowtail butterfly has repeating black patterns in his wings that look like parallel lines. Those lines are almost parallel with the three stems.

The background bushes are gold, and there's gold in the butterfly's wings. Here, yellow is a repeating color.

Looking at the image some more, there's an interesting V-shaped angle here. It meets in the lower left corner of the photo. I drew a line along the outer edge of the butterfly's wings and another line along the phlox stem and you can see a nice angle.

I cropped the photo a teensy bit so the stem would tuck into that corner!

Backgrounds

Keep your picture simple. Busy backgrounds are confusing... even if they're blurred. If your eye goes to something in the background, change your angle. Move around and get it out of the scene.

A lot of cameras have a preview button you can press to see what the depth of field will actually look like before you press the shutter. Check your camera manual to see if your camera has one.

Run your eyes around all four sides in the viewfinder. Branches, stems or anything else that stands out, can create really confusing lines. You don't want a dark twig "growing" out of the butterfly's head or from a vein in his wing.

... when it's all good, press the shutter.

A mistake in an otherwise great photo? With skill, maybe you can photoshop it out later but what a waste of time and effort for something you could avoid in the first place.

Here's some butterfly photography with a background problem.

Do you see it?

There's a thin dark rope across the middle of the right side. It looks like it's extending from the butterfly's wings and my eye goes straight to it!

I tried to work it out in Photoshop but it wasn't worth the time and effort. Luckily, I'd taken the shot from a slightly different angle and that image turned out so much better.

Change Your Approach

Take your shots from as many angles as you can get.

Get under your butterfly.... you'll catch a great shot of the body. The patterns and colors on the underside are dramatically different than the top side.

Aim from above, when the butterfly stretches its wings out and the colors will be intense with gorgeous patterns.

You'll get the same colors and patterns of the wing from the side as from below.

When light hits the the wings from different angles, they refract all sorts of different shades and intensities of color. The same butterfly might look like a whole different creature from one photo to another!

DAY TIME... Most people like photographing butterflies when there's bright light. Bright enough for a fast shutter speed! A lightly cloudy day is perfect for catching rich colors in butterfly wings, foliage and flowers.

The down side is that butterflies are most active during the day! That means you have to be comfortable with manual focus and holding your camera steady. And you have to have the patience of Job with these little critters!

A hint... don't let your shadow fall on the butterfly. Two reasons for that. You may frighten him away and you've darkened the scene and changed your exposure.

Butterflies "spook" easily so move slowly and be quiet. Daytime is when you find out what "chasing butterflies" is all about. Move too fast and you'll frighten them off, move too slowly and they're gone before you can even focus.

NIGHT TIME is a much different experience. The challenge here is finding them in the dark. They're in the same areas they frequent during the day, anywhere from the ground on upwards into the bushes and trees but you have to have sharp eyes!

In one way, butterfly photography is easy at night... they have low metabolic rates when it's dark. As long as it's dark, they're very still. Once you find them, they're not going to fly away.

Their wings will be closed so you'll be able to get some excellent side shots. No open wings at night, though.

You've absolutely got to use your tripod in the dark! You'll need long exposures... keep checking your histogram and adjust your shutter speed so you capture the most information you possibly can.

If you go out for butterfly photography at night, don't be tempted to touch their wings while they're so still. They're oh so delicate! You'll rub off the small scales and make it hard for them to fly. So look but don't touch!

Try SUNRISE if you're not keen on night photography. Get out before dawn and catch 'em while they're just waking up. They're slow risers! They stretch their wings wide open... just like we stretch when ew first get up. They're slow enough so you can use your tripod and the light has a gorgeous "warm" glow. I think it's the best time for butterfly photography!

Night and sunrise aren't options if you're visiting a butterfly garden or butterfly conservatory. They won't be open. You'll only have daylight hours and the butterflies will be active.

Check the internet for migration routes and times of year they're on the move.

Plant some butterfly "magnets" in your own garden. Different species are attracted to different plants. Your local botanical or butterfly garden staff would be the ones to talk to about that.

But generally, you'll find them hanging around lilac, dogwood, buddleria - the butterfly bush, honeysuckle, lavender... and the early flowers - primrose and polyanthus.

Parks and gardens are always a good bet.

A wildflower meadow is a great place for good butterfly photography.

And you can also try along rivers or streams.

Hope these tips help you out... Happy hunting!

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