A lot of folks expect all cameras to take cameras to take a crystal clear photo. As a freelance photographer; this makes me laugh. Most cameras can take a decent picture; but not nearly good enough for a close up of a bug.
Lets take a lovely trip down memory lane; shall we? BAM!
This wonderful product named the True Digital VGA camera was given to all subscribers of Earthling Internet. This fabulous invention was my first digital camera in which i borrowed from my father every day to take photos. It was truly a horrible product. It took four batteries and would only run for a maximum of two and a half hours and at that- it only took horrible fuzzy pictures. Folks, this was before i even discovered my mad obsession with photography and i was just taking photos for the heck of it. again; this fuzzy photo taking digital camera couldn't take photos of a typical serine setting much less a close up of a bug.
So, what was that about expecting all camera's to take the same crystal clear image?
right onto my second and more trustworthy digital camera.
This is a Hp Photosmart 735 camera that was handed down to me from my older brother. it takes wonderful pictures if you have the patience. The downfall is even though it only takes two batteries; most batteries die within five seconds and specialized camera batteries lasted only a day. It was only until rechargeable lithium batteries came out that i was able to get almost three days worth out of the batteries. Again; if the batteries work, this camera takes superb pictures and can produce pictures of bugs with a little effort.
This most most remarkable camera is a Fuji Film 14 Mega Pixel Camera in which was gifted to me for my birthday. When i seen this camera; i was clearly excited because i know this camera takes high quality photos and videos. What's more amazing is it runs on a single lithium battery that is rechargeable and runs for up to a week on a single charge. If you want an extended "WOW!" then charge the battery for one single hour, plop it back in the camera and it's good to go for another week. Yea, i know; no more waiting three to twelve hours for stinking double or triple A batteries to charge in which don't ever fully recharge. I was in seventh heaven when i received this beaut. It is my current camera i use all the time and i would definitely recommend it for bug taking photos.
Option i have not explored:
Cell phone cameras have an evolution of their own. But i cannot give a just opinion on these products. i am not good at speaking and am more attuned to writing; so i never got past the typical old cell phones with no camera ( my logic is; why waste my money on something i wont use). I have heard some cell phone cameras take awful pictures and yet seen others take clear pictures. the problem with cell phone cameras is that some cell phones do not have the feature to send the photo to your computer or upload in to some site. I have to admit; some newer models come with usb cord to export your photos. Believe me; after you learn how i get crystal clear bug photos- you're going to want to have some way to get them on your computer.
Yea yea yea, i choose Fuji Film again and i'm being bias. can you blame me? Although i have not rightly owned any 3D camera; i do recommend them. My brother used to have a 3D Hp camera which took wonderful pictures. These types of cameras are the closest to human eye sight and can produce higher quality pictures; which will in turn produce spectacular close ups of bugs. Even though these sorts of cameras might cost a pretty penny; they are truly well worth it.
So there you have it; please choose your camera wisely.
Step Two: How to take the picture.
ahhhh... Here is where most people mess up completely. Instead of scaring the poor insect by pointing this huge honking shiny thing at it and chasing it up the wall; how about saving the insect a heart attack and capture it before picking up the camera. Most often you want the bug out side of your house anyway so why not try to capture it? Oh, come now; don't act so panicky over capturing it. and do not try to capture it with your hands unless you're absolutely sure it is not poisonous and isn't going to bite you.
the ideal think to capture an insect in is a jar or Tupperware container. I tend to use old pill bottles for the tiny ones and jars for the huge ones. Note: Pleas release bugs outside within a day because some bugs die within the day. another way to capture some harmless insects, especially beetles, is to use a stitching circlet and let the the insect "hide" in a crevice so that you can take a picture.
Examples:
Photo of a Death Watch beetle i took on the edge of a
stitching circlet.
Did you think that's it, that's the almighty secret i was was holding off or that i was done? NO, i haven't even gotten to the "secret" yet. Those photos didn't get good just by taking them. I had to put a little more effort into it then to just hand in a cruddy image.
here's the last step in taking an awesome insect photo. STOP ZOOMING IN ON THE BUG TO TRY TO GET A CLOSE UP PHOTO!!!! Don't even think about sending in a clear view shot either and especially if the bug is a spec on the wall. how is anybody going to be able to figure out what it is unless you put some effort into making it a better photo to assess. You can take a close photo; but not a close up photo. another thing be prepared to take a lot of photos instead of just one single photo. make sure it's clear.
Example of an untouched photo.
Step Three: The Final Step; Make your Insect Picture bigger!
The first thing you need is an image editing program and there are plenty of free ones; just click here to figure out which one is right for you. All you need for this step is your basic cropping and photo bright/ dark levels to edit your photo.
For me; i use Photoshop because it is easy once you get used to it. If you are using Photoshop, like me, you will have to pull you close photo into the program.
Today i will be making a close up on one of these molts.
you know what i'm going to say right? Wrong! before you even get into cropping the image; you have to make sure you can see what you're looking at. In photoshop; there is an option where you can brighten or darken the photo so you can see the object. As you can see; the molts are perfectly visible. After you are able to visualize your subject THEN go ahead and use the slider and crop tool to cut the rest of the photo off. But don't get too close. Look for a clear molt ( or insect in your photo) or else your photo will end up looking like this:
While a bit clear it is still very hard to figure our what this might be and hardly qualifies a portfolio image. Here's a hint: leave some space! you don't have to crop it all the way down to the bug, just look at the picture above; it looks so suffocated and blurry- it's enough to make the entomologist cry. okay okay, they wont cry; they'll probably try to guess what it is and try to research it or tell you they cannot see clearly what it is. instead your pacing should be clear enough to see yet enough space to note what it is.
Like this photo of a Larder Beetle Molt.
And that's my secret; there you have it. A perfect way to achieve top notch insect photos of most any insect. except for fast moving ones in which you will have to wait for them to chill out. and the ever clever and smart jumping spider who never like to stay still unless taunting you to catch it and sneakily dodging away.
This post was inspired and courtesy of my favorite Bug Expert Eric Eaton.
Thanks for interpreting all my bugs Eric.
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