Macro photography Mindo, Ecuador                frog, insect, reptile and spider photography

Macro photography is all about showcasing a subject larger than it is in real life — an extreme close-up of something small. In macro photography, the world you know is gone, and a new one emerges

The best time for insect photography is early morning. There is a saying that “the early bird gets the worm” and with photography “the early photographer gets the best shot of the worm”. The reason behind it is that early morning usually insects are less active and you have a better chance to capture them. Additionally, the light is warm and soft so you get vibrant colors in the pictures.

In winter mornings, insects are covered with dewdrops and that makes them less active and more beautiful. The second best time to shoot insects is after the rain, obviously for the same reasons as the morning. It’s cloudy, so the light is softer and insects are less active because they are covered with water drops

In macro photography, the closer the shot, the better the picture. Well, you have three options to achieve this. First, use a true macro lens, it has a magnification ratio of 1:1 and a very short focusing distance so you can go very close to your subject. Second, use a longer lens so you can click from some distance and don’t disturb your subject. A 100mm macro lens is far better than a 35mm macro lens.

If you have a wide lens, and you have no option to take from some distance, try to go very slowly towards your subject so it won’t fly away. The third option is to take the picture from some distance and crop it in post-processing. Of course, you need a high-megapixel camera to do this.

Observe your subject and try to take pictures from different angles. Let’s say, you are taking a picture of a bee on a flower. If you take it from the top, the flower comes into the picture and will become the background.

However, if you take a photo of the same bee from the side, the background will be different and the flower will be not the dominant background in the picture.

If you take the same photo from the front, the point of interest will be the eyes and the shot will be entirely different.

Always try to look for contrasting colors for the background and the sitting place of your subject. If you are capturing a yellow butterfly sitting on a pink flower, it’ll look amazing but if the same butterfly is sitting on an orange flower, it may not look good as both colors are almost the same and it’ll blend in the background.

Like humans, insects also have lots of work to do. For example, the bees collect nectar from flowers and convert it into honey, spiders make a web, ants collect food, and these daily activities of insects can be a good subject for macro photography.

When a bee sits on a flower to collect nectar, it is covered entirely in pollen and if you click that image, it looks amazing. You can also click insects when they are making love

Not all insects are the same and if you are trying to shoot any particular insect, it’s better to do some research about their behavior like where to find them, the time when they are most active or when they stay still, their mating time, how dangerous they are and what to do if they bite you.

When it comes to shooting insects, it’s tougher than shooting flowers because unlike the flowers, insects keep moving and that’s why it’s challenging to focus and click. If you are not getting good pictures initially, don’t lose your heart and enjoy the process. With some practice and patience, you will start getting good pictures soon.

Macro Photography