When I shared a similar picture to my friend, astronomy writer Ken Hewitt-White, his response was, “Something elemental about seeing a tiny, delicate creature foraging on a green leaf somewhere, minding its own business, trying to survive while mankind runs around on a scale a thousand times larger bulldozing the environment. Hooray for the bugs still in the system!”
I happen to agree. Usually we think of bugs as pests; after all, mostly we notice them when they are feasting on our blood. They are something to swat away, or destroy (I am thinking scary spiders, here!). But Ken is right, to keep the environment in balance, the earth needs bugs in the system.
I began observing bugs while waiting for a heron to take off from a far bank and, hopefully, fly in front of me. I began tracking herons with my camera last year and am getting better every week. But, to me it seems as if they have a second sense when I am around: “here is that fool with a camera, good opportunity to mess with her psyche!” In other words, they don’t co-operate, and I’ve learned to be very patient if I want to snatch a pic or two of them.
The other night I out-smarted the particular bird that was seemed to be impersonating a statue. I occupied my time photographing bugs while keeping one eye on my prize. And I am very happy that I did, because I learned a lot about bugs during the waiting hour. For instance, I am amazed that bugs forage on plants that share the same shape and coloring, making it harder for beings that eat them to find them. Good idea!
Photographing moving bugs is just as hard as trying to get any moving object. My biggest problem was that the auto-focus was having a difficult time because the objects are small and moving. I turned off the ‘continuous shooting mode’ (that we’ve talked about often and the one I use when photographing moving things). Eventually I switched to manual focus, which helped considerably. Another tip is to choose a time later in the day for your nature photography, such as evening, when things move a bit slower. Tripod? Oh, you bet it is the ideal tool for keeping the camera steady, but c’mon…what are the odds that a bug is going to stop in front of a camera that is locked on a tripod? Not very good. So, for this reason, my bug pictures will probably always ‘bug me’, because the example here is the best I can do. But that’s ok…I like the pics enough to add to my nature journal, and that is all that matters. After all, first and foremost our photography should please OURSELVES!
As the 18th century poet, William Blake wrote: “I must create a system or be enslaved by another mans; I will not reason and compare: my business is to create.” Smart man!
If you are burning to become better with nature photography, the web is full of helpful people who post tutorials. One place to begin is with Ethan Meleg’s website.
Marcheta *no bugs were harmed during this blogcast.
More William Blake quotes can be found at BrainyQuote
Poems by William Blake can be found here
