Photographing micro moths

[Dave McCormick]

I haven't been able to get out recently due to having a chest infection which means I'll be out of action for a few weeks until it heals, so at the moment I am focusing on photographing micro moths that come to the window or my trap in garden since I am able to use it there.

I tried two moths, this one Rhigognostis incarnatella and I am having issues getting a sharp enough photo. I have a shoebox I filled with leaves and bits of bark and mosses I found outside and use it as a a natural set up to photograph the moths in and I can put it on my windowsill to stop moths escaping, they just flew towards the window if they try to make an escape for it. I have got the point now of getting the moths to settle.

My setup is a Canon 500D, Sigma 105mm Macro and Tripod. Since photographing at the windowsill, I get a lot of natural light since the window is very large. The trouble I am having is getting the moth to look sharp enough, so when you zoom to the full size of the image, the moth doesn't look slightly out of focus.

Here is the the last I photographed, Rhigognostis incarnatella.

Rhigognostis incarnatella

AP mode
f/25
ISO-200
1/6 sec exposure
Pattern Metering
Flash -1 step
timer
Tripod

I am having not only the issue with sharpness but getting a good shot that looks good e.g., positioning the moth so I can get a photo that looks better than a voucher shot and has nothing that will distract you from subject in the shot.

Anyone have any tips?

[Rogerdodge]

Dave
A few tips.
You have stopped down to f25 to try to maximise depth of field.
This works, but the problem is that it also decreases the sharpness of the lens.
Most lenses have their sharpest image at around f8 to f11.
You also have 1/6 of a second exposure, whilst also using flash.
You are, thus, mixing natural light and flash.
The natural light bit will show the effect of mirror bounce and also any camera movement unless you use a shutter release cable (or the self-timer) and have the tripod locked up really tight.
I would suggest trying setting the mode dial to M, and setting 1/250 sec, f13 at 100 ISO.
Set your flash to Auto.
The trick to avoiding the classic, and bad, flash effect with the foreground "blown out" and the background black is to realise that it is the "flash to subject distance" NOT "camera to subject distance" that matters, so, bounce your flash into the shoe box from ABOVE with a sheet of white paper.
That way, the background and foreground will be about equidistant from the flash source (the paper) and thus have the same EV requirement.
You may also want to get a larger image size. Try adding an extension tube.
Another good thing about using flash is that you don't need to mount it on a tripod!
You can manually set your focus to closest, and then move in slowly until the subject comes into focus.
The great thing about shoe box photography is that you can take loads of photos at different settings to experiment.
Good luck.
Hope you get better soon.

[Rogerdodge]

Dave
Attached photo might explain better?

[GOLDENORFE]

think roger has everything covered, shooting such a slow shutterspeed is not going to produce a sharp enough image even with a tripod!
try hand held shooting in manual, at f8, iso 100 with flash . 1/200th.
for the size of subject i think you need extension tubes to increase magnification to fill more of the frame.
phil

can you identifiy these 2 micros by any chance?

[JKT]

I think the first is Micropterix aureatella, but the second is not a moth at all - you have to search in Trichoptera.

[Dave McCormick]

Thanks for the info, Think the F-stop being 11-13 is the better way to go. Roger, thanks for the information, I'll try lowering the f-stop and playing around with settings. All about practise. Great shots GOLDENORFE.

[ChrisC]

goldenorfe/phil
is that the original size for the micro moth or is it a crop? one of the reasons i bought macro lens was to see detail like this. stunning wee beasties.
thnaks
Chris