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I have tried pohotographing lepidoptera with " metallic" scales but cannot seem to get them looking as they do in real life. I am aware that it is only an optical illusion due to light . I have tried the metallic marks on Vanessid pupae, Queen of Spain Fritillary and Burnished Brass moths all without a great deal of success.

Well, what type of camera do you have, lens etc, compact, DSLR? T would be good to say this first, then we might be able to help.

The first and most obvious answer is that you have to shoot at the right angle to catch the colours. When you see that irridescence with the naked eye it may be just a fleeting glimpse, and to get it on your sensor from a creature that is constantly moving around needs a lot of luck and even more persistence. Rest assured, the photos you see that show those superb colours are the result of many, many more shots that didn't catch them, and have been consigned to the bin.
It can work the other way. The first time I saw an adonis blue about four years ago, I thought it was just a slightly large common blue. It was a bright but cloudy day with only the odd flash of sunlight and the butterfly didn't look particularly special. When I put the camera to my eye I saw those brilliant irridescent sky blue wings in the viewfinder and couldn't believe it was the same butterfly. It was only after I showed it in this forum that it was confirmed that it was an adonis. I get a real buzz just seeing them ever since.

You have to shoot at the right angle and get the light from the right angle too. The two are partially connected. For a living butterfly that is a matter of pure luck. With pupae you might play with the camera angle and possibly flash positioning. For set specimen I've toyed with the idea of having another, weaker flash in the proper angle in addition to the normal flashes, which illuminate the subject. Too bad, I don't have the third flash...

Even if you get it as right as possible you won't be able to capture some aspects of the colour. In real life, part of the silvery effect is produced by the fact that your two eyes view the scales from different angles, so you superimpose two different shades; there is also the fact that as you move your head (or the butterfly moves) the angle changes. Binocular and dynamic effects like these cannot be captured in a single, matt colour.

I have an old butterfly book, from the 1930s I think (it's in England, so I can't check the details), where the author has used metallic silver paint for the metallic silver colours precisely because no printer's colour can produce the required effects.

Guy

Hi Guy,
That might be 'A Butterfly Book for the Pocket' by Edmund Sandars, first published in 1939. He used silver paint for all the Fritillary underside spots. I used to marvel at the illustrations (although they are far from brilliant) as a kid. I still love my dog-eared copy.
Neil

That's the one, Kipper! I couldn't remember the name.

Guy

How about we see an example of the problem to help us try and give a solution?

Have to sort out getting photos on forum first. I have now acquired ringflash and will see how that works also a lead to have my main flashgun at various angles. cheers