BUTTERFLY PHOTOGRAPHY TIPS

Unless you have a long handled net, chasing butterflies is not a sport you are likely to win at.  They have good eyesight and will often flit away long before you get anywhere near close enough to photograph them.  Maximize your chances by seeking them out at the beginning or the end of the day when they are less active and alert.

If you can't shoot early in the morning or in the evening the best advice is to find a place that butterflies gather, sit down and make yourself comfortable and wait.  It is often a better idea to let butterflies come to you rather than to try and chase them.  It may take a while but will be far more productive than trying to run after them.

Many butterflies' wings are covered in iridescent or reflective scales and patterns.  Photographing these in bright, direct sunlight will not produce good results.  If you have to work in these kind of conditions use a diffuser to soften and reduce the strength of the light or stand between the sun and your subject to cast a shadow on it, but be aware that either of these tactics may spook them and send them flying off again.

As butterflies are fairly large insects it is sometimes difficult to achieve enough depth of field to render them wholly in focus. Photographing them either from the side or directly above will make this more easily achieved.  Try to get the front of your lens as parallel as possible to your subject to get the best results.  Alternatively you could utilize the shallow depth of field to give artistic results.

Using a reasonably small aperture (f-8 or higher) will increase the depth of field available to you.  The offset of this will of course be reduced shutter speed, so you will have to juggle around your ISO, shutter and aperture settings to get the best compromise you can.  Lenses or cameras with image stabilization can help to reduce camera shake at lower shutter speeds, but you may also wish to consider using a tripod or other form of support.

As with virtually all wildlife photography, clear, sharp eyes are vitally important to getting a good image.  Getting the eyes in focus is often easier with manual rather than auto focus, as you are able to fine tune the focal point as you desire.  With shallow depth of field you might also find it easier to roughly fix your focusing point and move your camera to achieve proper focus, rather than tweaking your focusing ring.

If you have a garden, or even just a small window-box it is easy to attract butterflies to it.  Plant nectar-rich flowers with simple "single" or tubular blooms and before long you will find butterflies flocking to them.  Ask at your local garden center or look online for tips about which flowers will attract your local species.

If you want to take pictures of a particular or unusual species, research is the key.  A quick search of the web will bring up numerous resources describing typical habitats, geographical spread, flight periods, food plants preferred by the adult and caterpillar and a goldmine of other information.  

Another good place to hunt out more unusual species is your local butterfly house.  Again, research what species they have on show and when they are flying.  A quick call to their customer services should be able to provide all of the information you need.  While you are on the phone don't forget to check if there are any restrictions on both photography (e.g. whether tripods are allowed) and the use you can make of any images taken on their premises.  Some locations do not allow commercial use of photographs taken on their site without prior permission for example.

If you are serious about photographing butterflies, consider joining your local butterfly conservation society.  This will give you insider access to information and experience that is not normally available to the public such as up to date sightings and historical records.