Butterfly Photography 101 - Part 5

Butterfly Photography 101
Part 5 - Composition Techniques in Butterfly Photography 1/2

After the first few articles in this Butterfly Photography 101 series on selecting equipment, settings on your DSLR, focusing, exposure and using fill-flash for your butterfly photography, you are now ready to get outdoors in the field and start shooting butterflies! For some hands-on stalking and tracking advice, refer to an earlier article on this blog on Stalking and Shooting Butterflies.

No matter how well you know the technical aspects of your photographic equipment, or your ability to acquire the latest in camera bodies and lenses, a badly-composed butterfly photo will put all that to waste. This article shares some important composition tips or guidelines for butterfly photography. Bear in mind that in photography, the most important rule is that there are no rules. However, there are basic guidelines that can make the difference between an average picture or a great one!

Firstly, try to recall a butterfly photo that recently captured your attention. What was it about the photo that you found attractive and pleasing to the eye? Was it the colour, the way the butterfly perched on a flower, the aesthetic balance of various elements in the photo, or something else? Like a painting or a piece of art, a photo that appears pleasing to the eye, often contains certain basic guidelines in composition. At times, it may just be a "feel good" factor about the photo, but more often than not, the photo is composed along the lines of one or more aesthetic conventions used in the visual arts.

Let us try to understand what is "composition" all about. In essence, composition refers to the way various elements in a scene are arranged within the frame. In visual arts, there are certain guidelines that determine how different elements interact within the field of view, which elements are the focus of attention, and so on. These guidelines have been used by artists and painters from time immemorial to create their work. In the field of photographic composition, these guidelines are equally applicable.

Tip #1 - Focus on the eye of the butterfly

Focus on the eye of the subject and make sure it is as sharp as possible!

For a start, this is not a composition guideline per se, but absolutely critical to any nature photo. When shooting a butterfly, it is essential to focus on the eye and ensure that the eye (or eyes) are in sharp focus. When you take a first look at a butterfly photo, you may not realise that your own eyes often tend to lock on to the eyes of the subject. This is a natural phenomenon when looking at a photo of a bird, a lizard, a spider, a butterfly or even another person!

If the eyes are out of focus or blur, the feeling that one immediately gets is that there is something uncomfortable or wrong about the photo. I have lost count of the number of butterfly shots that I have dumped in the trash bin where the eyes of the subject are out of focus. So, from the start, set yourself a high standard in your quest for good butterfly photography and get the eyes sharp!

Tip #2 - Lead Room

A butterfly looks ahead into the "Lead room" makes for a well-balanced visual composition

This composition guideline is very fundamental to nature macro photography but sometimes overlooked. In fact, it is quite relevant to many genres of photography and even applicable for inanimate subjects like a photo of a car zooming along a road. The concept of "lead room" is premised on the idea that a well-composed shot should leave space in the direction where the subject is facing or moving.



Hence compose your butterfly shots with the lead room or "positive space" in front of the butterfly's eyes. Note that the lead room need not only be on the left or right of the frame, but corresponding to where the subject is looking towards. Placing the subject smack in the centre of the frame with symmetrical empty space on the left and right of it makes for a boring and ordinary snapshot.

Tip #3 - Background


An uncluttered background makes the subjects "pop" out of the frame

When I first started butterfly photography some 20 years ago, I was happy enough just getting a shot of a particular species of butterfly. Back then, managing to get a butterfly in focus in my viewfinder was good enough for me. Never mind that the background was cluttered with twigs, bright hotspots, and artificial mess; just getting a shot of a particular species that I was looking for, made my day!



Over the years, I have come to allocate as much importance to the background as I would to the subject. Where possible, having a clean and uncluttered background enhances the subject butterfly and makes the appreciation of the subject easier without too many distractions. Although it is not always possible to dictate where a butterfly stops to feed or rest, in relation to the background, whenever a subject snaps into focus on my viewfinder, my eye quickly scans the background as well, to see if I can shift the angle to get a better background for the subject.


Look for a smooth and creamy background to enhance your subject

In macro work, where the photographer is closer to the subject, the opportunity to throw the background out of focus is much easier (especially when you are using a proper macro lens). Hence if there are minor distractions in the background, using a large aperture to 'soften' the background sometimes helps. But do make sure that the subject is still in sharp focus!

Tip #4 - Rule of Thirds


Placing the butterfly's eye on the intersection of the imaginary grid lines along the "Rule of Thirds" guideline

The Rule of Thirds (coincidentally called a "rule") is an important composition guideline in the visual arts that states than an image is most pleasing and well balanced, when its subject is composed along imaginary vertical and horizontal lines that divide the image into thirds. This guideline is applicable to butterfly photography as well.


Placing the butterfly's eye on the imaginary grid line along the "Rule of Thirds"

Hence, to maximize the impact of your butterfly photos, your subject or your area of interest should always be placed at or near one of the intersecting points or along the imaginary grid lines. These points create visual tension, dynamism and interest in the composition and research has shown that the human eyes are naturally drawn to these intersecting points and the imaginary grid lines.


Make sure that the horizon in your shot is horizontal and not slanting

Another tip when shooting puddling butterflies and applying the composition on the Rule of Thirds, is to make sure that the "horizon" or ground plane behind the butterfly is properly aligned to the horizontal. A slightly tilted horizon behind a puddling butterfly is uncomfortable and may spoil an otherwise good shot.

Tip #5 - Using Diagonals



Composing a shot along the X-Y axis within a frame and respecting the guidelines mentioned above often makes for a good shot. However, there are often variations to the theme when different framing and field conditions allow. For example, using diagonals and taking the subject off the X-Y axis sometimes results in a more dynamic and interesting shot. Diagonals tend to suggest action and liveliness in a shot, creating a notion of dynamism and visual tension.



In some situations, when a shot features a linear element e.g. a twig, a blade of grass or patterns, try to experiment by shifting or rotating your camera so that these linear elements run diagonally across your frame. These options can sometimes create a shot that is more well balanced and interesting to the viewer and not end up as a dull and uninspiring shot.

In the next instalment of this article on composition, we discuss other aspects of composing butterfly shots which are less conventional and challenge the "rules" of visual composition.

Text by Khew SK : Photos by David Chan and Khew SK

Butterfly Photography 101 - Part 4

Butterfly Photography 101 
Part 4 - Lighting and Using Flash in Butterfly Photography

The earlier articles in this series in Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 dealt with the variety of photographic equipment that can be used for butterfly photography, the types of magnification devices and the typical settings on a DSLR system that a butterfly photographer uses. We also discussed the interrelationship between the ISO, aperture settings and shutter speeds when taking a photo.

In this week's article, we take a look at how different lighting conditions can "change" a butterfly's appearance and how lighting can be used to enhance your shots. In the macro photography genre, which butterfly photography falls under, the use of artificial lighting is often quite critical. One of the main issues with macro and butterfly photography is the problem of light fall off. As magnification increases, light decreases. This is even more critical as a photographer needs to use a small aperture to get better depth of field for sharp shots, and has to shoot a butterfly under shade.

Macro combo on a tripod. Ideal for non-skittish subjects. For shooting butterflies, tripods tend to be more of a hindrance especially when tracking butterflies that flit from flower to flower rapidly or bashing amongst the thick undergrowth to get at a perched butterfly.

Purist macro photographers have always advocated the use of a tripod for doing close-up work. Shooting from a stable platform allows the photographer to focus accurately on the subject and use appropriate settings to get the sharpest shot and optimal exposure, without having to deal with motion blur. This is fine, if you have subjects that are not particularly skittish and only stop for a fleeting moment on a flower to feed!

Butterfly paparazzi all shooting handheld with an external flash mounted on the camera

Butterfly photographers often have to contend with alert subjects, those that flutter continously for hours on end, and constantly change positions even when they stop to feed. Trying to set up a tripod with sophisticated off-camera flash combos to shoot constantly moving butterflies is at best impractical, and at worst, an exercise in futility! Hence many butterfly photographers train themselves to handhold their shots, as they chase a butterfly and their minimal equipment allows them the flexibility to quickly adjust their positions to capture their subjects without spooking the butterfly off.

Using Flash in Butterfly Photography

We have often been asked if it is better to do butterfly photography in natural lighting without the use of a flash. Whilst it is certainly possible to photograph a butterfly with available natural lighting, conditions frequently change that make it challenging to get a well-exposed shot or capture the true colours of a butterfly's wings. This is where the use of a "portable sun" comes in handy. A good DSLR system comes with technically-advanced dedicated flash systems that make flash photography a breeze.

A butterfly shot in bright sunshine with a flash in front curtain sync. The flash illuminates the subject butterfly accurately, but ignores the background, rendering it almost totally black. Whilst the contrast between the subject and background makes it an interesting shot, it does not appear "natural" and does not accurately reflect what the actual environment looked like when this shot was taken.

Let us start with the typical settings of using a flash in general photography, and the settings that are required in butterfly photography. Most normal flash photography situations employ the use of the front sync (or 1st curtain sync) where the flash fires immediately after the shutter opens. In very simple terms, the camera flash illuminates the subject and exposes it accurately. In butterfly photography, this gives results that appear like a butterfly was shot at night, particularly when the surroundings in which the butterfly was shot is in shade or dimly lit. This is generally not how you would perceive a butterfly in its natural environment.

A butterfly shot in very dim lighting on the shaded forest understorey.  The 2nd curtain flash helps to even out the ambient lighting with an extra fill-flash light to create a pleasing balanced exposure of the butterfly against its background

This is where the rear sync mode (also called the 2nd curtain) comes into play. If the flash fires right before the shutter starts to close to end the exposure, this is called 2nd curtain sync (or rear sync). Essentially, when one uses the rear sync mode, the camera exposes for the whole scene before the flash fires just as the shutter closes. This allows the flash to perform as a "fill-flash" that exposes the subject just before the shutter closes. The result is a more evenly exposed shot of the butterfly with a well-lit background, appearing more natural.


A butterfly shot in bright sunshine with the flash illuminating the subject against a bright background

The following diagrams below show how to set the camera to Rear (or 2nd) curtain sync in Canon and Nikon DSLR and respective Speedlight systems. For other brands, please refer to your camera manuals on how to set these flash functions.

Setting 2nd Curtain flash sync on a Canon camera body. This controls the built-in flash


Setting the 2nd curtain flash sync on Canon Speedlight external flash

For Nikon systems, change the flash settings to Rear (2nd curtain) flash sync until the command screen shows SLOW/REAR under flash mode

Macro enthusiasts tend to use a myriad of accesories to mute the harsh effects of a direct flash - from "softboxes", putting in tissue in front of the flash, and a whole host of creative and customised flash attachments. Others use different flash brackets to take the flash off-centre and off camera to move the flash off axis with the lens. Some advocate the use of ring lights and specialised macro flashes.

A typical "softbox" flash diffuser that some macro photographers use. Large enough to scare off butterflies in the field

Twin macro flash mounted off camera with adjustable brackets. Good for creative lighting in macro work but absolutely impractical for shooting butterflies out in the field! And guaranteed to scare off butterflies with this "monster-like" contraption, long before you can get anywhere near them!

From our experience, shooting butterflies requires a lot of flexibility and ease of freedom of movement in the field. Attaching large devices to your flash will probably scare off the butterflies long before you can get close enough to shoot them. Furthermore, the effect of trying to diffuse the light from the flash is less critical on a two-dimensional subject like butterflies, as compared with beetles with shiny reflective carapaces or a fat (and very 3D) caterpillar.

A typical butterfly shooter's handholding stance with an external flash mounted directly on the camera

Hence, keep it simple. Most of us shoot with the external flash mounted directly on the hotshoe of camera. Canon users don't even put the diffuser on their flashes, preferring to shoot direct and let the ETTL technology do its work. Nikon Speedlights tend to be a bit more harsh and having the diffuser cup on the flash usually gives better results. Whilst purists would argue otherwise, the thousands of butterfly photos featured on ButterflyCircle's online sites bear testimony to the techniques used by butterfly photographers.

However, let us get back to the question of why use a flash in full bright sunshine? The effects of strong and harsh sunlit conditions in the field can be mitigated with the fill-flash effects of the rear curtain sync function. The fill-flash brings out areas of the butterfly's wings that may be in shadow, and evens out the dark/light contrast in bright sunshine.

When the subject is in shade and the background is bright, the camera's multi-pattern metering mode may average the exposure across the frame and render the subject butterfly slightly under-exposed. The rear curtain sync mode will then add in a little fill light to expose the subject and bring it out from under the shadow, giving the final result a more well-balanced exposure against a bright background.

Making use of natural backlighting to create an interesting shot.  The light filters through the translucent wings of the butterfly, creating an artistic shot 

Having explained the benefits of using the rear curtain sync flash mode in butterfly photography, there are opportunities in the field that make use of ambient lighting conditions to deliver a creative and eye-pleasing result. For example, back-lit situations can be used to create artistic compositions that accentuates the "translucency" of a butterfly's wings.

Same subject, different positions of two light sources create different moods and expressions that highlights different details and aspects of the subject

Off camera flash positions can also be utilised to create different moods and artistic expressions of the subject, if an opportunity presents itself where a subject (like this caterpillar) is in a cooperative mood and stays still enough for the manipulation of the light source around it.

Hence, in butterfly photography, whilst there are general guidelines to getting an eye-pleasing shot, there are no fixed techniques or answers to every single shooting situation. The key is to explore, experiment and execute your techniques and see which ones work best to deliver the outcomes that satisfies you most!

Text by Khew SK : Photos by Sunny Chir, Chng CK, Antonio Giudici and Khew SK

Butterfly Photography 101 - Part 3

Butterfly Photography 101

Part 3 - Digital SLRs and Camera settings for Butterfly Photography

Our earlier two articles Part 1 and Part 2 of this series on Butterfly Photography outlines the spectrum of digital photography equipment and accessories that are required for good photos of butterflies. It should be emphasised that expensive equipment alone does not guarantee National Geographic-quality outputs. Even a smartphone can sometimes deliver results that much higher end cameras can, depending on the conditions that the photograph is taken under, and the most important part of the whole photography equation - the man (or woman!) behind the camera.

Putting aside the debates on the pros and cons of different types of photographic equipment, let us now assume that a butterfly enthusiast has decided to use a digital SLR as his primary equipment for butterfly photography. The modern DSLR starts from entry-level models to the high-end professional equipment. However, irrespective of the technological capabilities of each model in a camera manufacturer's line-up, let us look at the basic settings that you should consider when using a DSLR for butterfly photography in the field.

ISO Settings

Different types of Fujifilm in the good old days of yore.  For slide film, the Provia ISO100 and Velvia ISO50 were my favourites

The most fundamental setting in a DSLR is the ISO setting. In the good ol' film days, we used to go to a photographic outlet to select film to suit the conditions that we were planning to photograph in. Back then, selecting film speeds of ISO25 to ISO100 was quite typical. Basically, ISO is the sensitivity of your camera sensor to available light. The lower the ISO number, the less sensitive it is to the light, while a higher ISO number increases the sensitivity of your camera. This translates to the amount of graininess (on film) or "noise" (on a digital sensor) that you see on your photo. A higher ISO means more noise, whilst a lower ISO delivers less noise on your photo.


A graphical representation of ISO and the amount of "noise" or "graininess" of the output.  Recent models of DSLRs can push the ISO to 102,400 and even way up to an astonishing ISO 3,208,000!

Most DSLRs will allow you to change the ISO settings manually to a setting of your choice. Generally, under bright sunlit situations, select a lower ISO and in dark shady conditions, choose a higher ISO. The more recent DSLRs also have a function where the ISO can be automatically set by the camera depending on the lighting condition. I usually avoid this automatic setting, as it is quite important for the photographer to adjust the ISO settings to control the output desired.

In very shaded conditions where certain species of butterflies lurk, you may have to push your camera sensor's ISO capability to its extreme.  In this shot, the ISO setting was 10,000

With recent technological advances in sensor design, many DSLRs can now handle ISO3200, ISO6400 and above, with more than acceptable results coming out of the camera. So, for a start, learn how to set the ISO on your chosen DSLR and to quickly adjust the ISO according to the shooting conditions that you encounter in the field.

Exposure Modes

Most modern DSLRs will allow a photographer to select the exposure mode of choice to suit the preferred type of photography requirements and conditions. In fast-action sports photography, for example, a photographer would usually select a Shutter Priority mode, so that he can control the shutter speeds to freeze the high-speed action on a racing track or a sports field. Basic DSLRs will feature 5 main exposure modes - Fully Automatic Mode; Program Mode; Shutter Priority Mode, Aperture Priority Mode and Manual Mode.


A typical Nikon DSLR's dial to switch to one of 5 basic exposure modes from Manual to Fully Auto. There are often other preset modes that help the photographer handle exposure modes for different scenarios

Exposure modes determine how the DLSR selects shutter speeds and aperture settings for the best exposure of your shot. For butterfly photography, I almost exclusively use the Aperture Priority mode. This is primarily because I will have control over the aperture (and hence the depth of field) of the shot, to keep as much of the subject butterfly in sharp focus, as well as "design" the background in which the subject butterfly is shot.



Controlling the aperture means the ability to manage the background of the shot. From left to right, the butterfly shot taken at apertures of f/5.6, f/9 and f/11. Note how the backgrounds blur off smoothly when you shoot with a larger aperture.

However, using a preferred aperture to achieve a sharp subject and a nice creamy background may mean that the shutter speed falls below handholding speed. In such instances, increasing the ISO or finding a stable platform from which to shoot your subject may be required.



The understanding of the relationship between ISO, aperture and shutter speed forms the most fundamental building block of photographing butterflies. Setting the appropriate ISO allows the photographer to control the aperture (depth of field) to determine the end result that he desires. In Aperture Priority mode, setting the aperture of preference means that the camera controls the shutter speed to get the best exposure of the shot. This will sometimes cause motion blur (caused by camera shake) that will spoil a perfectly exposed shot, rendering it out of focus!

Exposure Metering

Coupled with the Exposure Mode that you have selected, most DSLRs then allow a photographer to determine what the camera "sees" to deliver the optimal exposure for the shot. There are typically 3 metering modes :


Typical Canon camera exposure metering modes © digitalcameraworld

Automatic Multi-Pattern Metering : Also called Matrix metering in Nikon and Evaluative metering in Canon DSLRs, this mode measures the light coming off the entire scene onto the sensor and averages the lighting condition to deliver a best exposure output. Most of the time, this works well for butterfly photography, except in instances where the background and subject lighting are significantly different. More about this in future articles)

Centre-Weighted Metering - This exposure metering shifts the camera's "eye" towards the centre of the image and largely ignoring the light input from the outer edges of the scene. In Canon DSLRs there is a further mode known as the Partial metering, but still falls under the class of the Centre-biased metering exposure mode.

Spot Metering - The DSLR "sees" only a small single spot at the centre of the frame, metering its exposure on this area of usually 2-4% of the sensor. This mode is typically used for images where the subject and background are of high contrast and a photographer wants to get the correct exposure for the subject, rather than the background.


A shot taken with multi-pattern metering (matrix metering on the Nikon D500).  Despite different brightness levels on the subject, background and foreground, the camera's metering capability manages to even out the bright and dark areas, giving a pleasing and natural-looking result

For my butterfly photography needs, I normally leave the exposure metering to the multi-pattern metering mode (Matrix metering in Nikon, Evaluative metering in Canon) and allow the camera's technology to do its work. This works for me at least 95% of the time, and only in exceptional cases where the field situation is so challenging that I need to switch to the other exposure metering modes.

Focusing Modes

Contemporary DSLR models feature a number of different focusing modes that allows a photographer to choose the most appropriate one for his photographic requirements. There are typically 3 focusing modes on most DSLRs :


Different type of focusing modes on a Nikon DSLR.  The selection of Manual Focus, Single Auto Focus or Continuous Auto Focus modes vary from camera model to camera model

Manual Focus - where you use your own judgement to determine whether or not your subject is in focus. You manually focus the camera, overriding any automatic focusing functions of the camera.
Single Auto Focus - where the camera uses its autofocus technology to snap onto the subject and focus once and then lock it.
Continuous Auto Focus - where the camera uses its autofocus capability to continuously track and focus on the subject (which may be moving) and then takes a photo when the shutter is pressed fully.


Nikon system AF modes - clockwise from the top left: Single-point AF mode, Dynamic-area AF mode (9 points), Dynamic-area AF mode (21 points), Dynamic-area AF mode (51 points), 3D-tracking mode, Auto-area AF mode and Group-area AF mode.

I find that for butterfly photography, I usually stay on the Single Focus mode, using the AF technology that I paid for in the camera body, and depending mostly on the autofocus capability of the camera to do its work. There are many advocates of manual focusing amongst macro photography enthusiasts, and it is a question of preference which mode of focusing a photographer chooses to use.


A shot of a Green Commodore with a single AF point locked onto its eyes.

Having discussed the focusing modes, and assuming that you have chosen to exploit the camera's autofocusing technology, there are then several AF settings that can be found in many recent DSLRs. These are :


Single AF point (in red) showing where the camera has locked its focus on. Canon DSLR system

Single Point AF - where the camera will focus on where the AF point is placed. Many DSLRs allow you to shift the AF point from centre to a series of off-centre locations ranging from 9 points to over a 150 points on the sensor!


Multi AF points (in red) showing where the camera is focusing on. Canon DSLR system

Multi-Point AF - or sometimes called dynamic-area AF, allows the user to focus on one spot but the camera automatically changes the focus if the subject moves or shifts.
There are other modes of AF depending on the brand and model of the DSLR you choose - from Group Dynamic AF, Closest Subject AF, Predictive AF and so on, which I will not deal with in this article.


Single AF focus point at (or near to) the subject's eye

In butterfly photography, I just stick to the plain vanilla Single Point AF coupled with the Single Focus AF mode. This gives the best control over where you want to focus on (usually the eye of the subject butterfly) and then shift the focusing point accordingly if needed. The camera does not override your focusing preference, so that you don't end up with an out-of-focus shot most of the time.

White Balance

The final in-camera setting that we will discuss here, is the White Balance. The White Balance setting in a camera basically tells the camera how to make the distinction of "seeing" whites under different lighting conditions. The human eye can adjust itself to see a white object in bright sunlight, overcast conditions, in a room lit by fluorescent lighting or incandescent lighting or in deep shadow. A camera is unable to make that decision.


Same butterfly, different "whites" depends on the white balance settings and its environment

Most cameras feature a range of white balance settings - Sunlight, Flash, Cloudy, Shadow, Fluorescent, Incandescent, and Automatic.


White butterflies and flowers require a 2nd look to ensure that the whites stay natural. Different DSLRs' white balance technology vary - some are more accurate than others. At times, the colour cast due to reflections from its surroundings affect the subject's "whiteness"

I normally leave my DSLRs White Balance setting on "Auto" and then shoot in the camera's RAW mode. This allows me to make adjustments to the White Balance during post-processing and tweak the shot to the most natural colour as far as possible.


Another white butterfly, the Psyche, tests the DSLR's white balance capability

Part 3 of this series of articles covers the basic settings in a DSLR for butterfly photography and we hope it will be useful to our readers who are just venturing out to photograph butterflies in the field.

Text by Khew SK : Photos by Sunny Chir and Khew SK and credits to various websites and individuals.