Re: [VFB] Photographing Flies

[Tom Davenport]

You've got the right camera, Nikon has the best macro lens in the 
market. Your set up can be very simple: an uncluttered background (I 
use craft foam, since I always have some laying around) a light source 
(your tying light should work) and a reflector.   I use a piece of 
white paper, placed somewhere underneath the vice. The vice holds the 
fly.   The ideal lighting is slightly above and facing the fly as much 
as possible.  Use the reflector to kick light back into any shadows.

For best results use a tripod, and adjust the white balance manually if 
you can (if not, use the preset for tungsten light if you are using a 
traditional light bulb).

The beauty of a digital camera is you can keep erasing until you get it 
right.

If you are taking a lot of pictures you might even want to construct a 
little "studio" out of craft foam: Leave it open on the lighting side, 
use white on the bottom and all other sides except the background.

Tom Davenport

On Jan 27, 2004, at 6:27 AM, Kevin McClean wrote:

I think I remember some time ago a thread about photographing flies.  
The
problem is that I can't recall much of what was mentioned.  I am 
hoping to
start to try photograph some of my flies as I will hopefully be 
submitting
some articles to a new magazine here.

Anyway,
I was hoping to get some tips with the photographs.  Could anyone 
point me
in the right direction with regard to background colour, light, flash 
etc.
I have Nikon Coolpix 5700 digital camera with Macro lens.  This is a 5m
pixel camera and has a good optical zoom.

Any hints tips or advice would be appreciated.

Regards,

Kevin

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