KCJake

Black Swallowtail Caterpillar on parsley

Black Swallowtail Caterpillar on parsley

Caterpillar on parsley and fennel
Home Butterfly Project - save the pollinators

Caterpillar on parsley and fennel
Home Butterfly Project - save the pollinators
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iPad Air 2

settings

Aperture f/2.4 ISO 200 Shutter 1/15 Focal Length 33/10

upload_date

Aug, 2021

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Behind The Lens

Location

From the Heartland of this beautiful Country (Kansas City, MO. Area). Sister started a project this Summer to save the pollinators. She chose Butterflies (100+ and counting!). I found some eggs and babies to raise and record stages of life, these pics are from that project.

Time

Late afternoons, while cleaning enclosures, I set them aside to photograph and clean habitats. Sometimes into the night trying get a good “shot” in a make shift macro studio.

Lighting

Experimenting with Natural, Incandescent, LED, and Flashlights to bring out more detail or dramatic shadows. I tend to lean towards bringing out detail on the subject. This sometimes over exaggerates background colors so I try to find good contrasting complimentary colors to use as back drops.

Equipment

For macro shots on no budget, all were shot using Samsung Galaxy 8 phone, and Apple IPad Air II. Some flash, most not. As a musician I have microphone stands and other equipment I can mount a smartphone or tablet on using a clamp made just for that. It allows for almost any desired angle. The clamp also has a threaded mount for tripods which was also used.

Inspiration

A lover of all life and appreciative of earths beauty, a no brainer. Preservation of species, to show there is beauty everywhere on a planet that is so distracted to realize what is right in front of them. A big thanks to my Sis, I always admire her dedication on projects and distribution of information on preserving this incredible Blue Marble.

Editing

Without professional quality macro lenses, I do my best to clean up the shots and bring the subject detail forward. With compositions that are not my favorites, I like to to push extreme settings (IPad Air II editing) with contrast, highlights, vibrance, …etc. for unique exposures.

In my camera bag

As an amateur, not much. Right now my rig is a Cannon EOS 80D. Lenses are: Cannon EFS 18-135 mm, Cannon EFS 55-250 mm, Cannon 70-300 mm, and a 1.4X multiplier. None of which were used here.

Feedback

With quality macro lenses being costly, and limited knowledge of flipping a telephoto lense I learned that the best option is probably in your pocket. Camera quality in phones are increasing with every new model. The best thing is these cameras are (mostly) a true 1:1 ratio + zoom. Combine with a quality magnifying glass App. that allows pictures and the zoom is pretty powerful. Digital zoom is slowly getting better as well. An excellent place to start if you are into the macro world.

See more amazing photos, follow KCJake

KCJake

KCJake

Black Swallowtail Caterpillar on parsley

Caterpillar on parsley and fennel Home Butterfly Project - save the pollinators

Behind The Lens

See more amazing photos, follow KCJake

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Caterpillar on parsley and fennel
Home Butterfly Project - save the pollinators

Share photos. Enter contests to win great prizes.
Earn coins, get amazing rewards. Join for free.