housekeeping

Just a quick heads up – I will be moving a large number of my posts from cicindela over to my new blog - apologies for the mess.

I will also contact any bloggers who have linked to the old posts to prevent too many dead links – the old posts will remain online for some time yet, so there is  no immediate cause for concern.

If you have any suggestions, comments, or criticisms, please contact me.

an update

Those of you who follow this blog have probably noticed the  posts have been dwindling; this is largely due to my abysmal lack of opportunities for visiting any good cicindela habitat  this summer.

Rather than fill a blog titled “cicindela” with posts about photographing insects or an unrelated picture here and there I have decided to start a new blog to share my experiences photographing insects and their kin.

This blog, cicindela, will not be abandoned – posting will be sparse but I will continue to share my cicindela-related adventures whenever they go down. Maybe some guest authors or other tiger beetle enthusiasts would be willing to contribute their stories to this blog as well.

Without further ado – life on six legs: a face-to-face look at insects & their kin from one photographer’s perspective

not quite a tiger beetle…

though often mistaken for one, Elaphrus ruscarius a member of a genus of intricately sculptured, surprisingly colored beetles. Their resemblance to tiger beetles is so strong that the first described species had been placed in the genus Cicindela. However, in addition to being a good deal smaller, they lack the maculations and vivid coloration common to most tiger beetles.

The most widespread species of Elaphrus in North America, E. ruscarius ranges from southern Maine and northern Minnesota as far south as northern Florida and eastern Texas. As with other members of this genus, E. ruscarius is found on the banks of streams, rivers, and other bodies of water – usually on substrate that is moist to the touch. They behave much like tiger beetles, darting around in search of prey, in and out of the cover of surrounding vegetation or cracks in the substrate.

 The elytra are covered with small sculptured pits – often strongly contrasting with the surrounding area of each elytron. The size of the pits is correlated to the roughness of substrate which that species occurs on; the courser the substrate, the more indented the pits (1). Another intriguing feature are elytral mirrors – visible in the photo below – dark reflective patches that mimic the light reflected by water between particles of the substrate.

Members of this genus vary in coloration from smooth, oily blacks with deep blue pits on the elytra, to the typical olive gray/greens, such as E. ruscarius, to the bright green E. viridis - a federally threatened species found only in California. Some species also have alternate color forms; E. ruscarius has a less common red/copper form – pictured here - it is found primarily on red-colored substrate.

For more information on Elaphrus, check out the Bugguide page here.

something cicindela related

for a blog named after tiger beetles it seems about time. This is Cicindela rufiventris, a common species found throughout the eastern US.

Taken using a  Nikon D70, 105mm macro lens, and ring flash.

Not my best image, but one of, if not my first good shots of a tiger beetle. Getting this image was tough – I had to slowly crawl along the ground, trying to get close enough to get a good shot while hoping not to scare away the beetle.

Insect Photography 101: Part 2, DSLR cameras

In the first part of this series I covered point and shoot (P&S) digital cameras and their suitability for insect photography - now for the heavy hitters – digital SLR cameras.

Not to mince words, if you are serious about insect photography a DSLR is your camera. Nothing else provides similar quality or control – not yet, at least.

Here are what I consider the most important advantages of a DSLR:

Manual control – the ability to determine shutter speed, f-stop, and ISO is a must for any serious photographer as it is the key to getting good images.  There is a learning curve, but with practice the process is easily understood. While many P&S cameras have some form of manual control it is often limited and awkward to use.

Magnification – with a DSLR and quality lens/extension tubes you can obtain high quality, distortion free images of minute subjects – there is no easy way to achieve similar magnification using a P&S camera without some, often significant, degree of distortion, at least when shooting live insects. With a DSLR you also have the ability to use a wide variety of lenses, from the standard 100mm lens to rather unorthodox setups; for example, an extension tube can be attached to a wide angle lens for a drastically different view of your subject.

Higher image quality – while consumer and pro DSLRs have roughly the same amount of noise, even high end P&S cameras have markedly more noise than even your consumer DSLR. This is because P&S cameras have dramatically smaller sensors and as such require more light. In order to counteract this, the camera boosts the signal coming from the sensor, thereby creating more noise.

Control of lighting – this is another key to getting good photographs of insects. With a dedicated macro flash and quality diffuser you can create soft lighting, regardless of the ambient light conditions. Some higher end P&S cameras can be used with a macro flash, however.

The biggest drawback of DSLRs is their cost – purchased new a basic setup consisting of a camera body, 100mm-ish macro lens and flash can run into the one to two thousand dollar range quite easily. There are ways to get around this, for instance buying used equipment or third party lenses/flash units, though you then have to worry about the quality of equipment.

Pros:
Control over almost every aspect of an image, from DOF to lighting
Range of lenses, flashes, and other accessories can be used
High optical quality – not likely to suffer from image distortion or chromatic aberrations
High image quality – getting even better all the time
No shutter lag
Far better autofocus than P&S cameras; however, when shooting most insects, manual focus is largely preferred, except for large/fast subjects.

Cons:
Higher cost – while many DSLR bodies are not much more than a high end P&S camera, the cost of lenses, flashes, and accessories adds up fast
Can be rather heavy and bulky – there are many lighter and more compact models though
Few models have a flip out LCD screen – more coming all the time
Initial learning curve – DSLRs and some accessories take some knowledge/experience to get good photographs with

My final say is if you are serious about insect photography and have the monetary resources, a DSLR is your only choice. Again, as of yet, nothing else provides similar quality or control.

That said, if you aren’t looking for those National Geographic shots or just want “show and tell” photos, go with a higher end point and shoot camera, you’ll get reasonable shots of many subjects.

The above advice is based solely on my own experience; I am in no way the final say on matters of insect photography. Please feel free to suggest anything you feel I may have left out or misrepresented.

new look and news

To any returning readers, hope you like the new look. To any new readers, welcome to cicindela, a blog about beetles, photography, and other ramblings. Regular posting will resume by next Wednesday, so stay tuned…

Cicindela albissima habitat

Cicindela albissima is only found in Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park, near Kanab, UT; however, the beetles are largely found in the center area of the dune field.

The primary habitat [is] a transition area between the highly dynamic south end of the dune field and the more stabilized north end. (Knisley & Hill)

For a sobering look at just how small the beetles preferred habitat is, take a look at this Google map - you can clearly see the protected area with the damage from the ATV traffic plainly visible. Compare it to this 1999 map of the adult abundance and you’ll notice that the bulk of the beetles are found in the upper five swales, which are fortunately inside the protected area, but there is a fairly sizable  portion of potentially suitable habitat in the ATV travel corridor.

For further reading, check out Ted’s excellent post on Cicindela albissima.

Insect Photography 101: Part 1b

Now for a few photos of insect taken with point and shoot cameras – the shots of the ants and the crab spider were taken with a Canon PowerShot A95, and the photo of the moth (Atteva punctella) was taken with a Kodak EasyShare DX4530. I have also included a 100% crop from each image to give a better idea of the quality.

Insect Photography 101: Part 1, Point and Shoot Cameras

So you’re an aspiring photographer interested in taking pictures of insects? Don’t want to break the bank? Wondering what cameras fit the bill?

Most of us out there are familiar with point and shoot cameras – these are you everyday digital cameras, used for everything from shots of the kids to casual vacation photos. Unfortunately, your average point and shoot cameras are often jacks of all trades, but master of none – they can take decent shots of large wildlife, OK underwater pictures, and acceptable landscape shots. They rarely match even the consumer grade DSLR cameras in either quality or versatility.

For the amateur insect photographer or collector just interested casually recording their finds, a higher end point and shoot camera is a reasonable choice. They can also be paired with an accessory close up lens for increased magnification.

Shutter lag, the delay between the time the shutter triggered and the time camera actually records the image, can be an issue. This can cause you to miss shots of skittish or fast moving insects, such as dragonflies.

Most importantly, many point and shoot cameras have very poor manual controls – this alone is reason enough for the serious amateur photographer to avoid these cameras.

One other major drawback of point and shoot cameras is their limited compatibility with external flash units – only some cameras have the hot shoe needed to attach the flash unit. However, there are good third party ring flashes and LED lights out there which do not need a hot shoe.

Pros:
Light, compact – easy to use
Cost $100’s to $1,000’s less than DSLRs
Good depth of field due to smaller sensor
Cheap close up lens – can be combined for higher magnifications
Flip out LCD – good for shots at ground level or in tight spaces
Some higher end P&S cameras have hot shoes, so a proper macro flash can be attached.

Cons:
Poor manual controls, including manual focusing
Virtually useless built in flash – good third party LED or traditional lights/flashes available
Shutter lag sometimes an issue
Lower optical quality – more likely to suffer from image distortion and chromatic aberrations
Lower image quality – getting better all the time, though

In summary, point and shoot cameras are generally good for live insects ranging from, say large butterflies down to maybe 1-2 cm with a quality close up lens  – not the way to go for serious insect photographers, however.

Stay tuned for Part 2, DSLR cameras!

The above advice is based solely on my own experience; I am in no way the final say on matters of insect photography. Please feel free to suggest anything you feel I may have left out or misrepresented.

living up to the name

of the blog, that is, so here is an image of a common species, Cicindela rufiventris.