The Challenge of

Butterfly House
Photography
Photography and Text
© 2008 Michael Lustbader
all rights reserved

Butterfly World, established in 1988

in Tradewinds Park, Coconut
Grove, Florida, was the first
“butterfly house” in North America.
Since then, there has been a
proliferation of similar facilities,
where a variety of exotic butterflies
and moths hatch and flourish. There
are species from Asia, Africa, and
South America—little flying jewels
that most of us could not hope to
photograph during the course of
one lifetime, for reasons of both
time and finances. You would think
that, with such controlled subjects,
it would be a simple matter to
produce unique and creative
images. There are, however,
challenges to be met if you don’t
want your photographs to look just
like everyone else's. These generally
involve the following issues:
Small subjects
Moving subjects
“Sameness” of butterflies
and plants
Difficult lighting
Cluttered backgrounds

Above Right: Blue Glassy Tiger (Ideopsis

vulgaris)
Left: Green Jay (Graphium agamemnon)
THE CHALLENGE OF BUTTERFLY HOUSE PHOTOGRAPHY 2

Small Subjects
The challenge of small subject size is met by increasing magnification.
Butterflies are fairly large subjects (for a macro photographer), and
magnification from 1/4 to 1/2 life size is usually quite adequate. If you
don’t do this type of photography often enough to justify the purchase of
a $500-$1200 specialty lens, check out the multi-element close-up lenses,
such as the Canon 500D or Nikon “T” series. These are accessories that fit Close-up lens
on the front of your normal lenses like filters. They are reasonably
inexpensive and any optical distortion is usually seen at the edges of the
Extension Tubes
frame. If you keep your subject fairly centered and stop down at least one
stop, you can generally achieve decent results. Avoid the single element
close-up filters — their optical quality is poor.
Extension tubes and bellows units increase magnification by increasing
the distance between the subject and the eye/film/sensor plane. They are
less expensive than macro lenses, but involve a “fumble factor”—an
accessory to attach to the camera while the subject flies away. The better Bellows
ones preserve all the automatic functions of the camera, but your lens can
no longer focus at infinity with the extension attached.

The best (and costliest)

option remains the
dedicated macro lens.
These lenses are optically
corrected for close-up
imaging and focus from
1:1 (life-size) or 1:2 (half
life-size) to infinity.
I prefer the 180-200 mm
lens because it provides
the same magnification
with a bit more subject-to-
lens distance, a helpful
characteristic when
photographing snakes,
bees, and scorpions. The
Sometimes, breaking the rules enables us to achieve an unexpected result-- longer focal length also
Here is an effective abstract of a hovering butterfly using a slow shutter speed
keeps you out of your
and fill-flash. We accept the subsequent blur as a part of the composition.
own light as you
photograph smaller
Moving subjects subjects, and compresses
If you wish to photograph butterflies in flight, go with high-speed flash depth-of-field, to give you
units, infrared beam triggers, and lots of patience. Otherwise, your best a “softer” background. For
bet will be to photograph these lovely creatures as they rest. Butterflies most photographers,
are cold-blooded—they rely upon the temperature of their surroundings however, the 85-105 mm
to maintain their own body temperature. Their level of activity increases
range macro lens is a good
compromise, and can
with the temperature of their surroundings, so be there in the morning
double as a good
when they are cool and sluggish. landscape or portrait lens.
THE CHALLENGE OF BUTTERFLY HOUSE PHOTOGRAPHY 3

You can use the unique characteristics

of the butterfly as part of your
composition. The glasswing on the left
posed in front of a colorful blossom,
drawing attention to the transparency
of its wings.

The “twins” below present a more

interesting composition than a single
animal. They only stayed in this pose
for a minute, but I walk with my
equipment already set for the desired
exposure and magnification. When I
spot a worthy subject, all I have to do
is frame, focus, and press the shutter.

Sameness of butterflies and plants

Most butterfly facilities do not maintain their own breeding stock, but rely
upon the same group of breeders and importers. Butterfly and plant species
are relatively similar, therefore, from one facility to the next. (To the point
that John Kaprielian, nature editor of the stock agency Photo Researchers
Inc., pleads, “Please, no more heliconid butterflies on lantana or
bougainvillaea”.) Since we have no control over the subject matter to make
our images unique, we must look for behaviors, angles, or poses that are
interesting, different, and/or aesthetically pleasing.

Difficult Lighting
Lighting within butterfly facilities may pose several challenges. It may be
uneven or contrasty, actually not much different from lighting in the
rainforest. The absolute level of light may also be quite low.

Dealing with low light levels:

Behaviors such as egg-
Butterfly houses are established with the general public (not photographers) laying, feeding, mating,
in mind, and because of space and safety issues, many do not allow tripods. territorial challenges,
If you wish to come home with exceptional images, be prepared to shoot hovering, and emergence
hand-held. This gives you two main options—high ISO or electronic flash. from chrysalids are all
grist for the macro-
(Use your tripod if you can, but always ask first). Increasing the ISO allows
photographer’s mill. As
you to use a faster shutter speed. Digital imaging has a clear advantage over you walk around, you
film in this regard–the ability to change ISO in mid-stream to adapt to will also become familiar
different lighting conditions. Before you begin to gloat, however, be aware with the butterfly’s
that when you boost the ISO, you also increase the level of “noise” (the habits. Some will
digital equivalent of film grain) especially in areas of shadow. Most modern repeatedly return to the
digital cameras will provide a “reasonable” noise structure up to ISO 400,
same flower, allowing
you to set up and prepare
with many of the newer ones providing very fine noise structure well above
yourself and your camera
that range. You can also decrease noise during post-capture processing. for image-making.
THE CHALLENGE OF BUTTERFLY HOUSE PHOTOGRAPHY 4

This Leopard Lacewing (Cethosia The Inverse Square Law (liberally

cyane) was photographed in paraphrased) states that the intensity
bright contrasty light, which was of light decreases in a predictable
“softened” with a diffuser. fashion as it travels from the source
Diffusers are inexpensive and to the subject and beyond. The
easy to use. The light passing
Inverse Square Law is thus
through them is uniformly soft
responsible for the black backgrounds
and even. I find the 12” to 18”
that were so prevalent in macro-flash
size quite adequate. Just be
careful to open the diffuser when photography 20 years ago. By the
you are still at a good distance time the light has traveled two flash-
from your subject. to-subject distances behind the
subject, it has lost about two stops of
Reflectors are a bit trickier to intensity. As you may recall from
use, as they can overexpose and your study of the Zone System, two
“burn out” highlights, even as stops below middle tone (your
they direct the light to bring out “perfect exposure”) is almost black.
hidden detail in deep shadows. Let’s say that your flash-to-subject
Use the histogram as your guide. distance is 12 inches. If there is no
background from which your light
can reflect, your subject may be
perfectly exposed, but everything 24
inches or more behind your subject
will be black.
The practical application of this is
that for each flash unit, there is one
Dealing with contrasty light: particular aperture (f-stop) that will
If you’ve ever photographed in a rain forest or tropical jungle, you’ve yield a “perfect” exposure at a
specific subject distance. In the “old
experienced the frustration caused by deep shadows alternating with
days”, finding that magic
bright highlights as sunlight filters down through the canopy. Your meter combination was a trial-and-error
seems schizoid as it bounces back and forth, trying to measure light process. It involved several rolls of
intensity that can vary over a ten-stop contrast range in an area measured film and several weeks waiting for
by inches. Dealing with this type of lighting may involve the use of the processed slides to return. Today,
diffusers, reflectors, flash, and constant awareness. The screen on the back because of the magic and
instantaneous feedback of digital
of your digital camera shows a fairly low quality image with a limited
capture, the same testing can be
contrast range (more contrasty than the actual image) and is usually not
accomplished painlessly, in minutes.
very helpful in the evaluation of image quality. However, its low contrast You can do your testing for several
range exaggerates and actually helps you identify potential problems. power levels, allowing you to vary
the amount of fill-flash used.
The use of Electronic Flash is somewhat more complicated, and requires You can place something behind the
some pre-planning, but is capable of solving many of these low-light subject to act as a reflecting
problems. However, If you think that in the electronic TTL age, flash is a background or use a second light
no-brainer, think again. Not all TTL systems can handle the super-short source to illuminate the background.
flash durations required for close-distance photography. The result—gross I use a slower shutter speed which
and unpredictable overexposure. Good flash technique can make an allows natural light to play more of a
image “pop”. Poor technique can make it look like a grade C monster role in the exposure. Watch out for
movie, with heavy shadows and black legs or antennae disappearing into “ghosting”--a double image caused
by both ambient light and flash
black backgrounds. These effects are caused by light obeying the Inverse
making separate exposures on the
Square Law (See sidebar).
same file.
THE CHALLENGE OF BUTTERFLY HOUSE PHOTOGRAPHY 5

Effective Close-up Flash Photography with Manual Flash

One of the older but still reliable techniques involves the use of a low-

One of the older

powered inexpensive manual flash (no automation, no TTL). Once you

but still reliable

have done some initial trial-and-error testing, your results are accurate
and predictable, with minimal fussing. The ultimate object is to use the
flash to “fill” shadows and to use ambient light to provide the main flash techniques
exposure (including the backgrounds). involves the use of
low-powered,
inexpensive
Procedure:

manual flash units

First, choose a model that has both texture and color and is about the
same size as the subjects you will be photographing . (I used to use a
small clown doll about 3” tall). Find a manual flash unit that allows you
to vary the power setting. (Older Sunpack and Vivitar units are ideal for
this purpose). Then, select an f-stop and take a series of images, varying
the flash-to-subject distance, or select a flash-to-subject distance and vary
the f-stop. When you review your series of images, look for the
combination of f-stop and distance that yields the “perfect” exposure. You
may need to compensate for subjects that are very light, very dark, or
highly reflective, but you will find that your results are quite consistent.
Result—perfectly exposed images using a $30 manual flash unit. Using a
Sunpack 444 at 1/4 power, f16-f22 would yield a perfect exposure
between eight and fourteen inches. Your histogram will help you fine-
tune the exposures.

TTL flash
All TTL flash units have a minimum working distance. A subject closer
than this minimal distance will usually be quite over-exposed. The work-
around for this is to simply handhold the flash or use a bracket that will
hold the unit the appropriate distance from the subject so the TTL
function will function correctly. This minimal distance will be found in the
flash instruction book, and is generally about 18-24 inches.
Another work-around involves decreasing the intensity of the flash by Fill-flash brings out the detail in this
placing a diffuser over the flash head. Some manufacturers include one. If predominantly black Scarlet Mormon
(Papilio rumanzovia) without
not , a piece of white handkerchief and a rubber band works fine. Just burning out the reds. RGB
make sure that the material you use is white or your image will have a histograms are very helpful with
color cast. (This doesn’t always work, as the automatic flash may try to colors that may go out of gamut or
compensate). lose detail even though the B&W
histogram looks fine.

When using flash on an adjustable bracket, consider how and where the
light will strike the subject and where the shadows will fall. You can vary
the direction of the flash head so the shadows you invariably create at
least appear real. For instance, a butterfly hanging upside down from a
leaf will not normally have shadows above it. Aim for believability. Catch-
lights in the eyes also should be unobtrusive and believable.
The Wimberley Bracket in action
THE CHALLENGE OF BUTTERFLY HOUSE PHOTOGRAPHY 6

Ring Flash
These are lower powered flash units manufactured specifically for close
distance photography. Traditionally, there have been several schools of
thought regarding ring lights:
One group feels that straight-on lighting along the lens axis obliterates
shadows. This “flat” lighting eliminates texture and yields an image with
decreased dimensionality and/or detail. A second group feels that the
ring light is such a large light source compared to the subject size that it Nikon R1C1 Ringlight
acts more like the large body-length light boxes or “soft boxes” that
portrait photographers use, and provides a soft, diffuse light. I suspect
that the truth of the matter lies somewhere in-between. At one time, I was
absolutely opposed to any bracket that held the flash directly along the
lens axis. Now, however there is a new generation of ring flashes that
utilize independent flash heads (or lamps within the ring itself) that can
be adjusted to add directionality to the light. Ultimately, if you can’t see
the difference, you probably shouldn’t worry about it. The bottom line is
trial and error, simplified by the immediate feedback provided by your
histogram. Note that ring lights are low-powered units, and rarely able to
freeze motion. They are not generally useful for flight photography.

Backgrounds
Most butterfly facilities are essentially large greenhouses, consisting of
translucent panels and screens interspersed with beams, railings, and A soft muted background picking up
signs. Trails and paths within wind back and forth, and the colorful the colors of the foreground flowers.
Hawaiian shirts of other visitors will find their way into your The butterfly is a Golden Helicon
photographs if you are not alert. You must constantly be aware of your (Heliconius hecale).
surroundings and use camera angle and shallow depth-of-field to tone
down background clutter and other distractions.

TECHNIQUE:
Butterfly photography involves stalking. Pre-set everything you can. Pre-
select your f-stop, shutter speed, flash settings, and ISO, so all you have to
worry about is composition, focus, and following the action. Choose an
aperture according to the depth-of-field you desire, and use your depth-
of-field preview button often! Pre-set the focusing range according to
distance and size of image desired, and adjust shutter speed for correct
ambient (natural) light exposure. Aim for an accurate available light
exposure by ISO, shutter speed, and f-stop. Begin to photograph when
you’re further away than you would ideally like to be, gradually drawing
closer, avoiding abrupt, jerky movements. Within limits, you can always
crop down to make your subject larger in the final image.
The plastic walls of the greenhouse
become part of the composition,
accentuating the delicacy of the
Citrus Swallowtails (Papilio
demodocus).
THE CHALLENGE OF BUTTERFLY HOUSE PHOTOGRAPHY 7

Your technique will vary according to the desired result—textbooks or

guidebooks usually require tack-sharp f22 images with huge depth-of-
field. On the other hand, I use a shallower depth-of-field for more “artsy”
images, where the gestalt (general feeling) is more important to me than
the absolute detail. One approach is not necessarily better than the
other—a different purpose calls for a different aesthetic.

Euiedes isabella, a South American butterfly, poses on a palm

frond. The solitary butterfly makes a nice counterpoint to the
repeating rhythm of the fronds, even as the wing bars seem to
repeat the pattern.

Cruiser (Vindula dejone),

a native of SE Asia. By
holding the camera plane
parallel to the subject
plane, you can use a
shallow depth-of-field and
keep your subject sharp
while maintaining a soft,
out-of-focus background.
THE CHALLENGE OF BUTTERFLY HOUSE PHOTOGRAPHY 8

The kite butterfly (Idea leuconoe), also

known as paper kite, tree nymph,
Japanese kite butterfly, is a native of
SE Asia.

Vignetting is an effective technique

which focuses attention on the
subject by photographing it
“through” its foreground. Use
your depth-of-field preview button
to confirm that the foreground
remains out-of-focus. If there is no
foreground, but you feel as though
the subject might benefit from this
technique, you can sometimes
create a foreground by holding
leaves, grass, or flowers in front of
the lens. Make sure that your
chosen materials are out-of-focus
by holding them close to the lens.
Choose a color that does not
“fight” with the subject. In this
photograph, the vignette is
provided by the lower pink
blossom. The upper one is in the
background, but has the same
degree of softness as the lower
one. The two together frame the
butterfly effectively.

This Archduke (Lexias dirtea) is

visually isolated by the vignetting
technique. If the viewer feels like a
voyeur, you’ve succeeded!
THE CHALLENGE OF BUTTERFLY HOUSE PHOTOGRAPHY 9

A native of Central and South America, the Blue Morpho butterfly

(Morpho peleides) is most often seen as a flash of electric blue,
flitting through the undergrowth of deep jungle. When alarmed, it
folds its wings and seems to disappear, as its brown underwings
blend perfectly into the dappled light of the forest. This behavior
confuses birds which are zoned into the bright blue.
THE CHALLENGE OF BUTTERFLY HOUSE PHOTOGRAPHY 10

You can also be on the look-out for interesting poses

or behaviors, such as head-and-shoulders portraits,
egg-laying, caterpillars, and mating.