11 Tips for photographing butterflies

Butterflies are a favorite subject among many photographers. And with the right equipment and some basic knowledge, everyone can get good butterfly photographs.
In this post, I want to share with you 11 tips about photographing those amazing little creatures.

1. Use a long macro lens

Most butterfly species don’t like it when you approach to closely. Because of this, a macro lens with a longer focal length is better suited for photographing them. A 50mm or 60mm lens is too short. I recommend to use at least a 100mm lens. Better is a macro lens with 180mm or 200mm like the Canon 3.5/180L Macro or the Nikon 4/200 Micro. Another great lens for at least the larger species is a 4/300. If necessary combine it with an extension tube or/and an 1.4 extender.

2. Learn about the biology of the different species

One of the most important tips in nature photography is to learn as much about your subject as possible. Learn in which habitat you can find which species, at what time of the year they fly or what plants they prefer. For example, if you want to photograph a particular species that you think is very beautiful and that occurs only in forests, than it’s pointless to search for the species at the coast.
There are many good books and websites available about butterfly identification and biology. Get a good one for your area.

3. Get up early

In the early morning, many butterflies can be found attached to flowers and other plants where they spend the night. In the early morning when it’s still cold, they normally won’t fly off when you approach them as it is still too cold for their body to warm up. This gives you much more time to compose and make your image. Use a tripod to keep your camera sturdy during exposure, which can often be only 1/15 or longer in the early morning hours. In the early morning, sometimes the butterflies are covered with dew which can make a picture much more interesting.
Sometimes, you can also find butterflies in those positions late in the evening.

4. Move slowly

If you are trying to approach an active butterfly flying from flower to flower, move very slowly to approach it. Try to not block the sun as many species will try to get out of the shadow. Once you are close, stick to slow movements when composing your image. Often, the butterfly will fly off before you get the shot. Be patient and try again.

5. Use a (prepared) perch and wait for the butterfly

Another way instead of that mentioned in point 4 is to pick a flower that is visited again and again by butterflies and setup your tripod and camera there. Then stay still and wait until the next butterfly lands. It’s good to use a cable release, so you don’t have to look through the viewfinder all the time. You could also take some flowers from your garden and set up at a good location with many butterflies.
Be sure to pick flowers that are visited by the species you want to photograph. Otherwise you will wait a long time without any butterfly ever landing.

6. Pay attention to the background

The background is very important. Make sure you get a calm background that has no distracting elements like bright flowers or stems of other plants. A longer focal length helps to get a calm background. Use the depth of field preview button of your camera to check the background.

7. Position your camera parallel to the butterfly

This is not always easy, but try to position your camera as parallel as possible to the butterfly so all of the wings is sharp.

8. Check if fill-flash can improve your picture

When photographing butterflies during midday when there is harsh sunlight, think about using a flash to reduce the contrast. Fill-Flash can also help in the morning or on overcast days when you want to get brighter colors. If possible make images with and without flash, so you can later see what works best. Often both approaches give you great images.

9. Don’t damage any butterflies or flowers

Don’t do anything that could harm the butterfly or flowers on which they perch. Don’t take pictures in the middle of a meadow where you would destroy many flowers just to get one good butterfly shot. Photograph only from trails are where you don’t harm anything.
In some books, you can read to put insects in the fridge for a while so they don’t move and you can photograph them. Don’t do that!
The animals and plants always come first in nature photography.

10. Create a butterfly friendly garden

If you have a garden, think about making it more butterfly friendly. Plant native flowers and trees, don’t use pesticides and leave some parts of your garden “wild”. Ask your local nature conservation society about what you can do to improve your garden as a butterfly habitat.
This will help you to attract various species to your garden where you can photograph them whenever you have time. And it will also do something good for their conservation.

11. Help to protect butterflies

Although this last tip is not about photography, if you want to ensure that there are butterflies to photograph in the next years and decades, try to join a conservation organization that helps butterflies. Many species are endangered and we all should work together to ensure their survival.

I hope those tips are helpful and I wish you as much fun photographing butterflies as I have.