I've been photographing Hawk Moths for the past several evenings.
The first night I had a LOT of missed shots and a lot of bug butts!
The next night I solved part of the problem by using a monopod. (I wrote a post about that earlier.) The monopod helped me not miss so many shots, but I was still getting a lot of bug butts. Then, I had an epiphany - I was staging my shot to look straight down the middle of the flowers, I could see the stamen, and that's right where the moths were heading - down the center of the flower - of course I wasn't getting their heads - I had positioned my camera so that when the moths approached the flower they were heading INTO the flower and AWAY from my lens!
The tilt of the flower determines the approach of the moth! I realized if I wanted a side view of the moth I needed to have a side view of the flower.
And if I wanted the moth to face into my lens, I needed the flower to face AWAY from my lens. Like in this image of a Sphinx Moth with a four o'clock bloom.
I knew all along that I wanted the bug's head and NOT its rear in my photos - it finally clicked with me how to accomplish that - you have to pay attention to the position of the flower in your frame; because - if you are looking down into the flower you will get a lot of bug butts.
Some of these images are for sale, you can purchase prints, digitals or even a tote bag!
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