Moth trails
Occasionally during the summer I'll take some long exposures of the bugs flying around my outdoor floodlights. The patterns produced can be a lot of fun. This year I tried a few shots with the flash going off at the end of the exposure and this is one of the better results. This edit was done awhile ago....I think if I did it again I would probably clone away the faint trail to the right of the moth's head and the little bit in the LRC.
f/8
ISO 200
5 seconds
Ken, Very cool experimenting! I like the trails and the moth looks like a bird! I look forward to seeing more of these and thanks for the inspiration.
Pretty interesting technique, Ken...I've seen something similar done with bats, but never with a moth...I like the pattern in the middle that looks like a beaded vine or something...and Denise is right, it looks like a bird at the end, when "frozen" more by the flash. Thanks for sharing.
Hi Ken, this is very cool! Love the flight patterns they created!
Ken to repeat the above..way cool. If you hadn't said it was a moth, I would have thought tern. Did you do a long exposure and then set off the flash manually?
Nice resulting image, something for me to try next year.
Paul, it's called second curtain sync. The flash automatically fires just before the shutter closes.
Just to give you an idea of the randomness of what you can get by shooting flying bugs at night, here are a few from last year when I was first experimenting with the technique. Flash wasn't used in any of these.
http://s128.photobucket.com/albums/p193/kjchilds/Rods/
It's a lot of fun and very easy. Setup the camera on a tripod, manually focus on something that is about the right distance from the flying bugs and aim the camera in the middle of the flying mass of insects. Grab something cool to drink, relax and randomly trip the shutter with your remote device of choice. I get the best results in late spring and early summer when there are all sorts of large bugs flying. The biggest tracks are usually made by beetles.
Ken, those are really cool images on the website! Thanks for sharing the technique; I have to try it out sometime...
Who would have thought that I would like a photo of a Moth.
Very nicely done! Original also.
Last edited by Mitch Carucci; 10-22-2011 at 02:24 PM.
Thanks, everyone!Originally Posted by Mitch Carucci
Who would have thought that I would like a photo of a Moth.
Very nicely done! Original also.
Mitch, there are lots of amazing moths around but most people never see them and think most are just brown or gray and are basically pests. Mothing is really taking off in the U.S. and thanks to some ambitious moth-ers on Facebook, next year will host the inaugural National Moth Week. Can you tell that I'm a moth-er?
http://nationalmothweek.org/
Ken, wow - what in interesting image! First of its kind I've ever seen and definitely the first image of the gull-moth I've seen.Great idea and something to try out for sure. I agree with you about the one faint trail, but I like the image as presented. Very nice!
"It is an illusion that photos are made with the camera... they are made with the eye, heart, and head." - Henri Cartier Bresson
Please visit me on the web at http://kerryperkinsphotography.com
Gee, Ken, I think I want to be a moth-erI love the image even without the final moth. The trails look like spines to me - thanks for sharing the technique - I'm sure we'll all be out doing moth trails when the weather warms up. Maybe we could have a "Night Flying Trail" theme week.
"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly" - The Little Prince
http://tuscawillaphotographycherylslechta.zenfolio.com/
Ken,
You are right... Mea Culpa!
I have actually seen a number of interesting moths, but unfortunately, they tend to eat my nicest sweaters!
Mitch
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