If you're looking for good photos of a Pluto Sphinx Moth, scroll to the bottom or visit pages 1 and 2.

This page shares some of the not so good photos I took on the way to the good ones as I got acquainted with my new camera.

After feeding my Pluto Sphinx Moth caterpillars Firebush leaves every day until they made their cocoons, and then waiting for them to emerge, I was anxious to take pictures of the adult moths and add them to my site. Right around that time my camera got a spot inside the lens, and I found out that repair cost was roughly equal to replacement cost. Bummer! I was used to the camera, feeling very comfortable with it, and getting photos I loved.

Well.... I did want to get better close-ups, and the pocket camera I'd been using wasn't designed for add-on lenses, so the only way I could get them was with a magnifying glass held in front of the camera. If you're curious about how that worked out for me, have a look at my Parasitic Wasp Photos. I spent an entire afternoon getting the two good ones, but wow I was happy with them!

Ok, on to the point. My sweetie replaced my camera with a "real" camera. I used one years ago, but knew I had a lot to remember and learn anew to achieve the photographic results I wanted. I knew that lighting was important, but this moth really illustrated the need for good lighting; I should have picked an easier subject to begin with, but the moth was in hand, and needed to be set free.

I wanted to take pictures of my moth inside so it didn't escape before I got pictures. I also didn't want it to buzz out of sight inside and vanish behind something. Hide and seek with a fast moth isn't my idea of a good indoor game, and my spouse isn't all that thrilled at the idea of my bugs coming inside either. So, I opted for the smallest room with a window and shut myself in with my bug. Here are some examples of the results I got. I tried all morning while the sun shined in the window, and again late into the night:

Too dark, too blue, too yellow, too much shadow, too little depth of field, too blurry (well, it is  MOVING target! Just when I got it in focus, it would start crawling up the wall, or wiggle, or fly....)

This next photo was a fun one. The moth is vibrating his wings to warm them for takeoff. It buzzed around the room for a while before settling on a perch, and I was shocked at how loud it was in flight. I spent as much time waiting for it to land again (and again, and again....) as I did taking pictures of it.

To increase the depth of field (make the picture sharp and clear near and far) you need a small aperture. That sounds simple enough, but it means that you either leave the shutter open for a long time, or increase the light, or both.

Light - no problem, I thought. A few hundred photos and a couple of hours later I was drenched in sweat from the heat of the various lights I'd strung all over the bathroom (well I did say SMALLEST room, right) like Christmas lights after a severe windstorm. Imagine drop lights dangling from the shower curtain rod, a 300 watt halogen lamp perched precariously across the sink, a floor lamp in the tub...

I was running out of outlets, lamps, and patience when my sweet husband braved the depths of our attic to retrieve his tripod for me. I wondered if he was tired of hearing of my howls of frustration each time I reviewed the latest pictures, if he was afraid I'd trip the breaker if I added another lamp, or if he was just as exhausted as I was... it was pushing one AM and I wasn't quitting until I got the picture I wanted because I planned to let the moth go that night. I concluded that it was love.

With the tripod and the lamps, after playing with the ISO and the white balance, I got slightly better results, but not what I really wanted. I concluded that mixing light sources isn't the best idea, and decided to wait for morning and risk moth loss outside.

The sky and other light backgrounds didn't work well, but I found a spot in dappled shade under a tree that did great, sort of. It was windy, so there were a lot of blurry pictures when the sail like moth wings caught the breeze. Persistence paid off though, and I finally started getting pictures I was reasonably happy with.

After tweaking the settings just a bit more to get maximum depth of field, the fastest time I could get away with, and holding the moth in brighter sunlight with a dark background, it got better, but the wind still made it tricky:

The really good photos of this moth are on the previous page, Pluto Sphinx Moth Page Two.