Macro photography is not necessarily one of my photographic hobbies, but every now and then I like to venture into a world that cannot be seen in this level of detail with the naked eye. Personally, I find photographing butterflies relatively challenging because the animals rarely sit anywhere long enough to compose a beautiful picture.
The interested reader will find a butterfly garden about 20km east of Hamburg. More precisely in Aumühle-Friedrichsruh. The park is very photo friendly. Although it is even permitted to use a flash, the daylight falling through the glass roof makes it possible to photograph the moving animals without any additional lighting equipment.
My shots were taken with an ancient manual focus AI 55mm f/3.5, whose bokeh is terrible, but whose sharpness always impresses me. A very inexpensive introduction to macro photography - I bought this Nikon lens including an extension for 1:1 shots about two years ago for 70 euros. The lens works without any restrictions on Nikon cameras above the D200 (apart from the P and S modes, but I've never used those two modes in my life anyway).
After my camera and lens needed about 10 minutes to acclimatize in the 20-25°C warm environment with around 80% humidity, the hunt for the cute animals could begin.
After an hour I was finished - not trying to portray all the inhabitants of the microcosm, but purely physically. The clothes were soaking wet and breathing was becoming increasingly difficult. I haven't photographed all the animals for a long time and of course not all of the pictures turned out well, but in the gallery you can look at the photos that I think are the most successful. Unfortunately, I have absolutely no idea which butterfly is which - perhaps there is an expert among the readers of this article who can help me with this.
Finally, a few tips for taking photos in this location:
- Bring a cloth for the lenses
- Take the camera with the lens attached into the butterfly house and do not change the lens
- Allow the camera to acclimatize before you start taking photos
- Bring a change of clothes (there is a cloakroom in the anteroom)
- Butterflies are most active at midday because that is when they are looking for food
By the way, the butterfly garden currently costs 6 euros entry per adult and is not the only way to spend your time there. There is also a beautiful park, a dragonfly pond and and and…
For individual information, click here Link to the website of the “Garden of Butterflies”.
Chic and bright colors!