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You may have seen huge high-end studio set-ups with giant seamless backgrounds big enough to hold an SUV, which can cost a fortune. For the macro photographer, it's a simple matter of making a smaller version yourself with some basic tools you likely already have in your shed and around the house. If this costs you more than $10, you've spent too much! (And depending on whom you live with, you may want to consider shooting these in the garage!)
Catching and Cooling Your Subjects.
• Make a holding container out of a glass jar and either punch tiny holes in the lid, or use a piece of cheesecloth and rubber band to hold your bugs in the jar.
• Insects are cold-blooded, so cooling them off for a few minutes in the refrigerator will slow them down and make them more relaxed subjects.
• Flies are easiest to capture early in the morning while they are still half asleep and cold.
• Nocturnal (night-active) bugs, such as beetles and moths, are generally attracted to lights, so take a flash light and place it on a table, cover it with white fabric and wait for them to come to you, then scoop up the cloth and drop the beetle or moth into your collection jar.
• Bees sting and can be very aggressive when agitated, so I do not recommend trying to capture them!
• If you are unsure if an insect or spider is dangerous, presume it is and be cautious in handling: use plastic forceps to move and catch the bugs -- not your fingers!
• Once you've caught and cooled your subject, (which should take about 5-10 minutes, depending on the insect) you're ready to make insect studio shots, but work fast -- they'll be active and run or fly away after just a few minutes.
• Your subject may be in the legs-in-the-air dead beetle position, but it's just cold…give it a few moments and it will wake up and be ready for its close-up.
Your Home Macro Sweep
To make a seamless macro background with a built-in omnidirectional "softbox," I prefer to use a white heavy weight cotton paper rag used for fine art printing. This provides durability and very high reflectivity, but you can use any thick watercolor paper, thin sheets of white foam rubber, or any other flexible white product (or colored for a special effect).
• Build a simple right-angle frame out of thin wood beams, as shown in the photo here. Use small finishing nails to assemble the pieces into a right-angle frame.
• Use a staple gun to mount the stage area of the sweep to the frame.
• Affix another smaller piece of white material to the top of the frame, with a fold along the front edge to contain stray light, and you've got a mini-seamless studio!
• A single off-shoe flash bounced off the "softbox" will provide pleasing omnidirectional light to your tiny subjects!
• If you've been inspired to get out and try to capture macro insect portraits by this article, be sure to share your results with us in the Reader's Gallery forum!
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