Non conformist Nun and Red-necked Footman in Uncertain Cameo under Dark Arches
by Tony Bond FRPS

We nature photographers are a stoical bunch.  We have to be to survive all the disappointments and retain our sanity. It all becomes worthwhile when an unexpected opportunity arises and leads to pastures new. Which is how I became involved in photographing moths.

While on one of my occasional forays into the town where I live (on foot, to help save the planet!) I met someone I had known for many years but had encountered very infrequently in recent times despite living only half a mile apart. He was experiencing problems with a well known high street processor and was eager to pick my brains. I had always thought of him as a ‘bird’ man - indeed, he was the first secretary of the local ornithology society. However, it emerged that he had shifted the focus of his activities to moths and was very busy recording in our area. He asked if I would like to photograph some of his captures. I said yes, although I was not terribly enthusiastic at this stage, having dabbled in the field many years ago.

It was now early Autumn, but some moths duly appeard. My initial attempts at photographing them only served to show that more effort would be needed, particularly in lighting, if I was to be successful. The following April the phone range one Sunday afternoon to say that there were some attractive specimens for me to collect. The trickle soon became a flood as we entered May and June.  At this time I was hampered by the lack of a field guide to offer guidance on how to pose my subjects. The one used by my mentor was old and out of print. In the absence of reliable information I posed most of the moths on bark from various tree species. It was no surprise to find that the best lighting was overcast daylight warmed by an 81A filter. I did all my photography outdoors until a particularly windy May day when I was forced indoors and discovered that the light from a south facing window, but out of sunshine, was very suitable, with the benefit that any badly behaved moths which flew off could normally be recaptured. I still use this method if I am photographing on bark and now have a Lastolite brolly/softbox into which I fire a Mecablitz 60CT4 if the light is bad. I confess I have not put enough effort into using this flash set-up as it is clumsy and the brolly has to be close to the subject to achieve the sort of aperture needed for adequate depth of field. However, the last time I did a comparison between flash and daylight from the window I preferred the flash result because it had a bit more sparkle.

Large Emerald

One very big difference between butterflies and moths is that with the exception of the few day-flying moths we cannot observe their natural behaviour in their chosen habitat. If we could I have no doubt that we would see them landing on all manner of surfaces and perches. For example, the Engrailed which illustrates this article was found on a brick wall. Two factors changed my approach to setting up my subjects. The first was reading that those moths which hold up their wings at right angles to the abdomen normally rest on a flat surface such as bark. Those which hold their wings parallel with the abdomen normally rest on something thin such as a twig or stem. I had never heard of this general rule before but it seemed to make a lot of sense. The second bit of enlightenment came from Robert Hawkesworth’s review of the newly published ‘Field Guide to the Moths of Great Britain and Ireland’ in The Iris (Issue 89, Summer 2004, page 27). I contacted my friend to enquire if he had seen it, to be told that he had a copy and was already using it! I can thoroughly recommend it and not only find it indispensible for deciding on what to pose my subject, but also a good browse. Now, when I receive a moth, I look up the larval food plant and habitat, decide whether to use bark or something different and then scour my collection of bits and pieces for something appropriate. By doing this I am confident of avoiding the sort of howler which anyone with a good knowledge of moths would spot instantly.

Burnished Brass

If you decide to use something other than bark, you then have the problem of finding a suitable background. We are all aware of the difficulties that backgrounds cause in any branch of natural history photography. Nothing can be left to chance and the stop down button is of limited value because of the small apertures we have to use. This is why the lawn of my back garden is featured in so many of my pictures. However, in nature, backgrounds are rarely perfect and a series of pictures in which the backgrounds are uniformly immaculate can lead the viewer to wonder if they owe everything to Colorama. For this reason I sometimes introduce some slight out-of-focus flowers. At least, that is my excuse and I am sticking to it!

Sallow Kitten

I must warn you at this juncture that photographing moths can be highly addictive. Although I still enjoy photographing butterflies, the moths offer far more scope if only because there are far more of them and they are on the wing every month of the year. There are approximately 900 macros on the British list and this rises to 2,500 if you include the micros (but you woudl not wish to go there!) The micros exhibit enormous variety of size, shape and colour and although the colourful species catch the eye, those species with superb camouflage are great fun to photograph. There is always a feeling of excitement when the trap is opened in case there is a gem amongst the little brown jobs. Even after a good night there will be few moths worth photo-graphing. Many will be showing signs of wear or damage - like a Poplar Hawk Moth I saw recently, which was so battered it must have walked into the trap.

Moths are rather like fungi and orchids - the more you know the more you realise how much more there is to learn. In the relatively short time I have been involved with moths I have learned a lot, enjoyed myself and produced some pictures which have really pleased me. And isn’t that what natural history photography is all about?