Capturing butterflies in flight

September 11, 2011 @ 11:17AM

Capturing butterflies in flight

And other adventures in awesome photography.

By Haje Jan Kamps

My friend Alexander James has been working on a cool project for a while, that I wanted to share with you guys: Photographing butterflies in flight.

"My photographs are always presented ‘as-shot’ without cropping or post production either traditional or digital", Alex says, which immediately made me go back and take another look at the photos. No editing? How... But...

"The quality of the work and the purity of the process is paramount", he says, and explains that he works to distilling elements out of his images with the strong use of deep blacks. "I'm hoping to convey rich layers of meaning in what at first appear deceptively simple images", he explains.

And as such, the project Distil Ennui became a realisty: Aimed "to extract the essence and beauty of life to appease world weariness".

I think we could all do with a little bit less of the world weariness - and a little bit more with the beauty of life.

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Comments

Paul Harcourt Davies

Pixiq Expert

8 months ago

Hello Haje,

Noticed your post and read it with initial interest:

“…And as such, the project Distil Ennui became a realisty: Aimed "to extract the essence and beauty of life to appease world weariness" (sic)

And, as you say…”I think we could all do with a little bit less of the world weariness - and a little bit more with the beauty of life.”

Well, its Amen to that brother Haje but why extol the virtues of photographing dead butterflies underwater – sorry, but that sounds like something out of a Monty Python script (or reminiscent of a Peter Cook and Dudley Moore sketch about Sir Arthur Grebe-Streebling teaching ravens to fly underwater)

Your friend Alex states: “Underwater butterflies like you have never seen before. These beautiful specimens are shot underwater in moving flight created by tiny jets of water.

Could I be a boring naturalist and make a plea for the beauty of REAL living butterflies in flight because, funnily enough, they just do not move like the drowned variety. Dead butterflies and moths do not fly even in water…. Why not check out the work of the legendary Stephen Dalton and others who captured the sheer balletic nature of insect movement and were not turned on by necro-entomology.

I have not forgotten your post on how to make a killing bottle (now seemingly removed) – so how about some support for the living world sometime? Nature is beautiful – a lot of folk out there have found that out.

Shree

8 months ago

Shree

8 months ago

Agree with Paul. Shooting live and lively bugs is much more fun.

A killing bottle?!! sounds horrible!

Keith

8 months ago

Hi Haje,

I will agree that your friend Alexander takes nice picture, and I can see why when he's shooting with a Hasselblad H3D-39 at 1/125 at f/19 in studio.

But I some how have to pose the question of how he can call it shooting a butterfly in flight by using dead butterflies, using water, and calling it "quality of work and the purity of the process", give me a break.

His comment "I'm hoping to convey rich layers of meaning in what at first appear deceptively simple images" couldn't be more accurate! It definitely is the simple way to shoot a butterfly in flight, Dead in water, shot in the studio!!! As far as meaning, I see no meaning, just staging.

Tell your friend to go outside and capture a real flying butterfly with his portrait Hasselblad and make it come out like these, then you and him can both brag about how good he is and how there's no post processing!!!

Until then all I see is staged photo's with dead subjects.

Keith