Have you ever tried taking a picture of a hoverfly you saw in your garden and never got lucky to get a good shot out of the guy just because all you have is your smartphone's camera and not one of those DLSRs or any fancy camera?
I did. I know how frustrating that feels specially when you know you are doing your best. After several attempts, I learned how to and got acquainted to the little creatures, got to know the perfect timing and learned the biggest secret you must have not heard of nor read about over what to do to get that teeny tiny hoverfly captured on your phone screen vividly.
Let me spill it out. The biggest secret is "KEEP CALM." Yes! Just that and it's not really an easy thing to do.
There's this tendency for everyone to feel too excited and go gaga over capturing a cute little hoverfly on your smartphone camera. I remember going after them like a stalker following the little guys flower after flower ending up with vague images of them on my phone. It was tiring and little did I know what I was doing was actually stressing the little hoverfly out.
Well, put yourself in their shoes. You're teeny tiny and this humongous human is chasing you looking like a giant on your tail. How would you freaking feel? Freaked out right? And so like most of those hoverflies I chased you'd probably just not hover but fly away. So I never had any luck getting a clear pic of them back then.
What to do?
Turn your smartphone camera's shutter off. Hoverflies are tiny and every sound must be thunder like to their ears.
Let the hover fly do his thing. If he's hovering just let him. Go as near as you can only when you have already managed to calm down. Then stand still and just aim your phone's camera on the hoverfly you are trying to take a picture of.
Make sure your smartphone camera's focus is all ready. Any tiny movement would make the little hoverfly go gaga, too and fly away. They move pretty swift so if your phone camera's focus isn't ready - you'll end up with vague pics again. Everything is perfect timing!
The best time to take it's picture is when it's already nipping on flowers. Have you ever experienced getting so intense with any food you are eating you forgot what's happening around you? Guess what, that's the deal with any insect. Take consecutive shots the moment you managed one. Why? Because like every insect, the hoverfly nips nectar in a counter clockwise way. And you'll be surprised at what they look like when nipping.
So shoot, shoot and shoot!
- If you happen to be taking your pictures in your very own backyard get yourself acquainted on the hoverflies. It's possible that the very same hoverfly you saw nipping on a carnation flower the other day is the very same hoverfly nipping on it everyday and most of them lasts for a few weeks. If you stand close to those guys and stand very still and stick one of your fingers out near them, you'll be surprise to find them hovering at it and eventually land on it.
That part is what I love the most about taking these lil' guys pics.
Curious about which smartphone I happen to use to capture these little guys? The one I used to take the hoverfly hovering on a Nasturtium is a Samsung Galaxy Note 1. It's the very same guy hovering on that Nasturtium anyway. Like I said, I just consecutively pressed my smartphone camera's capture button.
I used a Samsung Galaxy A3 2016 edition to take the hoverfly nipping on a Nasturtium above with a teeny tiny bee across from it and for the rest of the pictures. Which do I prefer? The later of course it has a higher megapixel. I just want to show you that even if you have an obsolete smartphone camera as long as you have the eye for photography and the passion to it- nothing should stop you!
Now what?
Make it a great day!