Photographing ButterfliesPhotographing Butterflies and Flowers - tips and hints for better picturesPhotographing butterflies and capturing the essence of your yard and garden in photographs, is a good way to plan for new garden ideas and improvements. 
Add your photos to your
garden journal
pages and track how your garden progresses over the years, take pictures of the flower combination's that you really like, or you can use the garden journal information when planning your next garden.The tips below are from my daughter Sarah. She's an amateur photographer and took the butterfly pictures you see on this site at the Como Park Zoo and Conservatory in St. Paul Minnesota. Take a look at Sarah's new Etsy site 10 Quick Tips for Better Photos from Your Gardens ButterfliesButterflies are a great subject for Nature Photography. They provide us with a bright and colorful subject. It’s especially beautiful when you can photograph a butterfly feeding on a bright flower.With the beauty, butterflies also provide us with a challenge. It can be difficult to photograph butterflies because they don’t sit still for very long, and they are distracted easily. With these tips and some patience, you’re bound to get stunning colorful results photographing butterflies in your own
backyard butterfly garden.
April through August is generally when butterflies are present in most gardens here in the north. Butterflies are usually most active in the morning hours, and the natural lighting is ideal at that time too. Most butterflies will come to any garden with bright colors, but you can attract certain species by planting specific flowers, or even laying out rotten fruit. The flowers usually grown in a
Cottage Garden
are great for attracting butterflies.
You must approach the butterflies carefully, as not to scare them away. So ... Wear dark clothing. It can help you stay camouflaged and prevent you from startling the butterflies. 
Tools and EquipmentA digital SLR camera with a macro lens is ideal, although I have gotten great results with my compact digital point & shoot camera on the macro setting. A macro lens or setting changes the focus on your camera, to capture the smallest details of your image. A longer macro lens is recommended so that you can work from a longer distance, lessening the chance of scaring off the butterflies. A tripod is useful, although at times it can be cumbersome to lug it around when “chasing” butterflies. A monopod might be useful instead; (just one long pole with your camera attached to the top) this provides better stability without the hassle of setting up a tripod. Methods & Settings You’ll want to have a longer focal length to create a narrow depth of field. This will give you the “fuzzy” and smooth background effect. For best results, try to avoid cluttered backgrounds like many people or objects. A colorful garden or green grass is often a great backdrop. If you’re using a DSLR (a Digital Single Lens Reflex camera) or other manual-setting camera, put the camera in Manual Focus, so that you can choose to focus on the butterfly. In Automatic Focus, the lens generally focuses on the object that is closest to the camera, and often will be a flower stem, a blade of grass, etc. Take a few shots of the same subject if possible (you have to be quick with butterflies) using different settings on your camera. Try different angles for more dramatic effects, and just be creative! You’ll want to get as close as you can, to reduce the noise in the picture. Noise is the grainy look when a photo is taken without enough light and improper settings, or if the resolution of the image is low. Remember that you can crop later, but in general, the more you crop, the grainier your picture will get. Be patient, shoot a lot of pictures, and review them later. I never delete anything off my camera until I see it on my computer. The images look different, and usually there’s a way to turn a not-so-great picture into a great picture! Take Flower Pictures Like A Pro........ – well at least better than average.Close ups Don't be afraid -get up close to the annual flowers. In fact, there is no such thing as too close! Trying different compositions, angles, etc can add drama and interest to your picture. One good method of getting creative shots is getting low on the ground and shooting up at a flower. You can get some really cool images that way. Best time to take backyard garden photos 
Morning and later afternoons are usually the best time to shoot, where the sun isn’t so bright. In the mornings, sometimes there is dew on the petals, which can add a nice effect. Softer, overcast light works best. To the naked eye, the flowers may look bright and colorful when the sun is shining bright, the bright sun provides too much contrast for the camera. When it’s a bit overcast, the colors are saturated and will look bright and colorful! Camera Settings If you’re using the manual settings, using a low ISO (100) and a large aperture (Small f-stop), will give you the soft, out-of-focus background, making the flower stand out. Put the camera in manual focus, so that you have control over the points of focus. In Automatic focus, the lens chooses the image that is closest to you to focus in on.Use a tripod or monopod when possible. The closer you are to an object, the more room for camera shake and blurred pictures. You’ll want to get as close as you can, to reduce the noise in the picture. Noise is the grainy look when a photo is taken without enough light and improper settings, or if the resolution of the image is low. Remember that you can crop later, but in general, the more you crop, the more grainy your picture will get. Sign up for a free Flickr account to crop, enhance and store all of your new pictures.If you can get Adobe Photo Shop , that's even a better way to be creative with your home garden pictures. Patience and Practice Remember, be patient, shoot a lot of pictures, and review them later. I never delete anything off my camera until I see it on my computer. The images look different, and usually there’s a way to turn a not-so-great picture into a great picture!
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