USSpring is a magical time of year for photography – with colours popping out after a gloomy winter and nature coming back alive as the weather warms up. This blog: Online photography courses for kids – Spring bugs and wildlife introduces some exciting tips and techniques to use to take amazing photos.
Bugs, birds, and all sorts of creatures are buzzing, crawling, and flying into your lens-ready world. If you’re just getting into wildlife photography or looking to level up your skills, here are some tips to help you capture stunning springtime shots of bugs and wildlife.
If you love taking photos in nature or you want to learn, why not try our online photography courses for kids? It’s a fun way to learn all the techniques and settings to use.
To give you a taster of what we cover in our photography lessons for kids, here are some of the techniques we cover:
Choose a good location
Firstly, you will need to find a place that you’re going to find lots of bugs and/or wildlife. Remember, it is important to be respectful of nature and the environment that wildlife is living in. Going quietly and slowly is the best approach to avoid scaring wildlife away and ensuring that you capture some great shots.
Get Close – Macro/Flower Settings
Whether you’re using a camera or smartphone, you will usually have a macro setting. This is the best setting for bug photography to capture all the details up close.
The macro setting allows you to get sharp detail, from the texture of a butterfly’s wings to the sparkle in a beetle’s eye. We cover loads of tips for taking macro shots in our online photography courses for kids.
Bug’s Eye View – Get Down Low!
If you’re capturing bugs, you’ll probably need to get down low and stay as still as possible. The best angle to take shots from is at the bug’s eye level. You might also want to use your zoom to get a sharp photo. You can practice taking photos of a coin to ensure that you are using the best settings for capturing the small details. This will also help with getting the focus just right.
For wildlife photos, an eye level photo will also give you a great angle. However, with wildlife you will have to be very patient.
Online Photography Courses for Kids – Learn About Your Subject
In addition to taking Sharp Shots photography lessons for kids, it is worth spending some time researching the habits of the subjects that you want to photograph. For example, what time of day they are most likely to be looking for food, where they typically spend their time, etc. Familiarise yourself with their behaviour patterns, such as bees returning to the same flower or butterflies hovering just before they land.
Animals tend to be more active in the early morning and they prefer quiet locations. So you could head to a local park or woods early in the morning to find some active wildlife. It is a good idea to get set up in a spot where you are mostly hidden, wearing clothing that blends in the surroundings, like dark green colours. You could put a blanket and cushion on the ground for comfort so that you can wait for wildlife to appear.
Look for Springtime Colours
As well as finding bugs and wildlife, you can look for bright spring colours like yellow flowers. Bright colours will provide a good contrast in your photos. Look for scenes where complementary colours pop – like purple crocuses in green grass or yellow daffodils against a blue sky.
The best time to take vibrant, colourful photos is when lighting is soft and warm. So, a good time is shortly after sunrise or just after sunset can help you to capture colours that pop.
Gardens with lots of blooming flowers should provide plenty of photo opportunities. Use the plant’s colour to frame or contrast the bug. Bright blooms (like yellows, purples, and reds) naturally draw the eye and can make the bug stand out or blend in, depending on your goal. Position the bug in the middle of the bloom or along the petal’s edge to lead the viewer’s eye. Sharp Shots online photography courses for kids will detail the best ways for you to research and find photo subjects.
Use Reflections
Incorporating reflections can transform an ordinary shot into something magical and enticing to a viewer. Look for opportunities to take reflections in water surfaces like ponds or puddles. Also, wet leaves can add some sparkle to the photo. Dew on petals or blades of grass can also create a mirroring effect and wet spiderwebs can also make great photos.
Try to find examples of bugs or animals interacting with water. For example, drinking or swimming, this can help capture great reflection images.
We cover all of these topics in more detail and much more in our online photography courses for kids. So, why not book yourself onto one and become a master of bug and wildlife photography?
Inspirational Photographers
Whether you fancy taking photography lessons for kids or want to do your own research to learn some tips, you can get some inspiration from these great photographers:
Joel Sartore
Joel Satore is a National Geographic photographer who has created his ‘Photo Ark’ – the world’s largest collection of animal studio photos. You can view them on his website –
https://www.joelsartore.com/.
Frans Lanting
Another excellent photographer specialising in wildlife photography is Frans Lanting. His works are displayed in galleries around the world and you can see his portfolio on his website – https://lanting.com/.
Marit Van Ekelenburg
Probably the best bug photographer in the world, Marit Van Ekelenburg’s collection demonstrates just how special macro photos of insects can be. Check out some of her images here – https://www.macrobymarit.nl/.
Will Burrard-Lucas
Will Burrard-Lucas is a wildlife photographer from the UK who incorporates the latest technology and innovation photography to create stunning wildlife photos. He uses BeetleCams and Camera Traps to capture the most elusive wildlife. Take a look –
https://willbl.com/
Photography Lessons for Kids
If you’re looking for a fun way to learn more about photography, our photography lessons for kids are the ideal starting point. If you live in Surrey or London why not attend one of our Photography Workshops for kids – Click here for more info.
Our online photography courses for kids are filled with exciting activities to discover how to take fantastic photos of bugs, wildlife and many other interesting subjects.
We walk through all the techniques to use for taking fascinating photos. Check out our calendar of online photography courses for kids to find courses aimed at 7-11 year olds.
