Best set up for photographing live moths at home

Nature Talk
1

Last year was the first time I tried taking photos of moths using a catch-and-release method. I would chill them in the refrigerator, or even the freezer (briefly) for the really active ones, then put them on a sheet of paper with a ruler for scale. I use an older DSLR.
Problems were as follows:

  • color of the background paper: I ended up using black but then had exposure problems because my ruler is white. I also tried gray and green which I thought might be more neutral but black seemed better. Most of the moths were dark-colored,
  • sometimes they started getting super active after less than a minute. I tried putting a clear plastic dish over them but that distorts the image – not a lot, but it could be critical for a sharp image of a hard-to-ID species,
  • how do I get them to show their underwings?
  • how do I get a ventral photo of a live moth? They really don’t want to be upside down, even when chilled,
  • lighting was difficult. I mostly tried to use natural daylight from a window but the light then comes in at an angle. I tried using a flash on some but that really alters the colors. I usually keep white balance on auto.
  • my house is very small. I don’t have office space or even a large table to set up on.

(Photo with ruler was taken with flash)
Thanks in advance!

moth photo sample7818 copyfor iNat
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2

CO2 instead of chilling might be an option that would give you a bit more working time (not necessarily a lot) and allow for flipping the insect.

The set-up in this article was developed for bees so I don’t know how moths would respond to this treatment:

Toulzac/Methlouthi/Perrard (2022): Soda maker for field anesthesia as a step towards a non-lethal identification of wild bees and other flower visitors. Osmia 10. https://hal.science/hal-03689126/document

3

Whenever I used a non-natural background, I always used a white sheet of paper, preferably dull (not shiny) and without any text on the backside, so it really is just an empty white space. I feel the white brings out the colors of the moth the best. Besides, by using a white background, the moth can be easily isolated from the picture, would you ever decide to get creative with your photos.

However, I have now shifted to using a more natural background, like a (non-shiny) leaf (especially for the tiny moths) or a flat rock (for the bigger ones). I feel that gives a more natural look and doesn’t scream immediately that it’s a ‘manipulated’ photo, so to say.

So that’s something to consider: is your primary (or only) goal to capture the characteristics and size of the moth for identification, or are you trying to get beautiful pictures that are aesthetically pleasing? For example, a ruler in a photo is good for identification, but in my opinion makes the photo really ugly and non-natural.

I always use a flash when photographing indoors, because I feel it gives a sharper picture and doesn’t give unwanted shadows on certain parts of the moth. If you use a flash, I’d recommend to always make the light come from behind a little bit, not from right above or the front of the moth. That way, the light is sort of absorbed by the position of the scales on the wings and doesn’t make the wings shiny. If the light comes from right above or the front, it gets reflected by the scales and gives this shiny look.

As for getting moths to calm down… The refrigerator is usually OK, especially in colder climates where moths are used to cold temperatures (especially at night). The freezer is a bad choice, as it can kill a moth within a minute or permanently damage its organs. Most moths will calm down after a while on their own anyway. When you catch them, they’re super active and it seems they’ll never calm down, but if you leave them for a while (especially in a well lit room) they’ll go into rest mode and you can easily handle them. Photographing moths always requires a lot of patience.

About getting ventral photos and photos of the underwings: always ask yourself whether that’s really necessary. If it’s required to distinguish similar-looking species and you consider what you’re doing a valuable contribution to scientific knowledge, you could take the moth between your fingers and take pictures of the required parts. This may take off some scales and make it ‘ugly’, but it shouldn’t hurt the moth if you do it carefully. But really consider this: if it’s just another individual of a species that has been well-documented already, maybe it’s better to just let it go and accept that you may not get the moth identified to species level.

4

I don’t know about moths per se, but two potential tips that could be useful:

  1. You can print out a ruler on a sheet of white paper (at the correct scale) so you don’t have to manage the ruler or worry about differences in exposure/reflections of a shiny ruler.

  2. If you are looking to get correct color, you can include a color correction/calibration card

5

In addition to what others have said, rather than using a flash I use a powerful handheld flashlight (think Fenix and the like) to illuminate. I like this better as I can set the light angle to whatever I want to highlight features.

6

Do you have 4 hands? I can’t imagine trying to manage a handheld flashlight along with a DSLR and an actively moving moth, all at the same time! Maybe a headlamp?

7

Thank you for the reference. An interesting technique but for various reasons, I just don’t want to go in the direction of more equipment that needs more room. I lean in the direction of simpler is better if I can make the low-tech option work.

8

I will try using a white sheet of paper, but it seems like a dark moth on a white background would just create another problem with proper exposure. Right now I’m shooting in RAW to see if that gives me more options to correct exposure. But that also requires a lot more post-processing time in Photoshop.

9

Yes, in many cases I’m trying to get photos that have diagnostic features for identification. I’m contributing to an iNat moth project and also assisting a researcher by collecting specimens for DNA analysis. I do take photos of moths in their natural habitat for pleasure. I should add that I live in central Alaska, where all the moths are day-flyers because the period from late April to late September is the mostly frost-free season (at least during the day) and we have extended daylight (22 hours on Summer Solstice).

10

Also, since I live in Alaska, our moths are definitely adapted to cold temps. I have been trapping a few species that were active almost down to freezing. The ones I’ve put in the freezer were only in there for about 10 seconds.

11

Some moths have very striking underwing patterns, and because Alaskan moths are understudied, those photos might be diagnostic. While many of my observations might not make it to species level, the closer we can get, the more value they will have in expanding the general database for Alaskan/Yukon moths. Even moths considered “common” may show up in unexpected/undocumented places or numbers. I’m trying to collect at least one of each species that I find and releasing others after taking a photo for iNat. I’m very careful about sacrificing more than one of a species. That’s kind of the point of my initial question! (Photo is of Catocala).

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12

Camera in one hand (right) with back-focus enabled so the shutter and focus are not using the same button.

Small flashlight in left hand.

Camera settings manual and preset for the conditions, and auto-focus enabled.

Here are some examples, some of them have odd shadows because the flight I was using at the time had two emitters:

13

Just FYI you can respond to multiple users (or multiple quotes from the same user) in one post instead of making a string of individual posts. This generally helps keep threads more readable and also prevents users from getting locked out/slowed down by Discourse’s forum rules (which will kick in if one user makes too many posts in a short period of time).

14

Thanks for the tips! I couldn’t figure out how to do several abbreviated quotes in one reply. I apologize for the confusion!

15

@gpohl Any comments about moth photography or documenting range expansions in northern moth populations?

16

if you select text in your browser, a popup should appear allowing you to quote it, this is the method i use at least

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17

CO2 is actually about as low tech as it gets and doesn’t require bulky equipment or even much equipment at all. I’ve used the little cartridges that are sold for cleaning (this sort of thing) with the nozzle inserted into a cracked lid at the top of a container (it doesn’t need to be air tight). They do require a little bit of care to direct the pressurized stream of air away from the insect so as not to injure it. You will need to replace the cartridges periodically, so the small ones are probably not a good solution if you will be catching dozens of moths per night and sedating each of them individually. For people who happen to have a soda stream anyway, that is probably a better option for in-home insect anesthesia.

I’ve mostly used the cartridges in in field situations for occasional catch-and-release bee photography, where they are small, lightweight, simple, and far more practical than ice packs which are difficult to keep cold for an entire outing on hot summer day. Probably a rather different situation than your use case and CO2 may not be what you want, but not because it is bulky and complicated (it isn’t).

18

Yeah, I noticed your observations are from Alaska, so the moths there shouldn’t have a lot of problems with a refrigerator. It didn’t occur to me yet that you have 22 hours of daylight in the summer there, so you automatically don’t really have nocturnal moths. So you can’t even attract moths with a lamp at night, can you?

If you want to take photos of the underside of a moth, you could put it in a very clear plastic or glass container and take the photo when it’s sitting still on one of the walls. Or if you don’t want the distortion of plastic/glass and don’t want to keep the moth in your hand, I guess you could cool down the moth in the refrigerator and put it upside down. In my experience very few ‘uncooled’ moths, even in rest mode, like being put upside down and will immediately turn over. Another way would be to have it sit on a twig or stick in a vase, so the moth sits vertically and you can photograph its underside. That would just not show most of its body because of the stick its sitting on.

Several moth species, especially the bigger ones with colorful underwings like the Catocalas (nice pictures!), will easily show their underwings to scare off predators. The best way to achieve this, is by letting the moth go into resting mode and then gently hitting its head. This will activate it to show its underwings, but it’ll still be too ‘sleepy’ to fly away. If you hit it too soon, it’ll just run or fly away. With many other moth species, you could gently shove the forewings aside with your finger, once the moth is in resting mode, or blow from behind to lift up the wings and spread them. But it doesn’t always work, especially with species that do not naturally sit with open wings. They’ll just rearrange themselves immediately.

19

My experience is mostly nocturnal photo studies of wolf spiders but I’m often photo-bombed by moths, some of which becomes a spider’s meal. I tried and rejected white backgrounds and now use medium gray. Using white has problems similar to backlit photos. I don’t use flash but use homemade light rings or arrays. 4000K LEDs appear to be the best compromise for color reproduction. Stay away from 5000K+. Ventral views are with a window glass bottomed container. Spiders often will stay flat on the bottom. Moths will probably behave differently and require adaptation. Trying to create posing accessories that take advantage of natural behavior. I’d guess underwings are an insoluble problem without restraining the moth. Your lighting in the example looks nice. There just isn’t enough of it. With more light, you could play with the camera settings and get a much sharper image. In this case, you could probably get a fairly decent ventral view by holding up your container.

20

Thank you very much for addressing my concerns. Right now my main issue is with moths that I gather at home (we have a very large yard), so I can get them into the fridge right away. If I expand my efforts to other locations, the soda stream option is something I would definitely look into.