Keeping insects still

[Brian_C]

I'm looking for ideas and hints on how to keep various insects such as spiders and flies still when photographing. I’ll normally photograph them in the house. They keeping running away or moving. I’ll sometimes place a fly in a tub and put into the freezer, but they don’t be too long about warming up and starting to move.

 

[MatBin]

You have hit the nail on the head, they are cold blooded so as soon as they warm up they move. So, best time/place is outside before it warms up, is this not an option?

 

[mjmountain]

Personally I photograph them outside in nature, "capturing" them is part of the fun and frustration.

I guess you could put a freezer block under your tub?

 

[alfbranch]

Some people put them in the fridfge to cool them down some people kill them.

I do neither I chase them round in the wild and stalk them. Thats my choice.

 

[alfbranch]

Have a look here
https://www.talkphotography.co.uk/threads/ruby-tailed-wasp.655678/

 

[Brian_C]

Have a look here
https://www.talkphotography.co.uk/threads/ruby-tailed-wasp.655678/

So you're actually shooting through glass/perspex/plastic. Seems like little to no distortion from the glass. Where did you get the container, is it purposely designed for photography?

 

[alfbranch]

So you're actually shooting through glass/perspex/plastic. Seems like little to no distortion from the glass. Where did you get the container, is it purposely designed for photography?

I am not doing that it's not my thread just one I remembered.

 

[Orangecroc]

Half the fun is spotting them and getting the shot. Chasing dragonflies is frustrating but equally the rewarding feeling when you get a shot is far greater for it.

 

[GardenersHelper]

It's a personal choice of course, but I always photograph my subjects where I find them. I wouldn't feel comfortable capturing them and subjecting them to unnatural conditions. Besides which, photographing them in their natural environment gives lots of different compositional opportunities, and behavioural ones too.

 

[john.margetts]

Some people put them in the fridfge to cool them down some people kill them.

I do neither I chase them round in the wild and stalk them. Thats my choice.

When dead, they look very different - actually, they look dead! To produce a half-decent picture you need them alive and well. As others have said, patience is all you need.