Closeup Paradise in the Meadow

An afternoon in a flowering summer meadow with a camera and closeup lens is paradise on earth for most closeup photographers. In a relatively small area, you can discover an amazing number of subjects. On the top level, flowers and flying insects dominate the scene. Insects, bumblebees, and/or butterflies are constantly in motion and searching for food, and thus can be difficult to capture on film or digital medium. You need to be calm and patient. Limit yourself to a small sector of picturesque flowers and wait for the “guests” to arrive; this is much more successful than chasing after the insects, resulting in scaring them away. The wait can be used to clean up the scene a bit, e.g., carefully pulling distracting stalks out of the way.