{"id":90995,"date":"2016-08-09T08:44:34","date_gmt":"2016-08-09T07:44:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/amateurphotographer.co.uk\/?p=90995"},"modified":"2016-08-09T10:43:41","modified_gmt":"2016-08-09T09:43:41","slug":"lord-wings-creating-insect-portraits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/technique\/macro_photography\/lord-wings-creating-insect-portraits\/","title":{"rendered":"Lord of the wings: Creating insect portraits"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
\n\t\t\t\"Jewel\t\t\t

Jewel longhorn beetle (Coleoptera, Cerambycidae)<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n

A \u2018normal\u2019 working day for Levon Biss would usually see this talented photographer shooting portraits of actors or a commercial campaign for a sports-clothing manufacturer \u2013 but he hasn\u2019t had too many normal days recently. The reason for this is his current obsession with shooting microscopic portraits of insects in his home studio, a project that sits nicely under the banner \u2018Microsculptures\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u2018Outside of my commercial work I\u2019ve always got personal projects on the go, but I don\u2019t put those out there,\u2019 says Levon. \u2018It\u2019s a tricky one, because you get pigeonholed \u2013 my pigeonholes are sports, portraits and celebrity. If you throw work out there that is off at a completely different angle, it just confuses clients, because people come to me for a specific type of image.\u2019<\/p>\n

This personal venture began when Levon was dabbling around with macro, and then his son found a little ground beetle in the garden. Levon took the specimen up to his studio to have a look at it. Once he put it under his microscope and started studying it, it suddenly dawned on him how beautiful these creatures are up close.<\/p>\n

\u2018Insects are around us all the time, but you don\u2019t really notice or think what they would look like if they were our size,\u2019 says Levon. \u2018So I decided to photograph it for my boy really. That was the first one and after that it was \u201cinsects only\u201d for me.\u2019<\/p>\n\t\t

\n\t\t\t\"Wasp\t\t\t

Wasp mimic hoverfly (Diptera, Syrphidae)<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n

Insect collection<\/h2>\n

Levon kept on shooting insects he found in his garden and refining his techniques \u2013 then he decided to set up a meeting at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History to see if it might allow him to source specimens from its extensive insect collection. As Levon explains, \u2018I showed Scott Billings [the Museum\u2019s communications expert] some of the images on my computer \u2013 he liked them but I kept on zooming in further and further to the images and he went a little bit quiet. I don\u2019t think they\u2019d seen anything like it before. At the time I wasn\u2019t really that aware if I was shooting anything special or not, as it was just something I\u2019d done as my work.\u2019<\/p>\n

It turns out Levon\u2019s project was something that hadn\u2019t been done on\u00a0this scale before. As soon as Levon presented his project, the museum allowed him open access to their collection. Scott Billings introduced Levon to an entomologist called Dr James Hogan, and the two joined forces to develop and expand the project.<\/p>\n

\u2018That\u2019s essentially where \u201cMicrosculpture\u201d \u2013 the brand or title \u2013 came about,\u2019 Levon continues. \u2018Microsculpture is really a technical term that is used by entomologists to describe the shape and structure of insects and the way they adapt to their environment.<\/p>\n

\u2018In a lot of ways, the project was a way of encapsulating art and science, as Dr Hogan would source insects that he thought were scientifically valid and had a story behind them. I\u2019d come at it from an artistic and creative point of view as to how these things looked, and how I could work with them with my lighting techniques. We sort of met in the middle \u2013 we\u2019d get a wider range of specimens and cull them down to the ones that we thought would work, and that\u2019s how it went on.\u2019<\/p>\n\t\t

\n\t\t\t\"Tricoloured\t\t\t

Tricoloured jewel beetle (Coleoptera, Buprestidae)<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n

Set-up and workflow<\/h2>\n

With the museum\u2019s entomology experts on board, it was then a case of arranging regular pick-ups of insects and embarking on the labour-intensive shoots. \u2018In reality I wouldn\u2019t say there\u2019s anything technically special that I do,\u2019 says Levon. \u2018It\u2019s one of those things where people think that there\u2019s a magic tool I use or there\u2019s a certain piece of equipment that makes this happen, but I taught myself all these procedures and anyone could do it really. It\u2019s just a matter of application, time and perseverance.\u2019<\/p>\n

In his home, Levon set up a desktop studio arrangement where he could shoot pinned insects using a DSLR, a prime lens to go between a microscopic lens and the camera\u2019s sensor, and a digital, automated rail system to move focus backwards and forwards in increments as small as one micron (that\u2019s just 0.001mm).<\/p>\n

\u2018The way I work is that I\u2019ll take an insect but I\u2019ll break it down into somewhere between 20 and 30 sections,\u2019 says Levon. \u2018I\u2019ll treat each one of those sections like a small still life. If you think about the eye of an insect, it\u2019s very dome-shaped, it\u2019s quite smooth and there are lots of different sections to it. So you treat it with an appropriate lighting style to make that one section look as good as it can. If you\u2019re photographing a hairy leg, or something like that, the same lighting set-up wouldn\u2019t work because it\u2019s a different shape, texture and colour, so you change the lighting set-up completely just to suit that one area. You do that over the entire body and you break down the body into different shapes, sections and textures and then change your lighting set-up for each little bit.\u2019<\/p>\n

Levon\u2019s lens goes in fairly close to the insects, as some of them are only 10mm long. This means each one of those sections is probably no more than a fifth of a millimetre high. However, each subject has its own bespoke lighting set-up, so that Levon can make that single section look as good as it possibly can. Then he brings all those sections together afterwards in post-production to form one image and, as he says, \u2018That\u2019s what makes these images \u201cpop\u201d a little bit more.\u2019<\/p>\n\"Tortoise-Beetle\"\n

Microscopic lenses<\/h2>\n

Arguably the key to the set-up is the microscopic lenses. \u2018Certain microscope lenses are called \u201cinfinity lenses\u201d \u2013 for non-infinity lenses you need a bellows system to focus, so there are all those intricacies in this work,\u2019 Levon explains. \u2018The actual lens that goes between the microscope lens and the sensor doesn\u2019t have to be that special \u2013 I\u2019ve bought some of them for \u00a340 from eBay, 40-year-old 200mm prime lenses that have no other real purpose than moving the microscope lens away from the sensor. You\u2019re not really using the optics inside that prime lens \u2013 it\u2019s just a vehicle to position the microscope lens.\u2019<\/p>\n

So how does Levon shoot each insect? \u2018You just work your way across. For example, you\u2019re on the eye \u2013 each section is the best part of 600 to 700 images. The camera moves forwards in around 10 micron increments between shots. You can sort of gauge your light and how it\u2019s looking, but when you\u2019re looking through a microscope lens your depth-of-field is so shallow, a lot of the time you\u2019re lighting the shot fairly blind, so it comes from experience.<\/p>\n

\u2018Sometimes you might get to day four or five, when you start processing all this information and start flattening down all the files. Then you get one file that is fully focused front to back. [There were a] number of insects I\u2019ve done five days work on, realised it\u2019s not really working, and then had to scrap it. It\u2019s a lot of work to bin, but that\u2019s just the nature of the process.\u2019<\/p>\n

On average, Levon spends about three days shooting each insect. He estimates that to get to a finished, edited file \u2013 usually between two and six gigabytes \u2013 can take around two weeks per picture. \u2018You end up with 20 to 30 different sections of the insect all flattened down and then you\u2019ve probably got another week of post-production. Photoshop is the main tool to bring it all together and you\u2019ve got different focus stacking software such as Helicon or Zerene Stacker. To capture the actual images I run it all through Capture One.\u2019<\/p>\n\t\t

\n\t\t\t\"Tiger\t\t\t

Tiger beetle (Coleoptera, Carabidae)<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n

The printing process<\/h2>\n

When it was decided to hold an exhibition of the results at Oxford University\u2019s Museum of Natural History, Levon turned to his favourite printing house, Genesis Imaging, to produce the large-scale prints for it. \u2018I\u2019ve known Genesis for the best part of 15 years. I like them because they put as much attention and detail into their prints as I do into my photography. The printing stage is one of the end results and you need to find somebody who\u2019s going to care about your work. A lot of blood, sweat and tears goes into these images and you\u2019re not going to hand it to somebody who doesn\u2019t show it the same sort of respect.\u2019<\/p>\n

According to Levon, the printing went smoothly, \u2018It\u2019s quite a rare scenario but the images that were printed are straight images from the file \u2013 we didn\u2019t balance them or adjust them in any way in the printing stage. Usually you\u2019ll make some tweaks here and there but it all comes down to the fact that as a photographer you\u2019ve got to supply the printer with the file at the best quality you can get \u2013 you shouldn\u2019t rely on the printer to make it look good afterwards.\u2019<\/p>\n\"Short-Nosed-Weevil\"\n

Outcome and next steps<\/h2>\n

The result of his first two years of work on this project is the exhibition showing at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History until 30 October 2016. Levon also has plans for an accompanying book in 2017 and possibly a touring exhibition. \u2018Probably the most satisfying thing is seeing people\u2019s reactions to it,\u2019 he says. \u2018Recently, I was picking the kids up from school and a couple of mums came bundling over to me across the playground all childlike and excited \u2013 they\u2019d just had a ladies\u2019 day out to Oxford to go and see the exhibition, and had come straight from the museum. They were so excited, positive and enthused by it all; it\u2019s things like that that make it work for me.<\/p>\n

\u2018One of the main things I realised is that the insects didn\u2019t look scary. I think we are hardwired in some strange way to think that insects are scary \u2013 one of the main objectives I wanted to achieve at the start of this project was to not have that clich\u00e9 attached. These insects and prints should be beautiful, and I think that\u2019s worked. Even at three metres wide they\u2019re not scary; they\u2019re stunning and hopefully people can come away with a bit more respect for the creatures. Maybe the next time you get a creepy crawly on your kitchen floor you\u2019ll scoop it up with a piece of paper and put it outside rather than stamp on it \u2013 that\u2019d be nice.\u2019<\/p>\n\t\t

\n\t\t\t\"Treehopper\t\t\t

Treehopper (Hemiptera, Membracidae)<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n

How Levon Biss created his microsculpture pictures<\/h2>\n

1. Sourcing insects<\/h3>\n\"image001\"\n

Thanks to his ongoing relationship with the entomologists at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, Levon makes a choice of subjects based on a combination of the scientific significance of an insect and his more artistic, creative viewpoint as to how the subjects look and how they will photograph.<\/p>\n

2. Pinning<\/h3>\n\"Levon-Biss-close-up-\"\n

Levon asks the scientists to pin the insects in a specific way. \u2018Usually a pin would go straight through the body,\u2019 he explains. \u2018Sometimes it was actually hidden within the body. Then I attach that to another pin on a right angle, which goes on putty and hangs the insect in front of my camera.\u2019<\/p>\n

3. Studio set-up<\/h3>\n\"Levon-Biss-studio\"\n

Levon has a tabletop set-up that is lit depending on the insect being shot and the part of that insect being shot. \u2018The lights you\u2019re shooting with have to have quite a fast flash duration. Obviously everything has to be stable \u2013 there can\u2019t be any vibration, so I generally shoot a lot of my images with a shutter delay.\u2019<\/p>\n

4. Equipment<\/h3>\n\"image003\"\n

Levon shoots with a Nikon D800 DSLR fitted\u00a0with a prime lens, usually between 160-200mm, and then a microscopic \u2018infinity\u2019 lens is fitted to the front of the prime optic. A digitally controlled automated rail system lets him adjust the lens-to-subject distance in one-micron (0.001mm) increments.<\/p>\n

5. Shooting sections<\/h3>\n\"image005\"\n

Levon divides every insect into small sections \u2013 each no more than 1\/5mm high \u2013 that are lit specifically. He shoots around 20-30 different sections for each insect and estimates that around 600-700 images are in each section. His final images tend to comprise between 8,000 and 10,000 images.<\/p>\n

6. Checking results<\/h3>\n\"image007\"\n

Once Levon has shot all the sections of an insect he checks the results to ensure focus and lighting is correct across the whole body. Because of the nature of the microscopic work, this can sometimes result in reshooting a part, or parts, of an insect in order to get a more uniform, accurately focused result.<\/p>\n

7. Post-production<\/h3>\n\"image009\"\n

Levon flattens his images to check all technical aspects and then, using Photoshop and focus stacking software, he creates final image files. He adds, \u2018I don\u2019t really believe in sharpening too much \u2013 if you haven\u2019t got it sharp in-camera, then don\u2019t bother.\u2019 His final image files range in size from 2GB up to 6GB.<\/p>\n

8. Test prints<\/h3>\n\"image011\"\n

Once Levon is happy with his final images he takes them to his long-time favourite printing house, Genesis Imaging. \u2018We do a lot of tests on different, smaller sections beforehand \u2013 maybe 20x20in tests \u2013 and then once you\u2019re happy that all the different elements are working, you go for the big thing.\u2019<\/p>\n

9. Final prints<\/h3>\n\"image013\"\n

When Levon and the team at Genesis are happy with the test prints, a final print is produced. These can often be approximately 3x2m and take around 45-50 minutes to print. More than 20 of the final prints are being exhibited at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History until 30 October 2016.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Levon Biss has spent more than two years creating stunning insect portraits using a unique microscopic shooting set-up, as he explains to Steve Fairclough<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":323,"featured_media":91004,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[209],"tags":[],"product-category":[],"class_list":["post-90995","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-macro_photography"],"yoast_head":"\nLord of the wings: Creating insect portraits - Amateur Photographer<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/technique\/macro_photography\/lord-wings-creating-insect-portraits\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Lord of the wings: Creating insect portraits\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Levon Biss has spent more than two years creating stunning insect portraits using a unique microscopic shooting set-up, as he explains to Steve Fairclough\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/technique\/macro_photography\/lord-wings-creating-insect-portraits\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Amateur Photographer\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Amateur.photographer.magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-08-09T07:44:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-08-09T09:43:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/16\/2016\/08\/Jewel-Longhorned-Beetle.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"399\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Rosee Woodland\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@AP_Magazine\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@AP_Magazine\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Rosee Woodland\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"12 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/technique\/macro_photography\/lord-wings-creating-insect-portraits\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/technique\/macro_photography\/lord-wings-creating-insect-portraits\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Rosee Woodland\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/#\/schema\/person\/f95a396031978ed0ea69236f11b520a5\"},\"headline\":\"Lord of the wings: Creating insect portraits\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-08-09T07:44:34+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-08-09T09:43:41+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/technique\/macro_photography\/lord-wings-creating-insect-portraits\/\"},\"wordCount\":2342,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/technique\/macro_photography\/lord-wings-creating-insect-portraits\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/16\/2016\/08\/Jewel-Longhorned-Beetle.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Macro photography\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/technique\/macro_photography\/lord-wings-creating-insect-portraits\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/technique\/macro_photography\/lord-wings-creating-insect-portraits\/\",\"name\":\"Lord of the wings: Creating insect portraits - 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