Photo Composition
Secrets Revealed
Many scanographers have some very secret photo composition techniques.
When I saw this Patri Feher photo scanner art, I looked at it very closely.
How did she do that? The butterflies and the caterpillar looked so real.
I knew she would not have killed anything for the sake of a great print and yet they didn't look artificial. I just couldn't figure it out.
Patri, concerned that "people sometimes assume I kill or hurt the butterfly" explained the somewhat complicated process as follows:
"I have often found deceased insects in my garden and incorporated them into my captures.
However, a couple of years ago I discovered that you can BUY butterfly eggs from a butterfly farm. So for the past few summers I've been buying monarch and swallowtail eggs.
After the caterpillar emerges from the egg, I transfer them to the appropriate host plants growing in my garden. They pupate and eventually emerge as adults which nectar on the flowers in my garden.
But some of them model for me - I include them in my compositions."
Capturing the Caterpillars
"Eggs are tiny and the larvae (caterpillars) are easy to capture. They aren't affected by the scanning at all. Most caterpillars munch continuously for a period of time, then they rest for perhaps 30 minutes. I wait for nap time to capture them.
If they fidget during capture, their trail is a rainbow colored squiggle. Sometimes I can retouch the movement. Usually I find another napping caterpillar and replace the fidgety one."
The Butterfly Pictures Secret
"Now, adult butterflies are more of a challenge!
They do not take direction and aren't cooperative. You can't even bribe them. So, I put the adult in an envelope and put her in the fridge for 15-20 minutes to cool off.
Then I remove the sleeping creature from the envelope.
Butterflies at any stage are handled with a watercolor paint brush. Human fingers can damage them.
I also blow on them through a straw. Adult butterflies like to "grip" on a twig, even when they are cool, and you can place them on the platen sideways or open the wings with the paint brush or blowing thru the straw if you are careful. If you're lucky they will even keep their wings open. You can also place a sheet of paper or tissue on top of them.
Cool adults can be captured for about 10 minutes of scanning.
They revive quickly and will not want to stick around! I keep a few stems or zinnias nearby and coax them onto these flowers. Eventually I bring the butterfly and flower outdoors and off she goes!
In Photoshop, I isolate the butterfly scan and transfer that layer into my composition. Eggs, pupas and caterpillars are already part of the arrangement. If you look closely sometimes "frass" (caterpillar poop) and nibbled leaves appear in the picture too. I seldom retouch for perfection, I like the realistic irregularities."
Now we know! Wow, what a project. Patri, thank you so much for sharing your butterfly photo composition secret!
Have you seen my
interview with Patri?
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