Butterfly Face On, originally uploaded by David A G Wilson.

When taking macros of butterflies, I try to steer clear of the stereotypical angles if at all possible. One approach that I like and which I don’t see very often is to concentrate on the insect’s head and shoot directly towards them from the front. You lose the patterns on the wings in these shots but the effect can be really interesting (as long as the eyes are absolutely sharp).

This image uses the head-on technique. The shallow depth of field means that the only part of the image which is completely sharp is the insect head which draws your attention to the eyes.

Do you think this works? Click on the image and give it a rating to let me know.