Photo Experience #1:
Choice Project:
Rainbow Stag Beetle Photography
For this project I was tasked to shoot and edit 10 photos of my choice. I chose to photograph my rainbow stag beetles (Phalacrognathus muelleri) and their life as my main subject. The reason I put emphasis on beetles was to help spread the importance and awareness of stag beetles in general. During this project I was also working on my eagle scout project, which also features stag beetles. I strive to conserve these amazing beetles by helping bring awareness to them, as well as integrating them back into their environment. I took photos of larvae (photo #6, Rainbow Stag Beetle Larva; photo #10, Captive Care and the Hobby) and male as well as female adults (Photo #1, 2, 3, 4, 5, & 9), I also took pictures of multiple adults in pairs (photo #7, Pairs & Sexing) or a group (photo #8, Mating & Variation), One of my images even features symbiotic relationships in beetles (Photo #5, Beetles & Mites) . I also experimented with illustrator masks (Photo #4, Intimidation). In all of my photos the beetles are featured with wood from one of their enclosures. I provided descriptions pertaining to the images and information the lives of rainbow stag beetles, as well as some general info about stag beetles as well.
Featured Photographer
Lukas Dupal
I chose to feature Lukas Dupal as the photographer for this section, because he helped inspire the composition of beetles on wood. Lukas Dupal is a beetle breeder and ameture photographer. He keeps over 20 species of scarab including Phalacrognathus muelleri, the species I featured In the project. He is an admin r to a facebook group that I participate in. He uses more natural lighting techniques than me however. But personally I sometimes prefer artificial lighting. He primarily focuses on rhinoceros beetles. However some of his work includes stag beetles like Phalacrognathus muelleri, and other members of Lucanidae. Of all insects out there scarab beetles are generally easier to photograph because they are often large and slow. That being said, I couldn't find many photographers doing scarab photography in a studio setting that I liked. Lukas' images were some of the ones I used for reference. I could not find much info on Lukas or a photo of him.
