Stage 1

In this stage, you can recognize what insect the photo is of.  With these shots, you feel it is extremely cool that you caught the insect on camera.  What you miss is that the framing may be awful, the insect is out of focus, and the lighting may be poor.

Here is a good example from when I first bought my camera.  You can see that this is a fly, but it is looking the wrong way, is too small for this shot, and should not be centered in the viewfinder.  The focus could also be improved.

Stage 2

In this stage, you have mastered getting the insect in focus, but your framing and other aspects still leaves much to be desired.

In the above shot, the focus is decent and the eyes are in focus.  However, the legs and parts of the antenna are both out of the frame.  The angle is uninteresting and the lighting is too strong.

Stage 3

In this stage, the insect is in focus and either the entire insect is in the shot, or enough of it to not detract from the photo.  However, the shots still suffer from bad placement of the insect in the shot.  The insect may be centered or just approached from an uninteresting angle.

The above shot is a good example.  The pill bug is in focus and all of it is in the viewfinder.  It is, however, a rather uninteresting shot.  It may make a good stock shot of a pillbug, but the bug is centered in the frame and the angle really isn’t that interesting.

Stage 4

In this stage, the rule of thirds and other framing is made use of to make the shot more interesting.  Also, the insect is approached from a more interesting angle.  The result is a more interesting insect shot.

The shot above is a good example that the entire insect does not always need to be in the frame.  By approaching the fly from the front and putting the head off center, it is a more interesting shot.  However, the shot seems to be missing something.  Some may certainly find it gross, but it really isn’t anything more than an interesting fly shot.

Stage 5

Past stage four, improvements generally do not involve technical details.  At this stage, the photographer is able to provide character and beauty to the subjects.  They begin to become interesting even to those who are not into insects.  I do not believe I am fully at this level yet, but I have taken some images that qualify.

I have received a lot of good feedback about this shot, and it is one of my favorites.

Stage 6

At this stage, the shots are not only interesting to people who do not love insects, but they also provide extra emotions about the insect world in general.  These types of shots often involve keeping insects and waiting for particular life events.  Even still, a shot of an interesting event is not sufficient here.  The shot must be something that truly conveys emotions.

These shots are exceedingly difficult to take and I have not yet taken one worthy yet.  You can find one occasionally in National Geographic though.

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