Damelfly

So why am I doing this? Well, one reason is that some animals are bothered by flash. This photo was taken with an infrared flashlight in one hand and the camera in the other. It’s not easy (and surprisingly tiring), but when it works, the camera can lock on and you get a photo like this in a way that the animal never sees any additional light.

This isn’t such a big deal for insects like this, but it matters a lot for nesting reptiles and birds as well as foraging mammals.

Originally posted at stories.starmind.org.

Caterpillar

The problem with infrared, of course, is sometimes you see something awesome that would have looked better in human-visible light.

Originally posted at stories.starmind.org.

Bug

Then again, sometimes you see something that wouldn’t be nearly as interesting in visible light.

Originally posted at stories.starmind.org.