AT A GLANCE
- Known for
- Close-up photographs of insects covered in dew and rain drops
- Works in
- Color
- Camera
- Canon EOS 40D with the Canon MP-E 65mm 1-5x macro lens
- Also
- Shares his work on 500px as biker11; 500px guest editor in 2015
Ondrej Pakan is a macro photographer from Myjava, Slovakia. He photographs insects up close, often just after rain or on cold mornings, when they are covered in tiny drops of water. In 2012 his dew-covered insects were shared by websites around the world.
The story
On the road to work there is a small lake called Dubnik. It is Ondrej Pakan's favorite place. Many kinds of insects live there, and he can find dragonflies in blue, green, red and brown. One misty morning he found three damselflies sitting together on a cane. Orange flowers grew behind them. “It made a perfect background,” he later told 500px. He calls the photo one of his all-time favorites.
Pakan comes from Myjava in Slovakia. His gear, as named in one feature, is a Canon 40D and the MP-E 65mm macro lens, which can show a subject up to five times life size.
Wet weather is part of the method. His specialty is bugs covered in water, after rain or on cold early mornings with dew. So he sits in the rain and waits for it to end. In the first seconds after it stops, the drops still sit on the insects' eyes, wings and legs. “I get soaked waiting for the rain to finish, but it all seems worth it when you get really great shots of the insects with drops on them.”
In March 2012 the pictures traveled far. Trend Hunter, The Inspiration Grid and Amusing Planet all shared his dew-covered insects within a few weeks. In 2015 the photo site 500px made him one of its guest editors. For a month he chose images for its Editors' Choice, and the site asked him what makes a good photo. His answer was short: a good photo needs a spirit, something that stays with you for days and weeks.
A small lake on the way to work is not a grand subject. Through a macro lens, though, it becomes a whole country. “We can discover a world of small monsters,” he writes. “Each fly, bee and spider is a perfect predator or a warring victim in this empire.”
The work
- 2012His dew-covered insect photographs are shared by websites around the world
- 2015Featured by TechEBlog for his insects photographed after rain
- 2015Serves as a 500px guest editor and is interviewed on what makes a good photo
Lessons
Find one good place close to home. His favorite spot is a small lake on the road to work, full of different insects.
Use bad weather. He works after rain and on cold mornings, when water drops cover the insects.
Mind the background. In his favorite photo, orange flowers behind three damselflies made the picture work.
Try this: after the next rain, go out in the first minutes it stops. Find one insect or plant still covered in drops. Move slowly until the background behind it is a clean, single color.
Gear
Only a few details about his equipment have been published.
Canon EOS 40D: the camera body named in a feature on his insect photographs.
Canon MP-E 65mm f/2.8 1-5x Macro lens: a special macro lens that magnifies from life size up to five times life size. It is the lens named with his dew-covered insect series.
