Feb 14 2026 | By: Jim Zuckerman
This is a luna moth I photographed in Michigan several years ago. On this particular trip, I was focused on Lepidoptera -- butterflies and moths -- and to that end I brought a small tent with white fabric in case I encountered direct sunlight. Most macro photography is best done in diffused light. On this particular day, the sun was out. With a butterfly net, I captured the moth and placed it in a cooler. After about 15 minutes, I brought it out and placed it on a fern that was inside my white tent. The white fabric not only diffused the light, but the tent blocked the wind, too. Butterflies and moths need at least 55 degrees to fly, so for the first few minutes it stretched its wings to garner enough warmth. That's when I took this picture. I then removed the diffusion tent and the moth took flight. I used a 50mm macro lens and a tripod, and the settings were 1/15, f/22, and 100 ISO.
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