I'm new to southern california, and thought ppl here might be able to help me--when's a good time of the year to go out and try and find insects to photograph? what places would you recommend? I'm a newb/bug lover who wants to do some macro work...please help
You can find insects just about everywhere in SoCal. My favorite hunting spots are parks that have lots of flowers since those attract an entire ecosystem of insects - bees, ants, spiders, etc. That also provides you with nice richness of color for your shots as well (both in focus and for the background).
Not sure where in SoCal you are, but Balboa Park, Wild Animal Park, the San Diego Zoo, the flower fields in Carlsbad, the flower blooms in Anza Borrego are all good options for that. TBH, you can find an equally diverse universe for macro shots in your own backyard as well, so don't discount that. The nice thing about macro photography is that you can do it anywhere and you're guaranteed to capture something no other human has seen.
