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Holly Blue flutters by

Gallery: Macro & Close-upPosted August 11, 2009603 views14 comments

It's Holly blue season again in the UK. Here a female Holly Blue (Celastrina argiolus) approaches a flower of Lady's Bedstraw (Galium verum). The larvae of the Spring brood mainly feed on Holly whilst the Summer ones feed on Ivy so the common name could equally well be 'Ivy Blue'!

D200 ISO 320 f20 High speed flash at approx 1/20,000th Sec.
Slight crop and levels in PS.

Comments

14 comments

Comment posted by SandyRichardsBrown on August 11, 2009 at 10:25 AM

Great little butterfly! Very hard to capture anything in flight, like this.
the BG is very complimentary - too bad the flower is past it's peak (Or maybe just in shadow?) - still a very nice shot, though.
sandy r

Registered on November 24, 2003, 3937 Posts, 12909 Comments

Comment posted by David Taylor on August 11, 2009 at 2:57 PM

A very difficult task to capture a butterfly in flight.

You have achieved it perfectly IMHO.
Great colours, comp and BG combine to make this an excellent image indeed. Well done, sir.

PS I also think flies are attractive close up, that's why I photograph them.

Registered on April 24, 2006, 101 Posts, 837 Comments

Comment posted by mark cillo on August 11, 2009 at 4:16 PM

This is very nice, great DOF and use of flash.

Registered on July 27, 2008, 143 Posts, 1483 Comments

Comment posted by Mike Moats on August 11, 2009 at 6:59 PM

Hey Clive, this is really great. Nice details and good colors in the BG. Congrats on this capture.

Registered on October 20, 2004, 892 Posts, 6324 Comments

Comment posted by Sam Rua on August 11, 2009 at 8:50 PM

Fantastic capture, Clive. Great timing to catch the wings in a great position. Detail and comp very good as well.

Registered on September 9, 2006, 130 Posts, 2281 Comments

Comment posted by Cheryl Molennor on August 11, 2009 at 10:49 PM

Great in flight capture colors and dof

Registered on June 30, 2009, 300 Posts, 5051 Comments

Comment posted by Alessandra & Rocco on August 12, 2009 at 5:10 AM

Very nice !!! It's very difficult to capture a butterfly in flight

Well done

Registered on March 3, 2007, 122 Posts, 778 Comments

Comment posted by Patricia Brundage on August 12, 2009 at 8:51 AM

WOW! Nice capture.

Registered on March 23, 2006, 1111 Posts, 6531 Comments

Comment posted by Darren Colello on August 12, 2009 at 3:18 PM

This is a wonderful photograph Clive. It is pleasantly engaging and very well composed. Great job.

Registered on July 27, 2009, 175 Posts, 1100 Comments

Comment posted by Nilanjan Das on August 14, 2009 at 12:04 AM

Beautiful.

Registered on June 5, 2008, 94 Posts, 383 Comments

Comment posted by Andy Shepherd on August 14, 2009 at 5:00 PM

Good to see you posting again Clive, it's been quite a while !! and a fine trademark capture too, hope to see you over on UKNP in the near future.

Best regards

Andy...

Registered on September 24, 2006, 123 Posts, 1254 Comments

Comment posted by Bill Fach on August 15, 2009 at 10:19 AM

Clive: Spectacular shot. Superb comp and final result. >=))>

Registered on November 1, 2003, 1805 Posts, 26981 Comments

Comment posted by Balakumar Kaushik on August 19, 2009 at 1:47 PM

Congrats on EP Clive.

Registered on January 4, 2008, 98 Posts, 1403 Comments

Comment posted by Catherine Reilly on August 19, 2009 at 11:46 PM

Outstanding!! Whoa, I love it! A butterfly flying! Great technical skill and a good setup by the look of it. And I must add, fabulous timing on the shutter release.

Registered on August 16, 2006, 603 Posts, 9192 Comments