Posted by Malcolm Muir on July 15, 2007 at 7:11 PM
These are still plentiful on coastal heaths, fields and road margins in Orkney. Nice to see as they are anything but common in our part od Scotland now.
Very lovely indeed Malcom - especially the light round the edges. Perfect!
One of my goals this year is to capture some half decent native butterfly shots, but can't seem to spot them (during dusk & dawn when they're resting). Any tips?
Posted by Malcolm Muir on July 16, 2007 at 1:58 PM
Thanks everybody
Des - The received wisdom in the books is to go out the night before and see where butterflies settle. They should be still there first thing in the morning. I have to say that like you I have seldom if ever managed this successfully. To be honest, I tend to simply stalk flying insects and creep up on them when they settle - slow, steady movements, get down on the ground long before they sense you and put up with a lot of failures. Some of the best days are when there are sunny intervals and the insects never fully warm up (like this summer). I have tried using longer lenses but always return to my trusty Sigma 150 as IMHO the quality outweighs the challenge of getting that bit closer.
Superb! The rim-lighting around the butterfly and the plant is excellent. The soft purple of the plant really complements the pastel blue of the butterfly.
Posted by David Taylor on July 17, 2007 at 1:24 PM
I fully agree with your technique, but I try to get even closer (and get more failures ) with my Sigma 50mm macro (the 1.7x crop factor of the Foveon sensor of my SD14 helps a bit with the subject distance). Superb image, with great lighting.
Discussion
11 repliesNikon D200
Sigma 150 f2.8 macro
1/250 @ f8
handheld
ISO 800
Tim
One of my goals this year is to capture some half decent native butterfly shots, but can't seem to spot them (during dusk & dawn when they're resting). Any tips?
Des
Beautiful image of the b'fly complimented so well by its perch, too.
Best wishes
Phil
Very nice indeed , I really like the back light coming through the grass and the wings.
Kind regards
Andy...
Des - The received wisdom in the books is to go out the night before and see where butterflies settle. They should be still there first thing in the morning. I have to say that like you I have seldom if ever managed this successfully. To be honest, I tend to simply stalk flying insects and creep up on them when they settle - slow, steady movements, get down on the ground long before they sense you and put up with a lot of failures. Some of the best days are when there are sunny intervals and the insects never fully warm up (like this summer). I have tried using longer lenses but always return to my trusty Sigma 150 as IMHO the quality outweighs the challenge of getting that bit closer.
Cheers
Malcolm
Excellent stuff!
David