Swallowtail

70-200mm +1.4x +Ext Tube f10 1/640 iso640 Full frame

Hi all

Called in on my local meadow yesterday evening. There's an awful lot of Swallowtails about this year, isn't there?
Trying for something different this year to top-down portraits - bottoms-up portraits! Not quite got what I want yet - I could've composed this one a little further over to the right, and that shadow's a bit of a nuisance. Oh, and the focus drops off a little on the 'tail'...thank god the butterfly itself is gorgeous
Hopefully I'll get something better over the next few days (I'm gonna be trying some macro with my 500mm and an ext tube - my aversion to my macro lens knows no ends!)

Simon

You taking the micky Simon ?

There are bugger all Swallowtails around the Midlands


A pleasing shot with good detail and a nice background.
A slight shame about the shadow but ho hum thats life.

Shows off the beautiful underwing very well, nice one Simon.

Andy...

Very nice shot and I like the self critique.

Lovely detail Simon. I think I could live with the shadow. You will get what you want in the end. Just wish we had some in this neck of the woods.

still a lovely image what a great creature, beautiful colour

Love the composition and colours/detail Simon love the hanging Barn Owl in your sign to

I rather like the angle of this shot Simon. The detail that is hidden is only the reverse of what you can see so the viewer isn't missing anything. The shadow is a bit of a pain though. Have you considered using one of those small collapsible reflectors? I reckon one of those slid along the ground beneath it would have made a big difference to this shot. I really must come over to that part of the world and have a look for these one day - I've never seen one in my life and it looks like I am missing something special there.
eric