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Butterfly laying egg

Discussion

15 replies
Posted by Geoffrey Baker on August 27, 2010 at 5:11 PM
Butterfly laying egg
Out in the meadow one evening after work I spotted this butterfly and went over to take some shots, it made no attempt to fly off, instead it was walking in circles on this flower, I had no idea what was about to happen so I started to take some shots.

Suddenly it's back end seemed to extend and open up and out popped this egg, in this photo it hasn't settled into the flower and is probably still falling, in the next shot it's partly hidden in the flower.

Right place, right time eh?

According to my butterfly book it's a Small Heath.

Minolta Dynax 7D
Sigma 70-300 super macro 2
1/250th second
f14
ISO 400
300mm
-0.3 stop exposure compensation
Centre-weighted metering
A bit of a crop from the original
Posted by Karen Summers on August 27, 2010 at 5:13 PM
Fabulous image Geoffrey what a shot to get and with great vibrant colour to
Posted by John Robinson on August 27, 2010 at 5:37 PM
Nice image Geoffrey and interesting. It certainly is a Small heath and they lay their eggs on grasses. The flower looks a bit like Ragwort.
Must have been confused !
Cheers
JohnR
Posted by Ian Macdermott on August 27, 2010 at 6:02 PM
Well caught Geoffrey :toast: :toast:
Posted by Frederic Desmette on August 28, 2010 at 2:47 AM
Very special picture indeed!
Frederic
Posted by keith mitchell on August 28, 2010 at 3:24 AM
Hi Geoffrey.
Bet your pleased with this excellent shot,detail and colour is outstanding.
:toast: :toast: :toast:
Keith.
Posted by Barry Southon on August 28, 2010 at 3:26 AM
Geoffrey

What an exceptional encounter. Very well captured.
:wink:
Posted by Dale Sutton on August 28, 2010 at 4:51 AM
What a super encounter Geoff And quality to boot!

Dale :toast: :toast:
Posted by Simon Litten on August 28, 2010 at 7:50 AM
Nice capture. Well done. :toast:


Simon
Posted by Tom Smit on August 28, 2010 at 3:32 PM
Nicely done. Also like to see the next one.
:toast: :toast:
Posted by Paul Rosser on August 29, 2010 at 3:35 AM
Stunning image Geoff! :toast:
Paul. :wavey:
Posted by Danny Green on August 29, 2010 at 3:47 AM
Thats just a little Pea that you have put there :biggrin: only joking, great shot.

Danny :toast: :toast: :toast:
Posted by Andrew Stagg on August 29, 2010 at 4:49 AM
Nice clear shot with good DOF Geoffrey. It is not an egg. It is a waste liquid that all butterflies and moths produce shortly after emergence. The eggs are pale green ovoid shape and attached to grass.

Best
Andrew
Posted by Phil Mclean on August 29, 2010 at 8:49 AM
Lovely colourful shot and very well timed.

Phil. :toast:
Posted by Geoffrey Baker on August 31, 2010 at 3:03 PM
Thanks everyone.
Thanks Andrew for the information, and I thought I'd captured something special :redface:

Geoff.
Posted by Andrew Stagg on September 1, 2010 at 8:03 AM
Geoff, you have - egg laying is far easier to capture than this!
best
Andrew