Same Common Blue - different angle

These shots of a male Common Blue were taken this evening in bright, low sunlight.  The insect was docile and ready to roost so gave me the opportunity to move around it.  All were taken within five minutes of each other and goes to show what a change of position does to the final image.  The top shot is back-lit and directly facing the sun.  Exposure was +0.3EV.  The bottom shot is with the sun behind me and exposure dropped to -0.7EV.  Aperture F/13.  ISO 200. All handheld with 200mm Micro Nikkor F/4.

Common blues

A pair of Common Blues mating on Bank Holiday Monday in the dunes

Cornish insects in macro

The images in this post were taken at the weekend at Stithians and The Lizard. All were taken with a Sigma 1:1 ratio 105mm F2/8 lens. I took about 200 shots of at least eight species of dragonfly, half hand held, half on a tripod. The latter method easily outweighs handheld in terms of in-focus images. The drawback with a tripod is manoeuvering the tripod close enough to the insect without scaring it. However, my obvious preference is to use a tripod every time.

The image above is a Common Darter taken a distance of about three inches.

The image above is an Azure Damselfly resting on Sorrel.

Small Pearl Bordered Fritillary using a tripod at a distance of about six inches.

Common Blue resting on a young fir tree in dull light. This individual allowed close approach to about four inches. A tripod was used.

EXIF Detail: Aperture priority. Ap F/10. ISO 320. Shutter speed average 1/160s. Exposure 0.oEV.

Skippers, Blues and Argus enjoy brief sunshine

Saturday and Sunday were the hottest days so far this year and the first broods of butterflies were making the most of the heat. A visit to Perranporth dunes proved worthwhile as I snatched a limited couple hours photography before the family barbeque took precedent. (Only married men will understand this).

The four Common Blue images above and below are different individuals - up to 20 were seen scattered about between 9.45am and 11.15am. If I had time, more would no doubt have appeared as the sun gathered heat.

All of the images were taken with my favourite lens set-up. Whilst the 300mm F/2.8 is not a true macro lens, its' close focus of 2 metres is good enough for some quite spectacular detail. I always use the tripod for ultimate stabilty to ensure best focus. That said, there is still about 50% critically out of focus when viewed later on the laptop.

I was pleased with this shot as the shadow of the antenna is mirrored on the stem. (Fluke of course).

The image above is a Dingy Skipper. About ten of these butterflies were very busy chasing each other. You have to be really quick to get into position with this species as they continually antagonise each other.

Dingy Skippers are locally common in Cornwall but not in West Penwith or The Lizard. They seem to prefer the dunes and woodland margins. Dingy Skipper has one unusual feature: when resting it resembles a small moth with wings outspread and curved back unlike any other British species.

Above: Brown Argus. The digital image EXIF detail is fairly constant with all the images above eg. most taken at F/9 or F/10 and exposure either 0.0 or -0.3EV. All images have a low ISO of 100, which effectively means that the picture can be cropped quite aggressively before any pixellating appears.