Back-lit Silver-studded Blue

I took this shot last week on an evening visit to Perranporth.  My friend Sam Williams also took a similar shot as we experimented with back-lit macro.  The low evening sun is situated just above the 12 o'clock position.  Exposure was raised to +1 EV. Ap F/10.

Blues in macro

These Silver-studded Blue images were taken tonight around Perranporth Dune system.  Further to my previous post, the count of scores should now read hundreds.  2010 seems to have been a superb year for this species - they are everywhere. 

Tonight was warm but quite overcast and dull - not the perfect evening for photography.  But these these tiny half inch size butterflies were desperate for the last hint of heat and posed quite nicely on the tops of flag iris.

Tonight I used a true macro lens, the Micro Nikkor 105mm f/2.8 on a tripod.  You can get to within six inches of the subject as the results here show.  There is approx 20% crop on each shot.

EXIF detail: Aperture priority, mostly f/8 to f/10. ISO 200 to 320. Exposure -0.7 to +0.3 depending on angle and available light. WB Cloudy.  I try to position the camera dead square so that no part of the insect creeps into the out-of-focus zone (which is critical when so close).

Silver-studded Blue at Perranporth Dunes

These shots were taken on Saturday 26th June on Perranporth Dunes.  There were scores of them, well into three figures.  They were taken in the early afternoon sunshine which is probably not the best light.  I used a circular polariser filter to eliminate some of the intense glare.

Cornish dunes have silver linings

Another fine evening with little wind and I was tempted to visit Perranporth dunes again. The lush green areas within the dunes attract Silver-studded Blues and they seemed to be everywhere. They were quite docile tonight as they soaked up the last hour of the day's warmth. Ideal. These males and females posed nicely. In addition, there were several Dark Green Fritillary, Small Heath and Large Skipper.

Silver-studded Blue

These images were taken on Sunday evening at Perranporth Dunes. Silver-studded Blue can be exceptionally common in this area with hundreds recorded in some years.

I had a couple hours strong sunlight remaining at the end of the day, though it was breezy and conditions were far from ideal. I saw about 20 butterflies, all in a patch just out of the wind. (The image below is a Brown Argus feeding on Ragged Robin.)

The image below was one of the in-focus shots enabling some heavy cropping without losing too much detail. The low ISO of 200 also helps cropping without the image becoming too grainy.

EXIF Detail for all images: Aperture F/9. Shutter averaging 1/320s. ISO 200. Exposure -0.3 to -0.7 EV. Multi-pattern metering. WB: Cloudy. Focal length 500mm. Tripod mounted.

Not long to wait...

I've decided to break away from showing just birds on this photoblog and showcase some of my best images of butterflies. I'm not sure if they quite sit well here...opinions sought as always on this subject, but one can only marvel at their colour and pose. The image above is one of my overall favourites as it catches the Silver-studded Blue peeping through the Trefoil plant.

I took these images last year in Italy, where the early morning light is so intense and brings the best out of the colours. Early butterfly sightings are already on the Cornish forums, so not long to wait before we get another chance to find and photo these insects.

The above image is a Spotted Fritillary and was the commonest butterfly in the local area. Farming practices were fairly basic and as such, had little impact on the environment - there were literally hundreds of fritillaries, most of them posing like the one above.

The Bath White above was taken with the Nikon D3 and 300mm F/2.8 lens on a tripod. The 300mm lens is not a true macro but does have a reasonably close focus of 2.5 metres. With the lens set at F/4 aperture, some low depth of field images with nicely blurred background can be achieved.

The Small Heath shot above is typical of how I try to photo butterflies. It's far from easy, but talking to other wildlife photographers at the CWT photo group, the key is to eliminate background interruptions so that the image "focusses" solely on the insect. Not easy.