Butterfly - Royal Horticultural Society - Wisley House

[coldpenguin]

Went to Wisley House at the weekend. They currently have a Butterfly House setup in one of their greenhouses. It is free entry on the 4th of March, and closes on the 6th. Otherwise Adults are £9.50 (or ~£32 for joining the RHS, and then it is free to any of their places for a year)

The butterflies are very friendly (don't stand still for too long, I have shots of them on people's heads). There are a lot of Owl butterflies there.

Here is a shot I got, BTW, this is basically a reduction from a full frame capture.

I went there with a 100-400L, with a 34 and 21mm extension tube (this shot was 21). There were others there with Macro lenses, but they tended to get in the way of the other visitors (by being too close). Although, I did get several strange looks from other people (mainly those with the Macro lenses!).
It is very warm in there though. Light wasn't too bad, but you could really do with a flash (I had a 580 attached to camera, but generally dialled down -3 or -2 for output).

These are some of my candidates for a 12"x8" canvas.

Strictly these are not macros, but they are as close as I generally get to Macro. I thought there might be some interest in this section for people to go there.

 

[theonemule]

Overall, I like these shots. The color, composition, and focus are spot on.

But the direct flash is a killer IMHO... It's casting stark shadows all over the place, which to me are distracting. You could try a diffuser or bounce flash to get better lighting.

 

[TwentySixDays]

Nice set of shots, but I have to agree with Blaize on the flash.

 

[Will H]

Were you there late morning/early afternoon Saturday? I may have spotted you if so - I did notice someone with an 100-400 walking around

I was one of those getting in the way with a macro lens I'd actually considered using the 100-400 myself so it's interesting to see shots from someone who did


I'd agree with the others that the direct flash is a bit strong - they all look to have a slightly green tint to them to me as well but generally it's a really nice set

 

[coldpenguin]

Were you there late morning/early afternoon Saturday? I may have spotted you if so - I did notice someone with an 100-400 walking around

Around 10am till 12 was when I was in the glass house.

I agree about the flash harshness, unfortunately I only have a cheapo diffuser, and attached to the camera, I really thought it would be over the top. I already got some comments from the staff there!

I have looked at these now on 3 monitors, and cannot see a tinge, can you say where you can see it? (the fourth one is very green, but the others seem fine, specially the one with the white flower).