Wild Several Butterflies from my 2019 season.

A very nice set..............so nice to see them, thanks for sharing :)

PS I surmise looking them that the small crops required would still yield a superb portraits of them?
 
A very nice set..............so nice to see them, thanks for sharing :)

PS I surmise looking them that the small crops required would still yield a superb portraits of them?

Cheers for that.

Im slightly confused by your question about cropping?
I'll try to answer your question, with what i think your asking me ;)

All my images that state uncropped...means that thats how i shot the image of the butterfly. I generally upload images that are between 15% and 20% of the original file size. So yes, if you are asking me if i wanted to crop into the original image (for a different composition etc.) then there would still be plenty of scope to do this.
But since im shooting in Jpeg, with cameras that range from 10 to 16 megapixels, i try to get the composition how i want it, without the need for cropping later.
 
A lovely set of butterflies, that first one is my favourite.
 
Cheers for that.

Im slightly confused by your question about cropping?
I'll try to answer your question, with what i think your asking me ;)

All my images that state uncropped...means that thats how i shot the image of the butterfly. I generally upload images that are between 15% and 20% of the original file size. So yes, if you are asking me if i wanted to crop into the original image (for a different composition etc.) then there would still be plenty of scope to do this.
But since im shooting in Jpeg, with cameras that range from 10 to 16 megapixels, i try to get the composition how i want it, without the need for cropping later.

Sorry for any confusion caused......I meant to say, when I saw ref to uncropped, .......the small crops if required....... I missed out the "if" in my haste typing :coat:
 
Paul,
This is a lovely set but you have excelled yourself with the 2nd set of shots of the Green Hairstreak, those are just stunning shots and are worth hanging on your wall.
 
Sorry for any confusion caused......I meant to say, when I saw ref to uncropped, .......the small crops if required....... I missed out the "if" in my haste typing :coat:
No problems, as long as i answered the question you asked me. ;)

A superb set, but the second Green Hairstreak you added is the cats whiskers (y)
Thanks for that, yes, it only took me a decade of chasing Green Hairstreaks around the Kent countryside, before i finally got lucky.
Paul,
This is a lovely set but you have excelled yourself with the 2nd set of shots of the Green Hairstreak, those are just stunning shots and are worth hanging on your wall.
Cheers for the comment mate, ive never printed any of my images...maybe i will one day!
Marbled Whites and Dark Green Fritillaries are starting to emerge here in the UK, so i think i might go after those species this weekend. The weekend weather forecast looks good, just wish the wind would drop some!


A couple more images.
Cheers Paul.

Small Heath Butterfly (uncropped). 15th June 2019. by Testudo Man, on Flickr

Male Adonis Blue Butterfly (uncropped). 24th May 2019. by Testudo Man, on Flickr
 
I take it that these were taken without flash and on a tripod with a slow shutter speed?
 
I take it that these were taken without flash and on a tripod with a slow shutter speed?

99.9% of the time, i will not use flash for my Butterfly images. No tripod ever used either, all the images above are handheld. Sometimes(but hardly ever) i might rest the camera on my rucksack/camera bag, which will be on the ground.

I try not to drop below 1/250 shutter speed, because with being handheld, it will be tough to get the focus.
Ive used 3 different cameras/set ups, for my 2019 season, and ive just started using a MFT (panny G7). Coupled to Raynox 150/Canon 250/150D close up filters.
Each image will obviously have different settings(because of available light/time of day when images were taken...so what i will do later, is give you some example Exif data etc.
 
I take it that these were taken without flash and on a tripod with a slow shutter speed?

Just quoting you on this again Graham. ;)

Ive looked at most of the Exif data on the my images in this thread. As i said, i rarely drop below 1/250 shutter speed. One of the images in this thread was shot at 1/200, but that was pusing it, being handheld, it can be hard to capture an image in focus! I always opt for electronic shutter too, but i use both view finder an screen to compose/shoot. View finder is easier, because you are resting the camera up against your eye/head...using screen/monitor (sometimes at arms length) can lead to camera movement/out of focus shots. Saying that, for years i did just use the screen, an had plenty of success shooting pleasing images.
I used to shoot a lot of close up Adder (vipera berus) images using the screen/montior, because it was easier/safer that way...when you are getting well within striking distance of a venomous snake, you do not want to be using the view finder to make the shot!!! So ive had plenty of practice shooting with the camera away from my head/at arms length.
If i did start to use a tripod for my butterfly images (sometime in the future maybe?) then im sure i could get away with using slower shutter speeds of less than 1/200.

These are the camera set up/settings i used for this next example image - Panny G7/45-150mm lens/500D close up filter. Manual. Auto Focus. Lens at 97mm.
f/8 1/250 ISO-500. No flash, handheld, jpeg, basic PP/editing. Image is not cropped.

Hope this helps mate, cheers Paul.

Mating pair of Common Blue Butterflies (uncropped). 20th May 2019. by Testudo Man, on Flickr
 
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Just quoting you on this again Graham. ;)

Ive looked at most of the Exif data on the my images in this thread. As i said, i rarely drop below 1/250 shutter speed. One of the images in this thread was shot at 1/200, but that was pusing it, being handheld, it can be hard to capture an image in focus! I always opt for electronic shutter too, but i use both view finder an screen to compose/shoot. View finder is easier, because you are resting the camera up against your eye/head...using screen/monitor (sometimes at arms length) can lead to camera movement/out of focus shots. Saying that, for years i did just use the screen, an had plenty of success shooting pleasing images.
I used to shoot a lot of close up Adder (vipera berus) images using the screen/montior, because it was easier/safer that way...when you are getting well within striking distance of a venomous snake, you do not want to be using the view finder to make the shot!!! So ive had plenty of practice shooting with the camera away from my head/at arms length.
If i did start to use a tripod for my butterfly images (sometime in the future maybe?) then im sure i could get away with using slower shutter speeds of less than 1/200.

These are the camera set up/settings i used for this next example image - Panny G7/45-150mm lens/500D close up filter. Manual. Auto Focus. Lens at 97mm.
f/8 1/250 ISO-500. No flash, handheld, jpeg, basic PP/editing. Image is not cropped.

Hope this helps mate, cheers Paul.

Mating pair of Common Blue Butterflies (uncropped). 20th May 2019. by Testudo Man, on Flickr
Thanks Paul, exif always is helpful.
Just on a note, On my facebook page I have someone that does really very nice images of butterflies but he does go out early in the morning when they are still roosting, he uses a tripod and a much much slower SS without using a flash also, and all is in focus because of that.
 
A cracking set Paul not managed the hairstreak myself yet
Thanks for that Kevin.
The Green Hairstreaks are all but gone now (this time of the year) so we will have to wait until next year, to have another go, at capturing images of these fiesty little swines. ;)


Thanks Paul, exif always is helpful.
Just on a note, On my facebook page I have someone that does really very nice images of butterflies but he does go out early in the morning when they are still roosting, he uses a tripod and a much much slower SS without using a flash also, and all is in focus because of that.
No problems. I think i remember you telling me about this guy before...the one who uses slow SS's with the use of a tripod, for his butterfly images. I will have to give it a go one day myself, but as a rule i dont do early mornings! i prefer late afternoon, early evenings these days, for the butterflies;)
I had a cracking day Saturday(spent 9 hours out in the field)...my target species were Dark Green Fritillaries an Marbles Whites...I shot some nice images, but need to go through them all 1st, to pick out the good ones!

All excellent. Thanks very much for posting.
Cheers for that.
 
A really nice set indeed love the green hair streaks

Thanks for that.
A couple more images, from Saturday just gone.
The Marbled Whites were plentiful (100+)...but the Dark Green Fritillaries were way less in numbers (20+).
Since it was wall to wall sunshine here in Kent, i had to wait for the DGF's to come into roost...they were still basking beyond 7.30pm!
Had a great day though...spent 9 hours out in the field!

Female Marbled White Butterfly (uncropped). 22nd June 2019. by Testudo Man, on Flickr

Male Dark Green Fritillary Butterfly, at roost. (uncropped). 22nd June 2019. by Testudo Man, on Flickr
 
And a lovely BG to boot...
 
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