Brown Argus Butterfly...one of our smallest UK species.

Testudo Man

Testudo Man

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Paul
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Testudo Man said:
Cheers for that.
How far North are you?...You don't get "Scotch Argus" do you? thats a species ive not seen.
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I'm in sunny Lanacashire and not that I've seen. Did see a Brown Argus on holiday last year, but trying to keep it pretty local ATM.. hoping there'll be some Common Blues around shortly :)
 
I think theres been a few sightings in the far north of England (Cumbria etc.) of the Scotch Argus, but like the name suggests, mainly found in Scotland I guess.

Common Blues have been out down here in Kent for at least a week (maybe 2 weeks now). We just take it for granted down here in the Garden of England!
You should start to see them soon enough, good luck in your hunt. Ive stayed local too...but yesterday, was the 1st real day, that I made a trip of it. Drove 15 miles, spent over 7 hours out in the field, 2 cameras, over 750 images taken:rolleyes:...but I did get to see my target species of Adonis Blue an Small Blue, so it was worth the effort. ;)
 
Testudo Man said:
I think theres been a few sightings in the far north of England (Cumbria etc.) of the Scotch Argus, but like the name suggests, mainly found in Scotland I guess.

Common Blues have been out down here in Kent for at least a week (maybe 2 weeks now). We just take it for granted down here in the Garden of England!
You should start to see them soon enough, good luck in your hunt. Ive stayed local too...but yesterday, was the 1st real day, that I made a trip of it. Drove 15 miles, spent over 7 hours out in the field, 2 cameras, over 750 images taken:rolleyes:...but I did get to see my target species of Adonis Blue an Small Blue, so it was worth the effort. ;)
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We've plenty of variety so I can't complain! Don't seem to be a great quantity about locally so far this year. Hopefully we'll have some Common Blues around in the next few weeks then.. I've only been out to our local nature reserve so far (2 miles) and local walks. We're fortunate that it's only a 5 minute walk to get to the countryside in every direction. It does get a bit like that - thank goodness for cheap SD cards!! :)
 
Some great shots here, Really well taken.
 
Very nice Paul
 
Beautiful set!! Do you use stacking, shoot hand held and do you use tubes / macro attachment lens? Which lens do you use? Fantastic results you get!!
 
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Wandering star said:
A smashing set of images
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Cheers for that Gary.

scoober said:
very nice set
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Thanks.

Son_of_Thor said:
We've plenty of variety so I can't complain! Don't seem to be a great quantity about locally so far this year. Hopefully we'll have some Common Blues around in the next few weeks then.. I've only been out to our local nature reserve so far (2 miles) and local walks. We're fortunate that it's only a 5 minute walk to get to the countryside in every direction. It does get a bit like that - thank goodness for cheap SD cards!! :)
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Lets hope the good/warm weather is kind for you, for Mon, Tues, Wed then...Thurs/Friday not so good. It shouldn't be too long, before the whole of the UK sees butterflies on the wing, pretty much everywhere. I only ever shoot in Jpeg, an my cameras are only 12/16 megapixels, so not huge files to worry about, but yeah, SD cards are cheap enough these days.

jbw said:
Excellent work
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Thanks for that.

Graham said:
Some great shots here, Really well taken.
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Thanks for the comment Graham.

Ajophotog said:
Superb series Paul. :)
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Cheers Alby.

alfbranch said:
Very nice Paul
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Thanks Alf.

gilbouk said:
Beautiful set!! Do you use stacking, shoot hand held and do you use tubes / macro attachment lens? Which lens do you use? Fantastic results you get!!
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Thanks for your questions Gil, an cheers for the comment....…..my answers might surprise a few people though!
I never stack images, all my images are singles...maybe i will try stacking in the future, but not tried it yet.
I shoot handheld all the time too, never used a tripod, cant see it working, out in the field, chasing fast flying butterflies.
For all the images in this thread (and a large amount of many of my butterfly images) I just use a bridge camera...small sensor, 12 megapixel, Jpegs, Auto focus. No flash used.
My latest bridge camera(the Panasonic FZ330) shot these images...but, i always have a 500D close up filter,attached to the end of the lens. This camera has touch screen, which is great for butterflies, in the past, without the aid of touch screen, i would miss a lot of shots...touch screen speeds everything up, allowing for more "keepers"...you have to be quick when shooting butterflies, you dont get much time, before the butterfly takes off again. Field skills help a lot...ive been photographing butterflies for a decade now, so ive put a lot of practice in over the years, to get to where i am today.
I also have a MFT Panasonic G80/45-150mm lens, that has a 500D close up filter attached too...I run both camera setups side by side, backpack on the back, a camera in each hand, its get pretty hectic at times, but if you want to make the shot, you do these things!.

I have used both FX/DX Nikon bodies in the past(to good effect) with macro 105/150mm lenses...but i want lightweight gear these days, i want touch screen, i want to able to shoot one handed, an quick...my current butterfly setups/gear, ticks all my boxes for now.

Back to my butterfly images, i want to get everything on the butterfly in focus, that means all 4 wings, all 4 wing tips (open wing shots) head/body/eyes/antennae etc. These types of shots are not easy to acheive, but with practice, it can be done...i shoot a lot of images in a session, but i bin most of em!
So, i shoot (for the most part) in good light - Panny FZ330 - f/5, ISO 100, shutter speed varies, it can be 1/1600, or down to 1/200.
Panny G80 - (for the most part) in good light - f/8, Auto ISO (up to 1600) but down to 400 in real good light. Shutter speed can be up to 1/1600, but normally around 1/500, then if the light fades, i can drop shutter speed right down to 1/100 or less, but thats going to be really hard to get focus, so i might have to lean camera on backpack for those real low shutter speeds.
Sorry for the long reply, but i wanted to be thorough!!! cheers Paul.

PS. most of the time, i shoot both cameras on electronic shutter setting, again, this speeds everything up, its just silent an fast.
 
Testudo Man said:
Cheers for that Gary.


Thanks.


Lets hope the good/warm weather is kind for you, for Mon, Tues, Wed then...Thurs/Friday not so good. It shouldn't be too long, before the whole of the UK sees butterflies on the wing, pretty much everywhere. I only ever shoot in Jpeg, an my cameras are only 12/16 megapixels, so not huge files to worry about, but yeah, SD cards are cheap enough these days.


Thanks for that.


Thanks for the comment Graham.


Cheers Alby.


Thanks Alf.


Thanks for your questions Gil, an cheers for the comment....…..my answers might surprise a few people though!
I never stack images, all my images are singles...maybe i will try stacking in the future, but not tried it yet.
I shoot handheld all the time too, never used a tripod, cant see it working, out in the field, chasing fast flying butterflies.
For all the images in this thread (and a large amount of many of my butterfly images) I just use a bridge camera...small sensor, 12 megapixel, Jpegs, Auto focus. No flash used.
My latest bridge camera(the Panasonic FZ330) shot these images...but, i always have a 500D close up filter,attached to the end of the lens. This camera has touch screen, which is great for butterflies, in the past, without the aid of touch screen, i would miss a lot of shots...touch screen speeds everything up, allowing for more "keepers"...you have to be quick when shooting butterflies, you dont get much time, before the butterfly takes off again. Field skills help a lot...ive been photographing butterflies for a decade now, so ive put a lot of practice in over the years, to get to where i am today.
I also have a MFT Panasonic G80/45-150mm lens, that has a 500D close up filter attached too...I run both camera setups side by side, backpack on the back, a camera in each hand, its get pretty hectic at times, but if you want to make the shot, you do these things!.

I have used both FX/DX Nikon bodies in the past(to good effect) with macro 105/150mm lenses...but i want lightweight gear these days, i want touch screen, i want to able to shoot one handed, an quick...my current butterfly setups/gear, ticks all my boxes for now.

Back to my butterfly images, i want to get everything on the butterfly in focus, that means all 4 wings, all 4 wing tips (open wing shots) head/body/eyes/antennae etc. These types of shots are not easy to acheive, but with practice, it can be done...i shoot a lot of images in a session, but i bin most of em!
So, i shoot (for the most part) in good light - Panny FZ330 - f/5, ISO 100, shutter speed varies, it can be 1/1600, or down to 1/200.
Panny G80 - (for the most part) in good light - f/8, Auto ISO (up to 1600) but down to 400 in real good light. Shutter speed can be up to 1/1600, but normally around 1/500, then if the light fades, i can drop shutter speed right down to 1/100 or less, but thats going to be really hard to get focus, so i might have to lean camera on backpack for those real low shutter speeds.
Sorry for the long reply, but i wanted to be thorough!!! cheers Paul.

PS. most of the time, i shoot both cameras on electronic shutter setting, again, this speeds everything up, its just silent an fast.
Click to expand...

Thanks for sharing so much info. You mention a lot of points that are very useful. Particularly speed and portability!! I’ve been doing macro with my D750, which in comparison with modern cameras is a lumbering beast when using live view. It also doesn’t have touch screen.
 
gilbouk said:
Thanks for sharing so much info. You mention a lot of points that are very useful. Particularly speed and portability!! I’ve been doing macro with my D750, which in comparison with modern cameras is a lumbering beast when using live view. It also doesn’t have touch screen.
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Cheers.
If you are using high end/higher megapixel gear, then you don't have to get so close to the butterfly, you can just shoot, then crop for composition etc. Most of my images are not cropped, with my smaller sensor/available megapixels, I really want to get everything right, so I don't need to crop...I don't like spending more than a few minutes on editing/PP my images.
For my closed wing/underwing shots, its all a bit more relaxed, because the butterflies have come into roost/sleep, its late in the afternoon/early evening, so its not so hectic.
Other Butterfly enthusiast employ different tactics, they get up way before sunrise, go find the roosting butterflies, set everything up, an wait for sunrise. When the sun rays reach/shine on the sleeping butterflies, the butterfly will crawl to the tip of its chosen perch, then as it heats up, it will open its wings wide, to absorb the full sun......……..this is probably the best time to shoot butterfly images for sure...but ive never tried early mornings myself. I generally shoot through the day, into the evening...last year I was shooting roosting butterflies beyond 9.00pm!!

Going back to touch screen...you are constantly turning camera on/off during the day, your stalking/chasing the active butterflies, when they land, they will either bask or take nectar, you don't have much time for most species, they will soon take flight once more...so touch screen is real quick, turn camera on, chose focus point/size of focus point for composition, get in close, DONT cast a shadow over butterfly, an shoot...this procedure should take less than 5 seconds tops.
Note - I use monitor screen for the most part...but for roosting/evening shots, then I will use EVF.

cruso said:
Very nice indeed Paul
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Thanks for that Kevin.
 
Fabulous images Paul and also fantastic sharing of your skillset and how you do this. Great reading !!
TFS
stu
 
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