Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Painted Ladies

During sunny periods yesterday, I saw my second and third Painted Lady butterflies of the year; again amongst the dunes at the top of Swansea Beach.
I had gone down there looking for birds (although I didn't manage any decent photos of them), so I had to press my 500mm lens (with extension tubes to allow it to focus close enough) into action for this shot, as the butterfly rested on the sea-wall when clouds pulled overhead:


I tried a different approach here, coupling a 50mm f/1.8 lens to a 2x converter, a combination I hadn't tried before. Sharpness is so-so on the original, although hopefully it looks okay here:


As soon as the sun came out, the butterflies came to life again, mainly feeding on a small group of Red Valerian plants. I was back to the 500mm lens for this shot:



9 comments:

  1. Very good shots Jeremy....nice colors.

    greetings, Joop

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  2. I prefer extension tubes to teleconverters. Both are a pain. Sharpening with unsharp mask can pull back enough for the web. Lovely shots of the Lady. Hundreds about a couple of years ago but they are scarce or non existent up here.

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  3. I haven't seen any this year. But yours is very good indeed. What is your equipment?

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  4. Great photos Jeremy. I've not seen any Painted Ladies yet this year. Looks like the dunes are worth checking out at the moment.

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  5. Thanks for your comments. Bob, I listed some of the equipment in the blurb with the pictures. I was using a Canon 40D camera mounted on a Feisol 3471 tripod with Markins M10 ballhead. The first and last shot were taken with a Sigma 500mm f/4.5 lens, using a Kenko extension tube to enable it to focus closer. Middle shot was taken using a Canon 50mm f/1.8 lens and a Kenko 2x converter. I used the camera's self-timer with mirror-lockup to get things as sharp as possible. Hope that helps.

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  6. Wonderful butterflies and lovely colors,
    nice work Jeremy.

    Greetings, Joop

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