Common Bluebottle

[Bobobird]

Flighty buggers and really hard to get a lock on them.

Comments/suggestions always welcomed and appreciated.

Thanks for viewing.

1.


2.


3.

[FrankMi]

For some reason it looks like the bottom of his wing is caught in a spider thread. Perhaps that is why he held still long enough for you to get the shot?

[Bobobird]

He was flitting around erratically like most butterflies and hit the leaf momentarily and then was off again. The thread probably did not affect it much though a web would have.

[jprzybyla]

Nice images, beautiful butterfly. Regarding a flitting butterfly, if there is enough light I shoot them with the same settings as I would use for a bird in flight. This freezes any wing motion.

[Bobobird]

Thanks Joe. Agree about the bird settings for flying butterflies. This time wanted some motion but should have used a somewhat faster speed maybe 1/400 to get just the tips to blur particularly with #2. In #1 and #3 there is the hint of tip blur that I would have hoped for in #2. Well... there is always another time since I will be here for another couple of weeks.

[jprzybyla]

Hi Bobo, you wrote you would be there for another couple of weeks so you must not be home in Ontario. I will give you something to think about. A basically slow shutter speed works for photographing flying birds showing the wings blurred indicating motion because the camera is panning following the bird. Basically the bird is stationary with only the wings moving, if the panning is done correctly. With butterflies that are flitting about the camera is stationary (too close to successfuly pan), the butterfly is moving. So the whole butterfly is moving not just the wings. Flitting butterflies need a high shutter speed to freeze them in place. Keep shooting my friend.

[Bobobird]

Thanks Joe.

Will setup for bird n the next butterfly hunt and see how that goes.