2018 Project 52 - 3rd Qtr - Sandy (Skitterbug)

[Cantab]

Sandy, that's quite a set of action shots. Congratulations -- even if the aerial display was just outside your computer room!

[Shadowman]

Nice series with the birds, very artistic compositions.

[skitterbug]

Sandy, that's quite a set of action shots. Congratulations -- even if the aerial display was just outside your computer room!

What I enjoy about the location is that I can toss open the window and brace my arms on my desktop to steady for the photos! The difficulty is keeping up with them! They are fast!

Thank you for commenting!

[skitterbug]

Nice series with the birds, very artistic compositions.

Hi John - I appreciate that you enjoyed the series! I must have spent over four hours, trying to capture the scenes that I wanted!

Thanks for commenting!

[rudi]

Some very nice shots in this thread Sandy. Keep them coming.....

[skitterbug]

Some very nice shots in this thread Sandy. Keep them coming.....

Thank you for commenting Rudi. I'll certainly keep practicing! Photography is fun for me!

[FootLoose]

Amazing set of photos, Sandy, well done.

[skitterbug]

Amazing set of photos, Sandy, well done.

Hi Greg - It happened to be that perfect day when things seemed to fall into place! I'm glad you like the photos Thank you for your kind words!

[NorthernFocus]

Interesting set, Sandy. That first one with both birds airborne is really nice. Well done.

[skitterbug]

Interesting set, Sandy. That first one with both birds airborne is really nice. Well done.

Hi Dan - Once I found out that I didn't have to completely stop the motion and could allow a bit of blur to occur, catching these hummers became a bit easier. It also helped that on the day of this shoot, the hummers were so busy eating and fighting that they mostly ignored me. However, I did have one fly directly toward me within 2 feet and hover as if to say, "what you lookin' at"? I was totally unprepared for its action, so I missed the chance! <sigh>

I'm glad you enjoyed them and I do appreciate your comments!

[skitterbug]

Week 39 - I took these a few weeks ago but got sidetracked by the hummingbirds. As far as I can tell from surfing the web, I believe (?) this is a Question Mark butterfly - Polygonia interrogationis.

This one wasn't lazy by any means and trying to catch up with it was worth several calories of exertion!
Settings for all three: ISO125 - f/8 - 1/250. Hindsight says that maybe I should have had a faster shutter speed.

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#3

[Geoff F]

Butterflies are definitely difficult to photograph well, Sandy. 1/250 isn't really too slow providing there isn't any subject movement or camera shake. Most of my insect photos are taken between 1/160 and 1/200.

For me, camera angle is very important with these subjects. I must get a perfect symmetrical wing shape (with a few exceptions) which means a lot of fiddling around with my shooting position and many total failures. Perfect focus will all parts sharp are another requirement. Manual focus for me every time.

Some butterflies look good, or best in some cases, with folded wings but you still need to get a perfect shooting angle where the head, etc looks perfect.

OK, sometimes I am shooting more for identification purposes than for artistic perfection, in which cases I might require an unflattering angle, but for something to hang on the wall I take a lot of care and expect at least 90% rejection rate.

[skitterbug]

Hi Geoff - Thank you for your thoughts about butterfly photography. I've never seen one like I posted. It looks like a leaf when the wings are folded. Most unusual. If they are around, they haven't been in our yard before. It was skittish and really didn't like me being close at all.

As for using manual focusing, I'd never get it done because I would never get that accomplished in the few seconds that the butterfly paused. I figured that a bit faster speed would have been useful because of the butterfly's constant motion.

It was an exercise in many ways, and yes several tries ended up in the rubbish bin!

Thanks again! Have a happy day!

[billtils]

Nice set Sandy. I like the third very much - it's so nice to see a well posed and exposed shot of the insect that does not depend on the wing colours for impact. Well done.

[skitterbug]

Nice set Sandy. I like the third very much - it's so nice to see a well posed and exposed shot of the insect that does not depend on the wing colours for impact. Well done.

Hi Bill - I also like the third one best and so I posted it last for visual effect! <chuckle> I used the first two to show how different the open and closed wings were. Neither one of the first two are quite as sharp as I would have liked but the butterfly wouldn't sit for even the few seconds I needed to compose and shoot! So I settled for what I had.

I appreciate your comments! Thank you!