common blue

I had a walk round a local nature reserve last night to look for possible locations and also to try and find some orchids.

While looking through a patch of long grass I saw this Common Blue butterfly. It was quite late in the day and the butterfly didn't look very active.

I planned to return to the reserve early this morning in the hope that the butterfly would still be in the same place.

I set the alarm for 0330 and when I got out of bed I could see that it was quite misty so I hoped the butterfly would be covered in dew. There was hardly any breeze so I hoped the long grass would be still enough for photography. Fingers were crossed!

I got to the reserve and after a short while searching I found the butterfly again. It had moved but not very far!

I was pleased to find that the insect and the grass were both covered in dew. I knew that it would be a while before the butterfly warmed up enough to fly so I hoped to get some decent shots.

I set the tripod up so the camera was parallel with the insect's wings as I knew that depth of field would be limited with an extension tube fitted.

I moved a few stray bits of grass out of the shot and started to shoot. This photo was taken at 0630.

Tripod, mirror lock-up and self-timer used.

Canon EOS 20D with EF 70-200mm lens and Extension Tube.

1/8th sec @ f11 @ iso 200.

Title:	common blue
Username:	lee beel
Uploaded:	6 Jun 2008 - 5:50 PM
Camera:	Canon EOS 20D
Lens:	EF 70-200mm lens and Extension Tube
Recording media:	RAW (digital)
Tags:	Beel, Butterfly, Close-up / macro, Macro, Wildlife / nature
Votes:	30