Orange Tip

Super shot! Not seen one yet. Been snowed under trying to catch up with everything in the garden before going away now the weather has finally improved!

Provence Orange Tips tomorrow PM I hope!!!

By: NigelKiteley

Brimestone

Super shot Nigel! Things are starting to wake up finally!!

By: NigelKiteley

Small Copper

Super shot Nigel. My count of these last year- 1! Still that's better than my green hair streak count I suppose. Fingers crossed there are some butterflies left when the weather finally warms up. Fortunately I'm going south for my holidays this year!

By: NigelKiteley

Bermuda Buttercup

Lovely delicate image Matt.

Unfortunately spring is not very commonly seen this year!

By: mattberry

Marbled Fritillary

Super shot nigel. One of my favrouites when I go to france but super active in the sun. I assumed these roosted in the up high at night as I find them mostly on the brambles in the hedge rows. I'll have to make a point if hitting their location early some time!

By: NigelKiteley

On the Steps

Stunning shot Tim. Really captures the moment. I see you have that big white (and expensive!) 70-200 which must attract a bit of attention and make candid shots a bit of a challenge?

By: celestun

Mr Creeps

Staggering set of images Ade. The detail is incredible. Much like your moth images it gives a really quite unique view of a common subject. Normally macro shooters wouldn't shoot subjects at these angles due to the tiny depth of field making most of the subject a blur with a straight shot, but with these huge image stacks (65 images - you really should try and sleep more!) you are able to show off these subjects to their best in superb detail.

Keep em coming!!!

By: Ade_Osman

Scarce Copper

Lovely shot Nigel!

Did you have to shoot the poppy head with your air rifle though? Or is it they have tiny woodpeckers in Spain?

By: NigelKiteley

Brown Hairstreak

Gorgeous shot Matt! A real stunner captured perfectly!

By: mattberry

Silver-studded Blue

Superb colours and great mix of sharp details and soft background.

Been meaning to go to Birdfair for years and almost made it this year, but in the end family commitments meant I had to be elsewhere. Hopefully I'll make it next year instead!

By: mattberry

Puffin

Adrian - for most of the day it was blue sky, but later on a bit of cloud came over and that was much better for photography. Black and white in bright sunshine isn't good!

By: fishiee

Sooty Copper

Excellent shot of a stunning butterfly Nigel! I've seen Sooty Coppers before but never with tails like that. I've checked the book and online and don't see any others with tails, yet everything else looks good for Sooty Copper and the only copper I see with tails is the Grecian Copper which is nowhere near Spain (and doesn't really look like this anyway). Do they all have tails like this there?

Maybe it's a seperate subspecies?

Awesome open wing shot wither way!

By: NigelKiteley

Asphodel Meadows

Simply exquisite Matt!

Love the contrast between the flower and the background and the 2 butterflies really add to it. That Green Haistreak is a stunner! The butterflies on their own aren't anything too special, but as an image overall I really like this a lot.

By: mattberry

Damon Blue

Stunningly delicate butterfly Nigel and captured superbly. Really attractive seed head it's perched on too.

My only criticism is the background. I'd darken down the top half a little as it's a bit over powering and maybe lighten the bottom right a little too.

By: NigelKiteley

Barnack No 10

Superb shot Adrian. Possibly the best of the set for me!

Superb background and great detail and depth of field in the foreground. Scabous heads look stunning but because of the shape hard to get it all sharp but you've done it brilliantly here!

By: tomcat

Bali Light

Lovely shot Tim. Great POV as always and impressive depth of field - looks like a pretty big butterfly!

By: celestun

Silver Studded Blue

Great except for the slightly bright snapped off bit on the bottom right of the stem. Now I've printed this A3 that really buggs me and I wish I'd darkened it down more!!

By: fishiee

Barnack No 8

Another cracking shot Adrian.

Also had another bash at these at one of my local sites today. As the wind was too strong for a distant trip for Brown Hairstreaks I popped in on another much earlier site where these began emerging a couple of weeks back and was amazed to still see good numbers of newly emerged males and lots of fresh emerged females being mobbed by the males.

By: tomcat

Backlit Marbled White

Thanks Tim. Can't think where I got the idea from!

Looking good for a return to Provence for me next year!

By: fishiee

Marbled White on Grass II

Nigel - As I say I was amazed it was at all sharp. Must have been lucky and caught it at the end of the swing!

By: fishiee

male and female cleopatras

Lovely couple of shots there Carol. From my experiences of these in France they're not the easiest of subjects to get to stay still!

They are in fact Cleopatras not Brimstones though. The orange upper wings(which you can see thanks to the backlighting) indicate a Male Cleopatra. Brimstones don't have any Orange in either sex. Also to me seeing only Brimstones in the UK I can see the wing shape is not quite right for Brimstones. The pointy bits at the tips should be a bit pointier for a Brimstone. I checked the Collins Buterfly Guide which can't be 100% relied upon, but that shows that on Crete you don't get Brimstones, only Cleopatras though I know people say the distribution maps aren't great for some species so you might get the odd one. These two are definitely Cleopatras though.

By: CarolG

Sooty Copper

A real cracker Nigel. Great pose and composition!

By: NigelKiteley

Chocolate You Can't Eat!

Great set of shots Ade. Not seen an image of one of these before. Very similar shape to the Buff Tip as you say.

I think image 2 is a stunner. Quite an unusual angle and only able to get it all focused due to the stacking. An extremely powerful composition. It makes those hairy legs look huuge!!

I think that moths were made for the MPE-65 and stacking as they're a very co-operative subject which is essential for the technique. I don't really recall seeing any moth shots other than yours with the MPE-65 but surely there must be some others doing it out there?

Regardless, your images are bringing moths to me in a quite unique and stunning way. Keep 'em coming!!

It's also getting me wondering if I can be brave enough to have a go with one for butterflies!

By: Ade_Osman

Red Dragon

Hi Tim,

Good to see you posting again! Love the imagination in this shot. Very unique angle of view but a shame the angle wasn't such to get everything in focus.

From what we can see it looks like a pretty striking subject!

By: celestun

Female Silver Studded Blue

Hm... yes good spot Geoff. Looks like I was a bit lazy with this one and can see 3 rather glaring dust spots on this one now!

By: fishiee

Barnack No 2

Excellent shot. Great colours and love the composition!

By: tomcat

Cerura iberica

Super shot Nigel. Looks like this one is getting ready to pupate judging by the colour.

I found a few of these and reared them at home in the past. I found than gently blowing in their face caused them to display their facial and tail warnings which looks good for photos, but then one got me in the eye with Formic Acid - not nice!

By: NigelKiteley

Epinotia subocellana

Another cracking shot Ade. Incredible detail. You're really bringing these micro moths to the masses and everyone's having the chance to appreciate their minute beauty that isn't generally seen. Keep it up!

By: Ade_Osman

Scarce Copper

This one's a real stunner! Pristine butterfly and love the curved flower stem. The soft tones of the vbackground really make the butterfly jump out!

I have seen these a lot in Switzerland and like you have always wanted a good open winged shot but no joy as yet. They are either roosted or hyper. Not found them in between! Also, when it's hot and they do settle it's always with wings three quarters open which isn't nice for a decent photo. This one looks a very co-operative subject!

By: NigelKiteley

Black-veined White

Great find and superbly captured. The colours are stunning!

I've found the butterflies just emerged and pumping up their wings and the empty pupae in Provence but never a full one!

By: mattberry