Small Coppers are very variable in appearance. Emmet/Heath quote a wingspan range of 26 - 36 mm, which is a considerable range. I guess it depends on food availability at the caterpillar stage.
Your first photo is an example of the aberration
caeruleopunctata - you can see that there are small blue dots just inside the orange band on the hind wings. It's a pity you were distracted for the second photo as it looks to be a very nice newly-emerged specimen. The colour tends to fade with age but, as there are three (sometimes four) broods each year, there is always a chance of finding fresh specimens. I took the following photo in September 2008 on a fence at the RSPB reserve on Otmoor, Oxon., and it is the most brightly-coloured that I have seen.
![SmCopper_Otmoor08.jpg (45.89 KiB) Viewed 762 times Otmoor, Oxon - 21st September 2008](./files/thumb_11310_61b75e9364b50e0a421258c0df9d8636)
- Otmoor, Oxon - 21st September 2008
Mike