Pauline

[essexbuzzard]

Agreed,i think your photos are great.Love the Green Hairstreaks. I've yet to see one this year,and i'm desperate. If this cold,dull,windy weather ever improves,i will try some of my local colonies,but may be pushed further afield!

[Maximus]

Hi Pauline, agreed, your photos have always been excellent, before I joined this forum I always enjoyed your diary. Cathy and I met you a couple of times in the field, Shipton Bellinger was one place. The foxes you care for are amazing, we saw a gorgeous, easy going fox at Wrecclesham recently, he just sat up on the path in front of us with his head turned watching us, watching him.

Mike

[Pauline]

Thank you Goldie. Pity you're so far away cos I think you and me would get on just great.

Thank you too Neil. Orange Tips are definitely thin on the ground here and I still haven't managed an open wing shot. I am now getting so obsessed that I am even scanning the verges as I drive along, so if you see a small yellow car weaving from side to side then it's likely to be me

Hi Mike. I appreciate your comments regarding both photos and foxes. When I read your diary I wondered how we had never bumped into each other as we visit all the same places - then I realised that we had! I think the very first time I met yourself and Cathy was at the Straits.

Thank you Essexbuzzard. I hope you manage to find some without having to go too far.

Seeing a massive improvement in the weather I decided this afternoon to visit Chiddingfold briefly to see if the Wood Whites had emerged. On arriving at Botany Bay I immediately saw Philip looking at the gathering clouds. The sun had disappeared and the temperature had dropped noticeably. Philip was considering whether to even bother to look for the butterfly but it didn't take much persuasion before he was pulling on his boots and together we set off. By the time we reached the usual spot the sun had returned and before long we spotted our first Wood White. I had completely forgotten what lovely little insects these are - smaller than I remembered but every bit as delightful; so delicate and ethereal. As we progressed along the track we began to lose count and the changeable weather conditions meant there were plenty of photo opportunities. My time was limited so I could not hang around for photogenic poses but a few shots to hopefully whet the appetite:

[Wurzel]

Cracking shots Pauline I only found my first Wood Whites last year and it's one species I'm desperate to catch up with again.

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Pauline]

Thank you Wurzel. I feel that for me, at last, the season has started. Yesterday I saw a total of 11 species, 5 of those being a first for the season. Early morning I nipped up to Wrecclesham as last time I had failed to get past the Hairstreaks. I was pleased to see that they were still there and one came onto my hand (no mating pair tho' ) Time was at a premium so I pressed on and was able to get a shot of my first Small Heath of the year. I was entertained by 2 Speckled Woods dog-fighting for a whole ten minutes after which they both collapsed in a heap, sprawled out on some gravel. However, it was the whites which captivated me yesterday so today's pics are of the Green-Veined, another seasonal first:

[Neil Hulme]

Hi Pauline,

Some exceptionally good images there, particularly the second. Not only is that a very good study of a GVW, but it also has considerable artistic merit too. Good shooting.

Best Wishes, Neil

[Mark Colvin]

Hi Pauline,

Great work.

White's are not easy, so well done. It proves what can be done with a simple and inexpensive camera.

Kind regards. Mark

[Nick Broomer]

Lovely photos of the G.V.W. Pauline, the second picture is just superb.

All the best, Nick.

[David M]

the second picture is just superb.

Agreed. That's the pick of a very impressive series.

[Neil Freeman]

Hi Pauline,

I can only echo the previous comments, beautiful photos

Neil F.

[Pauline]

Thank you so much for your comments Neil, Mark, Nick, David, Neil. I am still feeling quite overwhelmed by all the praise. Part of me feels amazingly motivated but another part of me is scared to pick up my camera, fearful that I won't be able to live up to the standard of those photos; and the truth is, that of course I won't. I am not consistent enough yet to produce image after image of a high quality but I can promise you I will keep trying especially when you provide such help and encouragement.

I would also like to thank another Mark (Tuts) for his directions to Rake Bottom. I am more than happy to sacrifice the possibility of beautifully toned thighs for an easy route into that site I followed those directions today and was pleased to be able to take some shots of a very obliging Dingy Skipper, unlike the flighty creature I encountered there last time.

[Pauline]

I wanted to try a different sort of photo. I wanted to capture some activity, movement, natural behaviour. In my haste I used a shutter speed faster than was necessary and the resulting large aperture gave me a smaller depth of field creating some blurring of the butterfly. Despite adjusting the exposure compensation to the maximum the camera would allow (very bright sunshine) there seems to be some bleaching of the pale flowers. It is tempting only to include the best photos in this diary but it is a record of my progress rather than a record of my achievements. Nevertheless, it would seem that I have gone some way towards my goal. It appears that this female is multi-tasking - nectaring and egg-laying?

[Neil Freeman]

Hi Pauline,

Nice female Orange Tips, especially the backlit second one. The Dingys are good too, I still havn't see one yet, there has only been a couple reported in Warwickshire so far, we are well behind this year.

I also like to try different styles of photo, whilst I appreciate the 'butterfly on a stick against a soft pastel background' style, and indeed sometimes try for this myself, I find too many of these can look like posed studio shots and after a while I get a bit bored of them.
If done right they can make for a beautiful photograph but sometimes for me the natural element is lost. I know that there is differing opinion on this and I am certainly not saying there is a right or wrong way, just waffling a bit with my views.

Take care and keep taking the photos, your past few posts all been good with some 'stunners' amongst them

Neil F.

[Pauline]

Thank you Neil - I appreciate your comments. Yes, it's good to try something new from time to time isn't it. I think trying something different presents new challenges which force me to think more about what I'm actually doing. The chap below is also very much in his natural environment and although not a species I am particularly drawn to, as it was my first sighting of the season he is included for 'completeness'.

I paid a brief visit to a site near Fernhurst yesterday afternoon to see if there was any evidence of the PBF's having emerged. The fact that I couldn't find any was not too much of a surprise as this tends to be a 'late' site with relatively few butterflies, although I am hoping that the work that has been done there will encourage them to expand their territory. What does surprise me however, is that there are no Wood Whites at this site - it looks perfect for them and not dissimilar from Chiddingfold Forest where Wood Whites thrive. Perhaps they used to exist here at some time in the past in the same way that PBF used to exist at Chiddingfold before they became extinct there (apart from the recent unauthorised release).

[P.J.Underwood]

Pauline,
It comes to something when the Master changes his camera to that of the pupil.It shows what good quality your photo's are!
Philip

[MikeOxon]

not a species I am particularly drawn to, as it was my first sighting of the season he is included for 'completeness'.

Poor chap - just making up the numbers!

I think they have a charm of their own - perky things, with subtly-toned soft undersides that are very difficult to photograph well.

Your pic is good and so are the female Orange Tips that you-posted earlier. I consider it to be quite a triumph to get good photos of 'whites' in bright sunlight. I once joked that whites should be avoided in competitions, because they are so hard to represent well, but yours would be fine

Mike

[Wurzel]

Cracking shots Pauline I'll have to PM you about the depth of field thing - I find I have to get the butterfly at just the right angle to try and get all of it in focus. That being said I rally like the shots from different angles as they often give the image a little something extra, they tell the story more almost.

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Pauline]

'Fraid so Mike Here's another chap who is just 'making up the numbers' until something else comes along (altho' anything is welcome given this awful weather). Actually, I have a bit more respect for this little chap as he was the victor in the previously mentioned dog-fight :

Thank you Mike for your comments re the Whites - you have been a constant source of knowledge, support and encouragement and to that end perhaps you might be kind enough to comment on depth of field?

Dear Wurzel, when I read your post this morning I almost choked on my coffee! I never thought I'd see the day when someone asked me about photography - definitely a first . I'm afraid I really have only grasped the basics but I believe that a large aperture (small f number) produces a small depth of field. Whilst this can give a nice blurred background, it is not much good for getting both wings in focus if they are partially open. There are many knowledgeable photographers on this site and perhaps one of them would be kind enough to advise the both of us on the best way to achieve this.

[MikeOxon]

perhaps you might be kind enough to comment on depth of field?

I'll have a go, hopefully without getting too technical. A lens is only perfectly in focus at one spot but there is a distance, in front and behind, where the amount of fuzziness is not usually noticeable. This distance is called the 'depth of field' but it's not a 'hard and fast' distance. I've made a diagram which, I hope, shows how a big lens (wide aperture) allows less leeway in front and behind the subject than a small one does.

When you select a small aperture (large f-number) in aperture priority mode, only a small hole, in the middle of the lens, is used, so the depth of field is greater. Try f/8 on your Lumix for more depth of field.

An important point is that there tends to be more depth of field beyond the focus point than in front of it, so it is usually better to focus on a nearer bit of the subject than further away. Don't overdo it though, as a golden rule is that the eyes must be in focus!

Old manual-focus cameras used to have scales so that you could see the range of distances that would be in focus for a given aperture setting.

DOF_scale.jpg (36.65 KiB) Viewed 487 times

With this particular lens then, if you set the focus at 12 ft, everything between 6 ft and infinity would be within the depth of field at an aperture of f/11 whereas, at f/2.8, the depth would only stretch from 10 ft to 15 ft.

It's harder with an AF camera but you can try to persuade it to focus on, say, the nearer wing, in the hope that the farther wing will still be in focus.

Mike

[Pauline]

Thanks for this clear and comprehensive explanation Mike. I am sure it will be useful to others also. I certainly didn't know that there is more depth of field beyond the focus point than in front. Certainly something that is worth bearing in mind for next time. Well, the sun has just started to appear here for the first time in ages and I have an appointment with my osteopath