www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

The Spiders take a lot of butterflies this time of year. In the morning, when it was overcast, and no butterflies were flying. We found 21 Wasp Spiders, 2 of them had resent butterfly victims. We went back in the afternoon, when the sun came out, and practically all the Wasp, and other spiders, had taken one or more butterflies.

Not long and the dopey Crane Flies will be out, then the spiders have more food, then they know what to do with.

Gruditch

Gruditch wrote:The Spiders take a lot of butterflies this time of year. In the morning, when it was overcast, and no butterflies were flying. We found 21 Wasp Spiders, 2 of them had resent butterfly victims. We went back in the afternoon, when the sun came out, and practically all the Wasp, and other spiders, had taken one or more butterflies.

Not long and the dopey Crane Flies will be out, then the spiders have more food, then they know what to do with.

Gruditch

I had to sit and watch while this one snagged a Geranium Bronze

Bill

Zonda wrote:It's a 'damsel in distress' scenario. He's trying to save her life.

"He" is a "she" actually, but it's curious what the butterfly is up to. I don't think females instigate mating preliminaries. Mistaken nectar source perhaps?

Eccles, if you go to "Edit post" on the one you want to delete, and if you see on top a box that says "delete post" check it and press submit and it deletes.

...meanwhile, in another universe, the topic was digital manipulation....


I guess once you learn to use Photoshop a little the temptation is there ....
...but I also guess that you get a bit more thoughtful in framing shots so as to NOT spend ages digital gardening too!

I haven't quite reached the stage of carrying scissors to snip herbage out of the way (yet!) but I do try to remove stems or re-frame shots to avoid clutter.
You may not get as many shots - but you may get the one you want!

N

Gosh,,,, snipping herbage,,,,, that makes me hungry.

I think you are dead right Nick. its all about making the best of what you have.

I can't remember who it was but I recall someone suggesting carrying a clothespeg or similar to clip an offending piece of foliage out of the way while shooting, then to release the peg afterwards, thereby limiting habitat disturbance. It's a good idea, and one which I have forgotten to use ever since reading about it. I shall correct that now and put one in my gadget bag.

Two cloths pegs are better, and a piece of thin card so that you can temporarily hold back larger obstacles.
Thanks Maurice.

Denise

Denise wrote:Two cloths pegs are better
Denise

...One for your nose when Purple Emperor hunting with Matthew Oates...?
N

Heheh, I thought for a moment you were implying something about Matthew's personal hygiene rather than the seafood stuff he uses as bait.

eccles wrote:Heheh, I thought for a moment you were implying something about Matthew's personal hygiene rather than the seafood stuff he uses as bait.

so did I. ut the clothes peg thing might have helpted me more than once, especially around bramble patches. Might consider taking a couple of pegs with me sometime I go out, just incase.

You didn't think I was referring to the shrimp paste

BTW - Matthew Oates on Radio 4 this morning speaking about 2nd brood Dukes !
N

Dave McCormick wrote:Eccles, if you go to "Edit post" on the one you want to delete, and if you see on top a box that says "delete post" check it and press submit and it deletes.

Thanks Dave. Looks like someone deleted my extraneous post for me.

Zonda wrote:Personally, i think these are a little too clean

Hi,
Yep, i would say the painted lady has been a bit over painted and does indeed look too clean.

Vixpix wrote:

Zonda wrote:Personally, i think these are a little too clean

Hi,
Yep,...if you have an aperture preview button then it's worth pressing it if you are using a small aperture because otherwise the viewfinder will not show you the resultant depth of field which may bring into focus a distraction that you don't notice till later.
Post process work is fine but very time consuming, so it's always far better to spend that time getting the image right at the taking stage.
Regards
Vic.

I think after a while you begin to understand the distance and light conditions at the apertures you want; you may also not have enough time to preview..... Having taken a lot of shots (and analysed your mistakes ) it is possible to pick-out those which have worked and those which have not....I tend to vary the aperture around f8 for maximum sharpness.... N

I thought xmilehigh's black background seemed wrong for the wood white - or indeed for any butterfly. To my eyes, butterflies are beautiful creatures of summer; the backgrounds should (usually) be in summer colours - like the painted lady in the second pic. And in hindsight, maybe Denise could have manouvered so as to get the pale shape in the background surround the fritillary more symmetrically.

But I am being really, really picky here. These are wonderful, inspiring photos. As are so many on ukbutterflies. To each and every one of you who shares these images: I am in awe of your talent with a camera.

We like 'picky', it gives us an excuse to argue. Xmilehigh is a gifted photographer, i have to say

Hi SpitfireTriple,

Thanks for the comments.

Thanks Zonda (I Think)