At last, a splendid afternoon on the Roman Road, Otmoor, Oxon. I spent several hours there on Sunday, having decided it was time to brush up my camera technique and try some new ideas.
Brimstone, Orange Tip and Peacock were the most abundant species present but I was pleased to see both Small and Green-veined Whites, and a few Speckled Woods, which provided me with much entertainment later!
Whites are notoriously difficult to photograph well, so I was pleased with this shot of a Small White, where the oblique lighting has really made the veins stand out. I am always surprised by how yellow the undersides look in photos but, when I look at Richard Lewington's paintings, they show similar colour, so it must be correct! I suspect that it's another example of how the brain assesses colours according to context, rather than perceiving what is actually there.
![SmallWhite_Otmoor.jpg (129.97 KiB) Viewed 1249 times 'Roman Road' Otmoor, Oxon - 13th April 2014<br />Nikon D300s with 70-300VR zoom - 1/2000s@f/5.6 ISO400](./files/thumb_11310_fc42a0dee8883d41687f37711eab15fe)
- 'Roman Road' Otmoor, Oxon - 13th April 2014
Nikon D300s with 70-300VR zoom - 1/2000s@f/5.6 ISO400
On the opposite side of the ride, I spotted another white; this time it was a Green-veined, lit through the wing, which has enhanced the appearance of the veins.
![GvWhite_Otmoor.jpg (151 KiB) Viewed 1249 times 'Roman Road' Otmoor, Oxon - 13th April 2014<br />Nikon D300s with 70-300VR zoom - 1/750s@f/8 ISO400](./files/thumb_11310_cf6682336d7b2040a08b15366f2e2c7f)
- 'Roman Road' Otmoor, Oxon - 13th April 2014
Nikon D300s with 70-300VR zoom - 1/750s@f/8 ISO400
Next, I found a female Green-veined White, with her abdomen raised in the typical "stop bothering me" position. The muted colours of the shady background have helped to keep attention on the butterfly.
![GvWhite-fem_Otmoor.jpg (112.96 KiB) Viewed 1249 times 'Roman Road' Otmoor, Oxon - 13th April 2014<br />Nikon D300s with Tamron 90mm macro - 1/350s@f/13 ISO400](./files/thumb_11310_7f91162d2d4b57f3d69dbf9a502cd73b)
- 'Roman Road' Otmoor, Oxon - 13th April 2014
Nikon D300s with Tamron 90mm macro - 1/350s@f/13 ISO400
If whites are diffcult, Orange Tips in sunshine are doubly so, because of the strong contrast between body and inner wing and then the saturated colour of the wingtips. The extended brightness range (dynamic range) offered by a DSLR in RAW mode really helps here and, with a little 'dodging and burning' allows all these very different areas to be rendered reasonably well. I did some experiments and found that photos taken with -0.7 exposure compensation gave the best overall result. (Incidentally, the 'HDR' mode on some Lumix cameras - e.g. FZ200 - does a good job, providing the subject remains still through multiple exposures)
![OT_Otmoor.jpg (103.46 KiB) Viewed 1249 times 'Roman Road' Otmoor, Oxon - 13th April 2014<br />Nikon D300s with 300/4 lens - 1/750s@f/13 (-0.7EV comp) ISO800](./files/thumb_11310_87e0dba2c22eba2cec1f4e9d3686ca6a)
- 'Roman Road' Otmoor, Oxon - 13th April 2014
Nikon D300s with 300/4 lens - 1/750s@f/13 (-0.7EV comp) ISO800
Later in the afternoon, I found a pair of Speckled Woods engaged in a prolonged aerial combat. They were continuously gyrating around each other, while moving to and fro across a failry limited 'jousting field'. I decided that it was time to practice some 'in flght' photography. Although modern automatic cameras are wonders of technology, there is still a need for practice, to get the best results. After all, we wouldn't expect to be able to play a piano well, without a few hours practice each day! It's the same with a camera - we have to develop a sort of 'finger memory', so that we know exactly where each control is and, more importantly, how much to move it. This allows us to get the effect we want by innate 'feel', rather than having to read dials. So, a quick roll of the thumb on shutter speed or aperture, to react to changing conditions or, even more important, an instinctive twist on the focus ring - in the right direction at the right time! This last is an area where a 'prime' (non-zoom) lens scores, since there are too many variables with a zoom and it is very diffcult to develop the 'instinctive' feel for such a lens.
These were the skills I decided to practice on the Speckled Woods! I must have taken well over a hundred shots, with the camera set on high-speed firing rate (in my case, 8 frames per second). The first 60 or so were complete rubbish but then I started to get the hang of it!
![SpWoods_Otmoor.jpg (72.19 KiB) Viewed 1249 times 'Roman Road' Otmoor, Oxon - 13th April 2014<br />Nikon D300s with 300/4 lens - 1/750s@f/4 ISO400](./files/thumb_11310_22d6c19f5104f1f9537e17720f1bdf11)
- 'Roman Road' Otmoor, Oxon - 13th April 2014
Nikon D300s with 300/4 lens - 1/750s@f/4 ISO400
First of all, even the high-speed autofocus of my Nikon AFS lens was totally useless. Even if it caught one of the pair momentarily, it instantly lost focus again, as they spiralled around each other. So, it was time to switch to manual and train my 'finger memory'! The Nikon 300mm f/4 lens has a nice broad focus ring, which turns easily and smoothly - essential for this work. It's also essential to get used to which way the ring turns, to move closer or further away. So I spent some time learning to keep focus as well as I could on the rapidly moving subjects, standing back sufficiently far from the combat to have a chance of keeping them within the frame. These butterflies were moving really fast, so I used aperture priority, set at maximum (f/4 for this lens), to achieve the highest possible shutter speed as they moved in and out of sun spots. Gradually my success rate began to improve and became even better when I increased to ISO800 for a still higher shutter speed so that, at last, I started to get some reasonable photos:
![SpWood2_Otmoor.jpg (100.46 KiB) Viewed 1249 times 'Roman Road' Otmoor, Oxon - 13th April 2014<br />Nikon D300s with 300/4 lens - 1/2000s@f/4 ISO800](./files/thumb_11310_3a517727ff0cfc9a0de43b1820a84c3c)
- 'Roman Road' Otmoor, Oxon - 13th April 2014
Nikon D300s with 300/4 lens - 1/2000s@f/4 ISO800
I had the cameras on a loose ball head on my monopod, which provided a little stability (in the viewfinder), while leaving me free to pivot around, following the action. Then,it was just a case of following focus with the manual ring and touching the shutter button whenever there seems to be a reasonable chance of a decent result! I don't know about the butterflies but I was exhausted when they finally gave up their chase (10 -15 minutes!) and suddenly parted to go their separate ways.
![Montage_Otmoor.jpg (99.34 KiB) Viewed 1249 times 'Roman Road' Otmoor, Oxon - 13th April 2014<br />montage of photos taken during prolonged airborne duel](./files/thumb_11310_159633756df17a4c9f4fa67473121e2a)
- 'Roman Road' Otmoor, Oxon - 13th April 2014
montage of photos taken during prolonged airborne duel
With my new-found skills, I finished the day with a few shots of the bee-flies hovering over the ride - at least they kept reasonably still for a few seconds at a time.
![BeeFly.jpg (67.93 KiB) Viewed 1249 times 'Roman Road' Otmoor, Oxon - 13th April 2014<br />Nikon D300s with 300/4 lens - 1/350s@f/9.5 ISO800](./files/thumb_11310_c9c5976e82bb46f55c3979d03e2cd2cc)
- 'Roman Road' Otmoor, Oxon - 13th April 2014
Nikon D300s with 300/4 lens - 1/350s@f/9.5 ISO800
All have to do now is continue to put in lots of practice
Mike