www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

I think Mark virtually moved in there last year so I am sure he'd be a welcome guest

Slippery slope indeed ...

Susie wrote:I think Mark virtually moved in there last year so I am sure he'd be a welcome guest.

You're not far wrong there Susie

I've just heard that 'Butterflies in the Glasshouse' at RHS Wisley will be running from Saturday, 12th January 2013 to Sunday, 24th February 2013

I'd better check out the local B&Bs ...

Good hunting.

Kind regards. Mark

Great news about Wisley, that's earlier than last year I think. Something to look forward to on those dark winter days

Earnley Butterflies, 1 October 2012

Metamorphosis ...

The Owl (Caligo memnon) ...

Heyshott Escarpment, 3 October 2012

Sore feet and fresh air …

As September draws to a close it heralds the start of the annual conservation work party season.

Today, I joined Sussex BC and UKB member Colin Knight, and several representatives of the Murray Downland Trust, for the first of our weekly habitat management sessions at Heyshott Escarpment; these will run until the end of March next year. As this was the first get together this season, I was extremely pleased we started on the relatively flat and easy terrain of the lower reserve; as the upper slopes were very slippery due to the recent heavy rain. One of the key aims of this ongoing project is to create and maintain habitat corridors at this nationally important site for the rare Duke of Burgundy. The gorgeous female below was photographed at Heyshott on 22nd May 2012; a beautifully warm and sunny day.

Do we need a better reason to turn up every Wednesday ...

I don't think so ...
This is an extremely exciting project and one where positive management and hard work continues to improve the chalk downland habitat. The extensive scrub clearance achieved during the previous season has now settled and, as it prepares to rest for the coming winter, looks highly promising for primula development in the coming year …

The bonfire went well …

Favourites from 2012 - Part 1

A difficult year ...

The following images bring back some very fond memories.

If I can work out which one it is, and that’s currently proving difficult, I’ll post my favourite shot of 2012 at the end …

Hesperiidae

Distinct lack of sunlight in all of those images, Mark.

Wholly appropriate for the year as a whole, eh?

Hi David,

Thanks for your message.

David M wrote:Distinct lack of sunlight in all of those images, Mark.

A good job too in my opinion and, as a fellow UKBer once posted on my diary:

"And don't your photos look all the better for it.
No harsh shadows, no shine off leaves, and low contrast".

Interestingly the first image, the male Dingy, was shot on a day when anyone with any sense would have been indoors. In many of the pictures from that particular session you can actually see the streaks of rain falling! The second, the female Grizzled Skipper, was taken late afternoon as she was settling down to roost; the temperature had dropped but she was still sitting in full sunlight. The third, the female Large Skipper, was shot in the shade on a beautiful sunny day. The male Small Skipper, was taken during an afternoon session with intermittent sunshine and fairly cool conditions. The male Essex, was taken late afternoon with rapidly diminishing light.

Good hunting.

Kind regards. Mark

Church Norton and Pagham Spit, 15 October 2012

Early afternoon looking east ...

Species seen:

Red Admiral
Comma
Small White
Large White

Great panoramic image there, Mark. I see from his blog that Colin Knight has some good shots too.

I really like that last skipper shot. They've got such lovely teddy bear faces.

Thanks Susie,

Susie wrote:Great panoramic image there, Mark.

It's amazing what you can produce on a mobile phone ...

I never used to take much notice of the Skippers but I'm now rather fond of them; I'm somewhat taken by the eyelashes ...

Good hunting.

Kind regards. Mark

It's amazing what you can produce on a mobile phone ...

Hi Mark,
All my photos are taken with a mobile, in my somewhat bizarre quest to photograph all the British species on it.
So far I am up to 40, with the hairstreaks proving the most elusive. Once (if) I have completed then I will upgrade to a serious digital number like the growing number of professional amateurs amongst the UKB community.
Flutter on!
CJB

Hi CJB,

Many thanks for your message.

Good luck in your quest to photograph all of the British species with your mobile phone; it's a hard enough task with a dedicated camera so to have achieved 40 species already is really good going ...

CJB wrote:Once (if) I have completed then I will upgrade to a serious digital number like the growing number of professional amateurs amongst the UKB community.

When you have completed your task, and I hope you do, I personally wouldn't recommend spending a lot of money on an expensive DSLR. If you complete your challenge with a mobile phone then you'd be a prime candidate, in my opinion, to consider one of the cheap but very effective bridge cameras. I suppose it all depends on what is important to you; the photographic element and the technicalities that go with it, or taking pictures of butterflies. If the latter, a bridge camera set up keeps things simple, lightweight and relatively inexpensive; it also has the potential to produce excellent results. I certainly wouldn't swap my Lumix for a DSLR; for one thing, I wouldn't know what to do with it ...

Good hunting.

Kind regards. Mark

Favourites from 2012 - Part 2

Continued ...

The messenger of spring ...

Pieridae

Mark Colvin wrote: I personally wouldn't recommend spending a lot of money on an expensive DSLR.

Judging by the many excellent photos on this site made with Lumix FZ45 cameras and the like (including yours, of course), I agree with that advice.

I do use a DSLR myself, mainly because it seemed the natural way to go after a string of film SLRs. Some subjects, such as birds-in-flight, are still firmly in DSLR territory. As sensor technology improves, however, the gap between image quality of the two types is narrowing, and reduced size and weight are advantages not to be ignored! As I get older, smaller and lighter gear looks increasingly attractive.

Mike

Hi Mike,

Thanks for your message and compliment

You are of course correct; whilst the Lumix is an excellent camera choice for butterfly photography, if you want a camera which provides a more broad scope of use, with a potential for wetting your feet in serious bird photography, then a dedicated DSLR is the way to go. Sensor technology is undoubtedly one of the key issues and a subject I know little about. What I can say is that the Lumix performs well in most conditions but if the light is poor, the results are not always to my liking; this may of course be due to my lack of fully understanding the various photographic tricks to get around such issues.

Anyway, that's enough boring techy stuff ...

My best effort below ...

Good hunting.

Kind regards. Mark

Hi Mark and Mike,
Thank you for your wisdom on cameras.
I have looked at a Lumix and in terms of 'lug-a-bility', it does seem the way to go.
Hopefully by the time I have completed my task (?!), the gap between the DSLR and ordinary digital will have narrowed further!
Flutter on!
CJB

here is my favourite piccy from this year, although somewhat tainted by the food source!

Mark Colvin wrote:if the light is poor, the results are not always to my liking

You could try Neat Image noise-reduction software (there's a free version to try) from http://www.neatimage.com/win/standalone/download.html It gave near-miraculous results on images from an old Ricoh compact that I used to have and I still find it useful on high-ISO images.

That's a nice characterful Bluetit shot

Mike

Hi Mike,

Thanks for your advice, which is genuinely much appreciated.

My passion is the entomology, not the photography. Don’t get me wrong, I want to take pictures that please me, and hopefully others, but I have no real interest in the photographic side or the ‘black art’ of post image capture manipulation software, other than that which allows me to slightly sharpen or carry out other minor adjustments; what you see with my pictures is what I've managed to capture in the field. I use a Mac computer, which comes preloaded with Preview. As the name suggests, this programme allows me to look at my pictures and carry out limited minor editing; should the need arise. The idea of sitting at my computer editing images has absolutely no appeal, though I appreciate that for others it does. My pleasure comes from finding subjects to photograph, primarily entomological, and then producing the best possible pictures I can using my camera and fieldcraft.

If I don’t succeed first time I need little excuse to go back and try again ...

Which often happens ...

Good hunting.

Kind regards. Mark

Favourites from 2012 - Part 3

Continued ...

Lycaenidae

Festival of femininity ...

I do like those Silver-studded Blues ...