Large Blues at Collard Hill
On the first Saturday in June I took a visit to the National Trusts Collard Hill site, to attempt to see and photograph a Large Blue Butterfly for the first time.
Arriving in the afternoon it was not long before I saw a Large Blue – in fact almost standing on it! However getting one in a postion to photograph was not easy, in fact it wasn’t till very late in the day and after speaking with one of the wardens that I finally found this one posing on some wild thyme.
Canon EOS 50D (100mm, f/8, 1/125 sec, ISO400)Large Blue Nectaring – Maculinea arion. Taken on Canon 50D with Canon 100mm F2.8 USM Macro Lens. ISO 400 F8 1/120 Natural Light.
I also shot this 3 shot stack of it, which I merged together in Photoshop CS5 – cropped slightly after stack.
Canon EOS 50D (100mm, f/8, 1/100 sec, ISO400)Stack (3 image) of Large Blue Nectaring – Maculinea arion. Taken on Canon 50D with Canon 100mm F2.8 USM Macro Lens. ISO 400 F8 1/100 Natural Light.
On the way back to the car – I passed a field of orchids – taking this butterfly orchid was too good and opportunity to miss, and gave me a reason for lugging my tripod around the Hill. It also seemed a fitting orchid to take on this butterfly trip outing.
Canon EOS 50D (100mm, f/5, 1/60 sec, ISO100)Butterfly Orchid – Platanthera chlorantha. Taken on Canon 50D with Canon 100mm F2.8 USM Macro Lens. ISO 400 F5 1/60 Natural Light with tripod.
