Pearls at Bently Wood
A visit on a Saturday afternoon on the 19th May to Bentley Wood was well worth while. Upon arriving in the car park I spoke to a guy who was just leaving, who told me the Pearl-bordered Fritillarys were out in number, with the odd Duke of Burgundy about too. Armed with this enthusiasm I made my way through the still muddy entrance to the clearing. The first thing that came to my attention was not a butterfly but this beetle, that was feeding on nectar in what I think was a hawthorn tree.
Canon EOS 50D (100mm, f/5.6, 1/125 sec, ISO400)Beetle on flowers. Taken on Canon 50D with Canon 100mm F2.8 USM Macro Lens. ISO 400 F5.6 1/125. Natural Light.
After walking around a bit, watching several other photographers taking shots of some pearls, I was pleased to spot a Duke of Burgundy at rest on some leaves. Carefully approaching it I cleared away some distracting leaves to take this shot of it resting on the leaf – the temperature was starting to cool ( not that it was that great to start with anyway ). I then followed up with the second shot ( which is in fact two shots stacked together in CS5), and I then did an adjusted “Spicify” on Topaz Adjust to give it a sort of Macro HD appearance!
Canon EOS 50D (100mm, f/6.3, 1/50 sec, ISO200)Duke of Burgundy – Hamearis lucina. Taken on Canon 50D with Canon 100mm F2.8 USM Macro Lens. F6.3 ISO 200 1/50 Natural Light on Tripod.
Canon EOS 50D (100mm, f/5.6, 1/50 sec, ISO200)Punked up Duke. A shot stakc of a Duke of Burgundy, with processing in Topaz Adjust. Taken on Canon 50D with Canon 100mm F2.8 USM Macro Lens. F5.6 ISO 200 1/50 Natural Light on Tripod.
I then sort of “swapped” butterflies with another photographer – who had just finished taking a newly emerged Pearl-bordered Fritillary on some bluebells. This one I took side on, and then when it warmed up a wing open shot ( some topaz adjust processing was done on this too).
Canon EOS 50D (100mm, f/8, 1/30 sec, ISO160)Pearl-bordered Fritillary on Bluebells. Taken on Canon 50D with Canon 100mm F2.8 USM Macro Lens. ISO 160 F8 1/30. Natural Light on Tripod.
Canon EOS 50D (100mm, f/8, 1/60 sec, ISO200)Pearl Bordered Fritillary on Bluebells. Taken on Canon 50D with Canon 100mm F2.8 USM Macro Lens. F8 ISO 200 1/60 Natural Light on Tripod. Processing in Topaz Adjust.
My day further improved when I found a couple of mating Pearl-borders. Here I’ve used a blue card in the background to give a sky tone to the shot.
Canon EOS 50D (100mm, f/7.1, 1/160 sec, ISO200)Mating Pearl-bordered Fritillarys. Taken on Canon 50D with Canon 100mm F2.8 USM Macro Lens. ISO 200 F7.1 1/160. Natural Light and Tripod. Card for background colouring.
This card ( and a pink one were in use shortly again on another pearl-bordered butterfly) but I fitted a nice crab spider in between the mating pair and the last butterfly of the day.
Canon EOS 50D (65mm, f/11, 1/250 sec, ISO200)Crab Spider (1x Mag). Taken on Canon 50D with Canon MPE-65mm Macro Lens. ISO 200 F11 1/250. Flash from MT-24ex Macro Flash.
Canon EOS 50D (100mm, f/8, 1/250 sec, ISO100)Pearl-bordered Fritillary. Taken on Canon 50D with Canon 100mm F2.8 USM Macro Lens. ISO 200 F8 1/250. Flash on Tripod. Card for background colouring.
Canon EOS 50D (65mm, f/11, 1/250 sec, ISO200)Pearl-bordered Fritillary (about 1.5x Mag). Taken on Canon 50D with Canon MPE-65mm Macro Lens. ISO 200 F11 1/250. Flash on Tripod. Card for background colouring.
Canon EOS 50D (65mm, f/11, 1/250 sec, ISO200)Pearl-bordered Fritillary (about 2x Mag). Taken on Canon 50D with Canon MPE-65mm Macro Lens. ISO 200 F11 1/250. Flash on Tripod. Card for background colouring.
And finally a rare for me natural light MPE-65mm shot of the same Pearl-bordered Butterfly.
Canon EOS 50D (65mm, f/5.6, 1/50 sec, ISO400)Pearl-bordered Fritillary (about 1x Mag). Taken on Canon 50D with Canon MPE-65mm Macro Lens. ISO 400 F5.6 1/50. Natural Light Tripod. Card for background colouring.
Map of Location
Small Car Parking area at Bentley Wood.
