Butterfly advice please

sirch

sirch

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The other Chris
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I live in an area with some fairly good butterfly habitats and I have been trying to do more butterfly photography but I’m finding it a fairly frustrating experience and was wondering if I am just too impatient or are there things I could do to improve the hit rate. So a few questions

  • What’s the best time of day?
  • What are butterflies sensitive to, movement, smell, etc? Is using insect repellent to keep the flies and ticks off an issue?
  • Do you find a spot and wait for them to come to you or do you stalk them?
  • For an area where lots of butterflies are active what would be a reasonable hit rate? I’m getting may be 1 reasoanable shot per hour
  • Is cammo gear necessary?
  • How do you spot them? If they are not active I find I cannot see them until I am on top of them and then they are gone. Would binoculars help?
  • Any other advice?
 
I shoot insect and Butterflies on a regular basis throughout the Summer months :) weather depending :(

To try to answer your questions:

1. Best time I've found is early morning when the sun's not too hot and the Butterflies become a little less frisky ad late afternoon early evening

2, Movement- yes for sure, I usually find a flower or flowers they feed on and sit down close enough to get the shot - depending on the lens you are using and just wait

3. see No2

4. Hit rate is subjective- no defined acceptable hits- I usually have a 30-40% hit rate

5. I always wear cammo to blend in- but lack of movement is your friend too

6. Bino's are an excellent bit of gear to spot them whilst resting- warming up or feeding- but I always make sure I move slowly and never rush- sitting is the best I've found- Best advice - patience :)

I shoot insect using a Sigma 105mm f2.8 macro lens - Superb for smaller insects- Like this Gate Keeper ( 105mm f2.8) - sometimes I will use a loner lens like my Sony 100-400mm G master lens or Tamron 150-600mm

Gate Keeper Butterfly by Les Moxon, on Flickr

Hope this helps? Good hunting



Les :)
 
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I have found, going out in the evening when it has cooled down and finding roosting butterflies is the best way (for me). You may even get a few shots before it gets to dark. Then going back in the early morning, before it warms up, to get some more shots. They will /most likely not have moved from their roosts. They need the heat of the day to warm up, being as they are cold blooded.
This Orange tip was in the same place as the evening before.

IMG_20190419_234409_589.jpg

Also there tends to be less wind/breeze in the mornings.
 
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Great advice from Les but just a couple of things to add -
Some butterfly species just are more flightly than others
Many are terretorial and will patrol an area in a regular pattern. Time spent just watching is never wasted
They don't make cammo in my size (,,,,,,,,,,,,,,;)) but whatever you wear never let your shadow fall across the butterfly
I'll second the Sigma 105mm macro though I haven't had mine long and am still learning with it.
 
Thanks all, I should have mentioned my gear, I usually use a Sigma 180 f2.8 macro on a 7Dii. I thought that earlier or later when it has cooled down would be best and I have tried those times but then I struggle to find any, I'll look into getting some binoculars …

… and some more patience :-)

There were loads of orange tips earlier in the year but I didn't get a shot of any of them, they were just too active, perhaps I'll have to get out of bed earlier
 
I suppose it depends what type of image one is trying to make as to how one might approach all this Chris I don't shoot that many flutter bys. the early/late hours slow them sure as with all cold blooded beasties but one isn't always going to be able to create every image within a period when these guys are lethargic. I'd target species and habitats learn those learn food plants for cat and imago.

Chris for me they are senstitive to light and movement , if stalking. slow your self down so it's painful to you as a human . i tend to use head to toe camo for anything any wild subject. I'd lay a bet one's movement is what first catches the eye in many many diverse species. the camo is maybe unecessary but every little helps. For some images sit and wait but have an edge ie silver washed fratillary love bramble flowers on open rides in certain woodland certain time of year. What I'm saying is sit in the right place at the right time do the background work to help put odds in your favour. If you have a window into lots of orange tips find out what they are up to from web or books if one can't get the hours in field wise

Mate this seems a bit lame I really don't make many butterfly images . But with any wildlife being in the place where they are is half the battle : so use every tool from sit and wait to stalking to early ruddy mornings to species knowledge............... use camo or drab colours move slow,know your subject ,its the same for every thing within the sphere of nature photography

time spent in observation is NEVER wasted Jan's right !!

stu
 
Thanks Stu, here's a couple from yesterday and they are the sort of thing I like but clearly the angles could be better with less clutter around

Q04A8719.jpg

Q04A8753.jpg
 
Maybe I would do better if I wear head to toe camo but I'm not sure it makes a lot of difference with butterflies unless you plan to sit still and wait for them to come to you - which is obviously one option. I think the main thing to work on is spotting them in the first instance - then you can approach in a suitably slow fashion from the right angle so as not to disturb them. Spending time just standing and looking / listening can be very helpful - the more you do it the more observant you will become.
 
As said earlier, go out in the evening when they are starting to get sleepy, find a few for starters (as a backup) go back in the morning to see if they are still there, take a tripod and set it up within a reasonable distance, set focus, aperture (f2.8) and timers and start, if you get your time right you will get a super shot with a milky bg and a in focus butterfly.
Takes a little getting used to but i have seen some cracking shots taken this way.
 
nigpd said:
My advice? Invest in a pair of knee pads
Click to expand...

This is excellent advice. I knelt in a load of stinging nettles the weekend just gone. Not advisable.
 
nigpd said:
My advice? Invest in a pair of knee pads
Click to expand...
I've tried all sorts of things and just go with muddy knees these days. I do usually carry a bit of foam mat which I can either sit or kneel on if I am settling down for a while. I did wonder about some of those builders trousers with the built in knee pads, loads of pockets could also be useful.

Daysleeper40 said:
This is excellent advice. I knelt in a load of stinging nettles the weekend just gone. Not advisable.
Click to expand...
Sounds painful.
 
sirch said:
I've tried all sorts of things and just go with muddy knees these days. I do usually carry a bit of foam mat which I can either sit or kneel on if I am settling down for a while. I did wonder about some of those builders trousers with the built in knee pads, loads of pockets could also be useful.


Sounds painful.
Click to expand...

Yup.

It was quite impressively swollen too.
 
Knee pads allowed me to wait with camera on a monopod, low down at just the right height, from just before sunrise. Waiting for the moment for the sun to warm up these little chaps from their roost, open their wings and for me to snap away for a few seconds before they were off

[url=https://flic.kr/p/afYKY8]Chalkhill Blue Butterflies by Nigel Pitts-Drake, on Flickr[/URL]
 
Chris, I work sites, I'm on my knees a lot :,can do a mile we once worked out, on 'em ,in a day.so it's fair to say I punish my work ware...you need some Dickies grafters,plus their foam knee pads...somewhere around £60 think their miight be cheeper options on the pads elsewhere but they must fit those pockets well !! They do them in a khaki. colour ....................that is if you are going that route.

Mate I like watching me beasties I've played this game a long while......... but I've always been poor for a guy in blightly.............. right down the bottom The cheep way is a bloody big cushion stuffed in a cheep as chips rucksack coloured in some form a drab green/brown it takes along time for water to get to you and ya just bung it on the line to dry when one gets home;)

yes all about angles it's not just hanrnessing their reaction to the light Chris it's your use of their eye level and the surrounding veggies shooting across levels of veg.not essentially low but across at what ever level will make you ponder a while. you need to try that.

Mate last time I replied to you I went out early next morn on the roe. I completely failed,I mean EPIC FAILURE.......... I normally see one,maybe no pics,but yup epic failure. I had me head in me ass, not far from home,gorgeous light so sad I just so wanted to make one pic in that light

I stopped sort of realised I was surrounded by so many butterflies it was silly.............. gate keepers marbled whites wood browns, I thought of you and this thread and played a while got me head straight...........hence me tiny come back,yes those angles explore them but also a thanks .

I normally get a handle on everything mum nature is sharing with me bro best I can:) even as a sleep deprived moron . Your little thread here got me back to being a kid

wide eyed........... wonder

sort of lovely that............................ dunno about the pics buddy lmao ok maybe I like the odd 'un but ahh the little things



thanks kiddo :cool:
 
Knee pads will feel weird at first,you'll get over that. Sometimes we can't see the ruddy wood for the trees , Chris . I know why it's that focus it takes to get close to roe regularly
tis all absorbing!!
have fun bro:)
 
my blog this week, was all about butterflies, shot this week with my 200-500 at 500mm and about 7 feet from the subject: https://imageweaver.blogspot.com/2019/08/buddleia-butterfly-bush.html All hand-held, no dedicated macro lens, no camo, no special care, other than getting light on the subject. - Working at this distance gives a lot more opportunities, but I do use my 200mm f4 with a Raynox, when I want to get really close, like below:

DSC_3516_00009 (3) by Glynn Hobbs, on Flickr
 
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