Nature clicks #240 - Giant Swallowtail

 

During the last 2 -3 years we did not have so many butterflies up on the bluffs here as during the seven years before since we lived above the Little Maquoketa River Valley. In 2014 it seems we see a lot more again. I don’t specialize in this kind of photography but when I saw four Giant Swallowtails at the same time feeding on our Purple Coneflowers I could not resist and grabbed the D300s with the 150, f/2.8 lens attached.

The Giant’s are probably not as shy as some of the other butterflies and let me come close sometime. They are one of the largest butterflies in North America.

Peak of action, the very short breaks while they are feeding, and watching the background were the key for these shots. I hope you enjoy.

Back to manual focus

 

For a photo like this, a Fritillary butterfly on a Purple Coneflower, I would usually pull out my macro lens, the SIGMA 150 mm, f2.8, and then follow the insect like a madman. It just doesn’t always work very well, especially on a very warm day when butterflies never seem to stop in their movements. I tried to do something different by attaching a 1.4 teleconverter to my Sigma 50-500, giving it a 700 mm focal length and having the whole rig mounted on the tripod. With the teleconverter the lens does focus only manually. This is how we have done it back in the old days and I realized how much autofocus has spoiled us over the years. So, why did I use such a long focal length and put up with manual focus and a much slower lens (this image was shot at 700 mm, equivalent to 1050 mm on a full frame sensor, 1/60s, f/9, and ISO200)? The answer is, because of background control. The slow approach (camera on tripod, manual focus) made me to visualize the shot long before I hit the shutter release button. I made only a few clicks until I had what I wanted…:-)

Signs of a great summer

 

I believe we have one of the loveliest summers so far, at least during the nine years since I live here in Iowa. Due to the rain in spring and early summer everything looks lush and green and wildflowers bloom wherever a piece of land is left in a natural state. I complained a little while ago that we didn't have many butterflies this year. It's true, some species have not shown up so far but now we have at least several swallowtails in the yard as soon the sun comes out. I hope you may agree, a Giant Swallowtail on top of a Purple Coneflower tells a great story about a wonderful summer...

The swallowtails are not the only insects that get attracted by the coneflowers. Bees, wasps, or Bumble Bees, like the one in this image, enjoy the food this flower provides. I use the Nikon SB600 speedlight together with my self-made softbox to fill in some light and overcome harsh shadows. The speedlight is mounted on a tripod and connected to the camera with a Nikon SC-28 spiral cable. (If you like to see how this softbox looks like, feel free to click HERE. The link opens in an older post where I introduced this useful piece of equipment.) In order to follow the fast moving insects the camera is handhold and I have of course to stay within the range of the cable. It is important to have the flash off camera because of the short distance between your lens and the subject. I usually concentrate on one group of flowers so I don't have to reposition the speedlight all the time. It spills enough light even if it is not always 100% directed to the flower with the insect of interest. Using the cable allows me to take full advantage of the TTL-capabilities of the flashlight. Are there better ways to shoot close-ups or macros? Of course, there is a lot of gear for macro photography available but for someone like me, who shoots it only occasionally, it doesn't make sense to invest in more expensive light solutions. The way I do it works for me and the important thing is anyway to go out, make the click, and have fun shooting the signs of a great summer...

Nature clicks #180 - Red-spotted Purple

 

So far it has been a year with very few butterflies. I wonder if the draught last year plays a role in it. A few days ago one of my favorites showed up feeding in our yard, the Red-spotted Purple. They never sit still and it is a challenge to make a good click. It is always an act of balance what aperture to choose for this kind of an environmental image. If you open the lens all the way up to f/2.8 you may get a good shutter speed to freeze the action of the butterfly but depth of field is so shallow that only a small part of the insect is in focus. At the other hand if you stop down too much it's not just difficult to get a sharp image but also the background becomes way to distracting. If a butterfly moves around there are not too many choices for choosing the background. Now the technical geeks may say, why not pumping up the ISO into astronomical heights? Well, for me part of the challenge is to shoot in the basement between ISO100 and 200 in my wildlife photography. Of course, this doesn't work out always but on a sunny day I will stick with ISO100 for a maximum of detail. The alternative is not making the click at all, and this is not really an option... ;-)

Nature clicks #177 - Pallid-winged Grashopper (nymph) ???

 

The last day of this holiday weekend became a very warm one. The bird traffic in the yard has slowed down and usually days like this are good to look for butterflies in the garden. This summer is different. We had very few butterflies so far and even the omnipresent Hackberry Emperor hasn't been seen yet. I saw a couple swallowtails earlier this spring but have not seen any lately. We wonder if the draught last year plays a role in this pattern.

I took a stroll this afternoon around the flower patches in our yard with the SIGMA 150/f2.8 attached to the camera. It is my oldest lens but I still like the optical quality of it. It has a nice focal length that gives you some distance for macro work on insects.

Joan and I are not sure about this grasshopper species even after studying all our books and guides about insects. We believe it is the nymph of a Pallid-winged Grasshopper but we are not 100 percent sure. The size (about 3/4") and the little wing buds on its side show that its metamorphosis is still in process.

Nature clicks #114 - Giant Swallowtail

It looks like I have neglected my "home turf" here in Eastern Iowa recently. But what can I do, business requires to travel a lot at the moment and unfortunately there wasn't much time even to think about shooting during the last couple weeks. I'm home for the holiday and in our yard is always something flying around. I have hundreds of pictures of the Giant Swallowtail on my hard drive but that doesn't mean some new ones can't be made, and as you probably know I can't resist if the light is inviting me... ;-)  The Purple Coneflowers always attract butterflies and it isn't difficult to find one. Only the horrible heat sets the limits for me how long a shooting lasts. It wasn't very long today...

Nature clicks #51 - Giant Swallowtail

Nikon D200, SIGMA 150mm/2.8, 1/800s, f/5.6, -0.5 EV, ISO 100

I can hear your question already. Why did you cut the wings off? We have more Giant Swallowtails around the house this year than any other year before since we live here. I have many images showing the whole butterfly and I like most of them. Why this one? It is the light. It is all natural light and I really like how the background colors complement this image. This time I tried to make close-up shots of the Giant Swallowtails although the butterflies are moving very fast. They only stay about 2-5 seconds at each Purple Cone Flower and their wings beat all the time with high frequency. I have shots that are more dynamic than this one, but it is the light and the subtle background that make this image my favorite one.

Hot and humid wildlife shoot

Nikon D200, Nikkor 24-70 mm, f/2.8G AF-S ED

Yesterday evening I met with my friend Dave Updegraff for a wildlife shoot. I know Dave since last year's Worldwide Photowalk. He organized and led the walk in Dubuque, Iowa. We have been in contact since and I'm a loyal reader of his photography blog. We met at a pond near La Motte, Iowa and some followers of my blog may remember, this is the location where I shot pictures of Trumpeter Swans many times before.

Nikon D200, Sigma 50-500 mm f/4.0-6.3

I was there a little earlier and scouted the area for wildlife. The swans were unfortunately not really close and I had to shoot completely against the sun to make the click above.

Nikon D200, Sigma 50-500 mm f/4.0-6.3

Sometimes it just helps to turn around and look for other things. While I was still waiting for Dave, this male Eastern Tiger Swallowtail was foraging on the clover along the gravel road. I did something I had never done before. I used my Sigma 50-500 for working a butterfly. The picture will not win the price for best sharpness (the 50-500 just can't keep up with the Sigma 150mm, f/2.8 that I use normally for macro shots) but I did not want to miss this opportunity because of a lens change. The hazy light of this hot and humid summer day was perfect for the shot and even if this lens is not known for a good bokeh, I liked how it turned out in this image.

Nikon D200, Sigma 50-500 mm f/4.0-6.3

Dave and I decided to walk to the other side of the pond and try to get the glass on a pair of ducks. I have never seen this kind of a ducks before and none of my books gave the answer. I believe they are hybrids and hope to find out by doing more research. A dark weather front moved in quickly and pretty soon Dave and I were running out of options for a fast shutter speed. Dave shoots with the Tamron 200-500, and like my Sigma 50-500 the maximum aperture is 6.3. As written in other posts before, I don't like to pump up the ISO above 280, because of the limited noise handling capabilities of my Nikon D200. The picture above was made at 1/25s and I'm surprised I had at least one shot I'm able to show here.

Dave let me try out his Nikon 24-70, f/2.8 for some test shots. I can't rave enough about this lens and the picture of him behind his D700 was made with it.  I had a great time shooting and having conversation with Dave and I hope we can do it again soon.

Did I mention how hot and humid it was yesterday during our wildlife shoot? Read Dave's post and you will know… ;-)

Nature clicks #33 - Eastern Black Swallowtail

Nikon D200, Sigma 150 mm f/2.8, 1/320s, f/4, -1 EV, ISO 200

Today we got the rain that nature needs so much here at the moment. As a result and also because of a busy working schedule I have not made a single click today. A big advantage of working from a home office in the middle of the woods is the fact that I can have my camera always nearby and ready for shooting. Usually it is mounted on a tripod near the door. Quite often I just run outside if anything interesting shows up in the yard or the surrounding woods. Yesterday morning, while filling the hummingbird feeders, I saw the first swallowtail butterfly of this season. It was a male Eastern Black Swallowtail, just sitting near the ground and still very sluggish. This gave me all time in the world to go down on my knees and make two dozen clicks.

Nikon D200, Sigma 150 mm f/2.8, 1/125s, f/5.6, -0.5 EV, ISO 200

Today, when I looked in my image catalog, I found out that I haven't made a good picture of a Black Swallowtail since 2007. I manage my photos with Adobe Lightroom and I apply keywords to each single image. It is sometimes time consuming, but this is when it pays back to use keywords. It is so much easier to find photos about a particular subject and allows a review and learning from older images. Yesterday's photos of the Black Swallowtail will replace the old picture in my IOWA WILDLIFE GALLERY (which needs an update anyway ;-)  ).

Nature clicks #8

I didn't have to go very far for today's 'nature click'. The larvas of the Black Swallowtail butterfly were feeding on the parsley in the herb garden behind the house. The sky was overcast and I used the Nikon SB600 flash light off camera, with a diffuser head attached.

Nikon D200, Sigma 150mm/F2.8, 1/30s, f13, Nikon SB600