Simon HawkettsThings I’ve built, repaired, photographed and learned

Orange tip butterfly

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By Simon Hawketts ·

I know the orange tip butterfly is not a rare or endangered species, but I've seen them flutter by me for the last 4 or 5 years since I've been interested in macro photography and I've never been able to get a shot of one. That's why I was particularly pleased when I finally managed to get a half decent shot this morning of an early specimen which fluttered by me.

We had been out for a walk when I saw it and I remarked to my daughter Emma that I couldn't remember seeing one so early in the year. I wonder if that is why I actually managed to get a picture; It is still cold enough that it couldn't move as much as usual.

Anyway, I happened to have my Vivitar series one 70 - 210mm macro zoom fitted to my Nex 6 as it fluttered by and I was able to fire off a few shots before it was startled enough to move. The best of these shots is shown below.

Orange Tip butterfly
  • Nex 6
  • Vivitar series one 70-210 f/2.8 - f/4.0
  • 1/320 sec
  • iso1600
  • f/8

Comments (3)

  1. Victor Rakmil
    Great shot. The small sensor on the ned gives you a bit more depth of field, Many of the butterflies I shoot tend to return to the same place even if they initially fly away. But they are not easy subjects.

    Comments (1)

    1. Simon Hawketts
      Thanks for the comment Victor. Yes, I think the orange tip is particularly timid so I've never been able to capture it before. By the way, the Nex has an APS-C sensor so I upped the iso to 1600 so I could increase the aperture to f/8 for this shot. Some of the first shots I took were at about f/4 and I couldn't get the wingtips and the body in focus in those.