Red Admiral (1675) January 2006 | Another

Last weekend, in Maldon, a Red Admiral butterfly visited Claire's garden, a rare site in January. The sunshine and a mild 10C (50F) probably encouraged this butterfly and a few other insects (and some mortals) to take advantage of the day and soak up the crisp air and warmth of the sun. If you're thinking of making some insect pics maybe have a look at this article by Frank Phillips, which gives an overview of macro photography. I made this picture on a 'prosumer' Nikon 8400, and could have probably dealt with the depth-of-field better if I had used the manual setting.
The sun is shining from a clear blue sky in London today, but the temperature is hovering around freezing. Look close, think small and have a good day.

Here's some other articles on learning about macro photography:
Getting Close with the Little Camera by Jan Luus
Insect Macro Photography by Hector Niam
Beautiful Bugs by Frank Phillips

Posted to TA on 1/29/2006 11:13:38 AM | Comments

1. Posted by euphoria on 1/29/2006 6:41:01 AM
beautiful shot!

2. Posted by stewwrt on 1/29/2006 7:17:59 AM
It is very unusual to see a butterfly in this country in January especially in this cold spell we are having,it must have been sheltering in a warm spot somewhere.The Red Admiral is a beautiful butterfly similer to the Painted Lady,and to think they come from catterpillars feeding on stinging nettles,beauty from the ugly.

3. Posted by tony on 1/29/2006 1:50:14 PM
Euphoria, hi, thank you, it's good to have you stop by.

4. Posted by tony on 1/29/2006 1:55:08 PM
Stewart, that's an interesting point, we'd had a frost overnight in Maldon last weekend, but the temperature had gradually climbed through the day.

5. Posted by robert on 1/30/2006 1:58:27 AM
lovely shot! wish I knew more about butterflies and photography -- Robert

6. Posted by Odon on 1/30/2006 8:42:52 AM
Very nice shot! It's not so easy to catch that ones.
I like the smooth background that happens in macros,
it's well divided with the perfectly focused moth, here.

7. Posted by Robert K. on 1/30/2006 7:25:31 PM
Beautiful picture Tony!

8. Posted by tony on 1/31/2006 12:04:36 AM
Hi Robert, thanks. The links above may help with the photographing of butterflies and other insects. I've also added a link to 'Butterfly' in the Wikipedia encyclopedia.

9. Posted by tony on 1/31/2006 12:14:12 AM
Hi Odon, I was lucky with this picture as the butterfly just happen to land on a bush in view of the conservatory where we were sitting and talking, and it stayed still for a few minutes! Check out the articles I've linked to above, they're all very interesting.

10. Posted by tony on 1/31/2006 12:14:57 AM
Thank you Robert K!

11. Posted by Neoslv on 2/4/2006 10:34:17 AM
Thanks to share those articles!

12. Posted by tony on 2/5/2006 10:43:32 AM
Neoslv, hi, thanks for stopping by