Last night, I was reading this post by Adrian Lewis (aka FATman Photos), where he featured some lovely images of a Peacock Butterfly. At that time, I hadn’t photographed a Peacock this summer. Imagine my pleasure this morning, when I glanced out of the kitchen window whilst preparing breakfast, to see a fluttering amongst the plant pots. Closer inspection showed it to be a Peacock Butterfly.
I dashed off to grab my camera, fit the 70-300 mm lens favoured for butterflies, and rushed outside, hoping that my colourful friend would have waited for me. There it was, happily sunning itself on a Hosta flower. Finding a suitable viewpoint was slightly tricky as the Hosta was behind another plant and there was only a fairly narrow angle of view without casting a shadow, which would have spoiled the shot as well as almost certainly frightening the subject away.
It did, however, allow me to take a few shots before fluttering away. Here is one.
Peacock Butterfly on Hosta flower in garden
What would I have done differently, had I not been in such a hurry? I would have tried a shot with the ISO doubled to 400, which might have improved the sharpness by overcoming any excitable camera shake. If it had stayed put, I might have gone for my 50mm macro lens, since this is very sharp. Could I have got close enough? That is the question. Adrian’s shots are both sharper and more varied, so please take a look at them.
Dave's Photo Musings 