Butterflies!

Ten days ago, I bought a season pass to Brookside Gardens. I knew I'd need it. Sure enough, I went out there twice during Labor Day weekend. The first time was my dress rehearsal. I hadn't shot butterflies in around nine months, and frankly, I felt out of practice. I took around 100 pictures, but only six made the cut.

I went back the next day, and took 900 pictures. 66 made the cut. Here are my favorite ones:





So why such a low success rate? A few reasons:

1) I experimented with various depths of field - and took multiple takes per group of shots. This is because I wanted to increase the odds that at least ONE picture would turn out well. The highest f-stop I used, by the way, was right around 6. Any higher made me too vulnerable to camera shake.

2) Some of these butterflies moved around a LOT, especially the ones that were mating, or almost mating. Those required a great deal of trial and error.

3) Experimentation with angles. If you click on one of these, you'll see the other pictures on my Flickr page. I definitely tried as many angles and views as I could.

Some tips that worked for me:

1) Don't use the lowest ISO. I set mine to around 400.

2) Play with both shutter speeds and f-stops. Don't be afraid to make mistakes. The butterflies will still be there.

3) If you can, go when the sun isn't too strong. Two benefits: You won't melt (it's hot in these environments), and you won't have to deal with strange exposures, like with this picture:



This is okay and all, but the ones I took this time around are much, much better.

Also, try for a background that isn't too busy. Simple is best.

It was a highly successful shoot. Next time, when I go, I'm going to try for even more monochromatic backgrounds. I may also bump up the ISO to 800 and see if that helps me.

Next time - the NCCF charity auction and the work I saw. How did mine compare?