Monarchs in a Different Light

[Loupey]

Had a field full of skitish, airborne monarchs this evening. Tracking and manually focusing a 300mm on flying butterflies pretty much sucks. These are about as acceptable as I could muster tonight (and that 3rd one wouldn't be here if it hadn't been for the bees).

What I've learned:

1) a macro guy has got to use much faster shutter speeds (faster than 1/500s) for flying stuff (butterflies and birds)
2) advice on shooting in harsh lighting that someone posted earlier was damn good advice
3) advice on controlling the background that someone posted earlier was equally good advice

That's pretty much all for me this weekend. Grounded (actually, getting a house ready for sale)

[c.j.]

Had a field full of skitish, airborne monarchs this evening. Tracking and manually focusing a 300mm on flying butterflies pretty much sucks. These are about as acceptable as I could muster tonight (and that 3rd one wouldn't be here if it hadn't been for the bees).

What I've learned:

1) a macro guy has got to use much faster shutter speeds (faster than 1/500s) for flying stuff (butterflies and birds)
2) advice on shooting in harsh lighting that someone posted earlier was damn good advice
3) advice on controlling the background that someone posted earlier was equally good advice

That's pretty much all for me this weekend. Grounded (actually, getting a house ready for sale)

Very nice!

[paulnj]

I am not patient enough to atch a sceen like these.. my hat's off to you pal!

[quetzal]

These are nice, I haven't even tried to capture anything in flight yet, well except for a few birds already that came out pretty bad. Good job!

[payn817]

&*^$&^$ LOUPEY!! Do you ever just have a bad day?

[Loupey]

&*^$&^$ LOUPEY!! Do you ever just have a bad day?

LOL! Yeah - TODAY! Didn't get a single shot off as I was painting the garage, trim, and the front deck all day And it was such a be-u-ti-ful day today.

Quetzal, Paul, and CJ - thanks for looking. Butterflies and moths fly with total recklessness which I cannot predict (makes dragonflies look easy in comparison). I will try again with 1/1000s.