While The Photographer Posed as an "Artiste," a Giant Surprise and a Reunion

          Here at the blog, we pride ourselves on bringing vivid, clear, and informative imagery of the visitors to the garden. Given the luxury of being able to stroll out our back door and enjoy numerous observation sessions, we can stumble upon the rare and beautiful moments, spy the shy or tiny flutterings, and, on the technical side, try different ways of photographing the same butterflies on the same flowers. 
          In Rick's career, from Time Magazine to CBS, the directive was the same: produce high-quality and impactful imagery that still serves the prime directives to show everyone well, tell the story quickly, and lead them to read the article or watch the show. Occasionally, an editor or publicist would ask if there was something "a little edgy?" Or they would ask the laughably annoying question, "Do you have anything better?" Dear reader, we never want you to have to ask either of those questions.
            In that spirit, we have been out in the garden seeing how far we can go in our wildlife photography, experimenting to try to bring you in closer and reveal a new facet of the familiar, and just generally getting artsy-fartsy. The closing image of the last post was a nod to that. But we had one even more far out, achieved by 1) using a lens that lets the background go softly bubbly (the technical word is bokeh), 2) using a strobe and dragging the shutter a bit, 3) holding the camera at arms length while using pinpoint focus mode through a tilting viewfinder while visitors ask questions. Here it is. Both of us like it very much.

              Or here below is a clean one the local paper might choose. Which do you like better?

Using a Wide-Angle Lens for Close-Ups

          Recently we did the shot at the dedication of the Pool Bridge, using a 16-35 mm lens. 

            One can use that same lens to shoot butterflies, but to avoid circles and arrows and where's Waldo compositions, one has to get very, very close.  We mean inches away. This can be accomplished in two ways. One can come in very very slowly and trust that the butterfly is really enjoying the flower and therefore is hanging around unbothered by you. Or one can pick a promising flower that butterflies have been frequenting and preset a camera there, as illustrated below, and being at the ready with a remote shutter cable. The kitchen towel is keeping the camera cool as we wait, and wait, and wait. 

             And what would an experiment be without failure? I tried to have the camera autofocus on an object just above the bloom, but a slight breeze and the tiny weight of the butterfly apparently moved it just below my focus point. Or perhaps I did not fully understand tethered camera behavior. I got fifty images all out of focus like the one below. A learning opportunity!

             Moving on, I tried setting a manual focus point and letting the subject focus itself by moving into that point. It worked beautifully (in one frame out of fifty shots) with another hummingbird on the zinnea (shown below full frame and same image again as a  rotated detail), and then, in the third image below, even at 2000th of a second shutter speed enjoyed freaky motion streaking in a wing of another hummingbird on the bergamot. 

             Butterflies being butterflies, and sitting for extended periods stock still in the heat being sitting for extended periods stock still in the heat, I found it easier to count on the indulgence of butterflies. The trick is to wait in a spot with multiple blooms, like butterfly bush for swallowtails and black-eyed susan or sunflowers for Pearl Crescents (below). When the butterflies come, move very slowly, using a silent shutter. Know where your focus point  is, because you will be guessing it as you try to focus on the eyes. Expect a high failure rate, and treasure the hits. For added fun, add an on-camera strobe in full sun.  Here are a couple of successes. I was especially thrilled when I lucked into the arrival of a flirty suitor. 

Free Range Composition

              Although I occasionally lie on the ground for a shot, as you will see in the next segment, in a busy garden with flitty subjects that is not doable. One can extend one's arm to capture a unusual composition, however, with any focal length, one can immortalize a ray of light (and in photography, light is the magician) or reveal a butterfly level view of the garden. Be sure to look for the unexpected second subject in the bottom photo of this segment. 

Composition and Angles

                A butterfly garden is a constant invitation to see. Seeing requires time, periods of stillness, and an openness to the unexpected. And when you do see something, you have to hope you have the right gear for it. One will not always have time to get back to the house. 
                I was walking out armed with the beast, a heavy 100-400 lens normally best on a tripod, when I came across a small example of our tiniest visitor, the one from the previous blog, the Eastern-Tailed Blue. In the heat it had actually settled down on a tiny clover by the chair. Normally, it is never at rest.

             First, take a shot of record, with the chair leg in. But it is busy and the angle poor. For the best shot, I had no choice but to get on the ground, and use the ground as a stabilizer for a telephoto shot of this tiny thing. The telephoto allowed me to leave it in peace. This is one butterfly that would not allow a giant camera within inches. Shooting from a prostrate position with a 400mm lens produces a depth of field that is less than the width of a butterfly (see the far antenna and the near back wing are falling out of focus). Full frame, the chair leg is just a dark angle and could be anything. Cropped, one sees the joy of a good lens.  

The Reunion and the Surprise

             To finish up our report, in the midst of all this black beret photography, back in the garden was our old friend the Red Admiral. He was just by to sit in his chair a while, borrow my phone, and then pose for a new portrait. Framing him against the gap in the trees, I asked, "Give me just that flash of red," which he kindly did. I added a little fill flash and bingo, naval magic. 

              There is no better surprise than to have a first sighting of a wonderful butterfly. Yesterday, for the first time on record at the waystation, we had the magnificent Giant Swallowtail, which hungrily supped at the butterfly bush flowers. We close with a couple straightforward shots of this butterfly. He was a bit battered but nonetheless beautiful. 

          To everyone, feel free to bring your own cameras to the garden and shoot away from the perimeter or the center walk. If you want to try some artsy stuff yourself, please see Rick for a chat first. 
           Comments and criticism welcome!