The sixth butterfly in the series is the tiny Lime Blue ( Chilades lajus ). We have many of these and when the sun is at the right angle, they look like little flash of light everywhere.
One of the thing that I have realised over the last few weeks is that I have been mostly using a telephoto lens to photograph the butterflies. Most of the books and websites on butterfly and insect photography generally recommend a dedicated macro lens for this kind of photography. But I found more joy with a telephoto lens rather than a macro lens.
With a macro lens, one can achieve beautiful closeups in never before seen viewpoints. Lovely eyes and scary mandibles all look beautiful. But what I enjoy is, photographing the insect interacting with its environment. The way it flies, its graceful poise and its sometimes funny acrobatics all make a lovely image to me. It also gives me a chance to sit by at a distance and have photographs without stressing or scaring anything off. All this is possible with a telephoto, nicely fixed up on a tripod.
Hence I only use my macro lens to photograph really tiny insects or small butterflies and moths. Else 400mm is mostly my workhorse.
This butterfly is so pretty...lovely purple hue on its wings!
ReplyDeleteI love your take that you like to capture them while interacting with nature...