Butterflies are pretty

Lanatir posted this at 10:48 am on Tuesday, July 11, 2006 —

Almost all photographers start on the journey of The Art on the same footing - we like to shoot pretty things. Sunsets, flowers, models are on almost everyone’s list and we strive to justify these photogenic subjects with our meagre skills. Being a photographer in KL, I tend to visit these locations when I tire of trying to come up with something ‘new and exciting’. Drop by the Butterfly Park in the Lake Gardens and I think you’ll have to agree that shooting butterflies can be pure simple fun. Just have lots of patience and a quick steady hand. Butterflies are skittish creatures and when shooting them with a macro lens, using a deep depth of field can be quite a challenge.

Butterfly

Butterfly

Butterfly

Butterfly

Butterfly

Be prepared to sweat a bit. If you approach a bunch of butterflies crowding around a flower, they will flutter away but just wait for a while and they should return to the same flower. I also noticed that when you approach them from underneath, they tend not to notice me. Take your time and make sure you pre-focus. You may want to turn on the multi-frame capture mode on your camera as fire away (then you can choose the best shot from the frames you took). Keep an eye on focusing though - butterflies tend to fly in and out of focus in a split second.

The park management has also placed ripe fruit stations where butterflies can congregate. At these stations, you will find some lethargic or old butterflies. Here you will find them easier to shoot as they seldom fly away when you approach.

It’s not only about the butterflies though. The park is also home to other creepy crawlies, wonderful flora and some other interesting macro and close up opportunities. Take a cool Sunday morning off and give it a try!

Toad

Flower

Leaf

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987 views - Filed under: Macro

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7 Comments »

26

Comment by ShaolinTiger

July 11, 2006 @ 11:12 am


Wow awesome stuff dude, were these taken with the Tamron 90mm Di?

I love the tight DoF on the white flower.

29

Comment by Lanatir

July 11, 2006 @ 11:27 am


thanks… actually it was done in 2 different sessions. most of them was with the Tamron SP90 but a couple of them were done with a Pentax 100mm macro on the DL2 (including the white flower).

37

Comment by khang

July 11, 2006 @ 12:06 pm


Arrgghhh I really wish I could do such wonderful pictures.
You’ve got nice equipments!
I really like the 5th photo. Got feel hahah.

39

Comment by Lanatir

July 11, 2006 @ 12:08 pm


thanks Khang… macro work can be inexpensive but even with a compact’s close up mode, you can get decent shots. however, the shutter lag in compacts can be quite a negative when you need quick response. feel free to consult if u want to go deeper into close up and macro work.

and some of these butterflies are as big as a small bird… so u’d be amazed what you can produce with compacts.

ya i like the 5th photo too… it reminds me of a painting :)

40

Comment by khang

July 11, 2006 @ 12:19 pm


hell yah… I’m stuck with a compact.
The shutter lag in compacts ? my compact has got no manual control on the shutter speed, the only way to counter is to use the “continuous-shooting mode” or whatever term that describe what I want to describe.
(you most probably can get 1 good shot out of 5)
Or by enabling the Flash if I want a faster shuttle speed.

I hve been to the butterfly park in penang, taken some good shots too with my tiny little ixus. hahah

41

Comment by Lanatir

July 11, 2006 @ 12:25 pm


shutter lag = the time between the moment u press the shutter release and the moment the shutter opens to capture the image. u can decrease this time by doing prefocus (depress the shutter release button halfway and wait for confirmation then depress it fully). it’s not much about shutter speed… which is pretty inconsequential if u leave it in auto mode and shoot in the bright sun.

42

Comment by khang

July 11, 2006 @ 12:30 pm


Oh! thanks for the explanation.
I’ll go study the englih terms first and return later. Or we’ll be misunderstanding each other.

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