We have a number of robust passion vines in our garden and the fritillaries are going nuts laying eggs and fluttering around all over them. I’m not sure this one was nectaring on the flower or thinking about laying some eggs but the color combo certainly caught my eye. All comments welcome. >=))>
Is this a composite: No
Sony A7RIII
Minolta 200mm macro
ISO 800, 1/160 @ f16
I love how clearly the antennae stand out! And you’re right about the colors. The leaf in the ULC looks odd. Did you do some burning there? Not sure how else to deal with a hotspot there, but we do the best we can. You’ve got a perfect specimen here. Wish it was sharp all the way through and across, but the darn thing just wouldn’t stay put would it? Ah, nature.
Really nice look at this Fritillary, Bill. I, too have Passion Vine growing on the property, but so far haven’t seen the Fritillaries hanging around it. Nice capture.
Kris: Thanks for the observations. I did indeed burn in a hot spot on that leaf in the ULC. Normally for a scene like this I would use a polarizer to tame the reflections but this guy was not stationary and I wanted as much SS as I could get without having to bump the ISO way up. I was lucky to get even this level of sharpness with the blur more a motion issue than anything. I was actually surprised that this frame came out as well as it did considering the relatively slow SS for a flying butterfly.
Gorgeous, Bill. The complimentary colors couldn’t be better. I must admit, I am jealous of your purple vine flowers. Earlier this spring I bought a purple vine bush and found out after it bloomed it is a different variety. The petals are cream color and only the stigma, anther and filaments are purple, very disappointing. However they do still attract butterflies and hummingbirds, so there is hope. Very nicely done.
A great image! I really like how the flower is almost a reflection of the fritillary.
Bill, I love the color combo. I am glad you were able to get this shot this good at such a low SS. Polarizer would have been nice on the leaves, but you are right, it would have kicked the ISO up, although I would think you had some to spare at 800. This is a nice image.
Bill, the color combo is nicely dramatic with well saturated purple and orange. A challenging shot with an active butterfly, where you handled the choices well.
