Beautiful butterflies

With the weather warming up and the days getting longer, now is a great time to take a stroll down to your local woods to try and capture images of the many butterflies that are on the wing. There are many different species, all flying at different times of the year, so a little guide book will help you with their identification and the best places to look for them. Best times to photograph are first thing in the morning or later on in the evening when it's a bit cooler and the butterflies are less active and likely to be resting. Try and get in close and use a tripod if you can, this will help in capturing sharp images and the subject will fill a large part of the frame. Wider shots, taking in the immediate surroundings of the subject can also work really well, and shooting towards the sun can give glorious results, as the light provides a halo effect around the insects wings.     

Common Blue

A glorious male Common Blue butterfly at rest. Getting in close and using a macro lens and tripod helped me isolate the subject from the cluttered background. It was vital that the butterfly was parallel to the camera's sensor to ensure a pin sharp image. The slightest breeze would have ruined the shot so patience is key. I find that a cable release is also an essential piece of kit.

Marsh Fritillary

This beautiful Marsh Fritillary was at rest on a long piece of grass. It's quite difficult to believe that the subject was surrounded by a great deal of clutter, bits of grass sticking up everywhere. A macro lens can help isolate a subject and allow you to capture a really striking image. It just needs a bit of patience and lightness of movement getting yourself and your gear in to position, otherwise you risk scaring the subject. Shots like the two above are great images to have in your portfolio as identification guides and magazines are always on the lookout for pictures like these. 

Meadow brown

This shot of a Meadow Brown beautifully backlit by the sun was taken hand held. As I was a bit further away from the subject, capturing a pin sharp image was much easier, depth of field being less of a problem. Unlike the other two photographs, the grasses in this image help enhance the subject, showing the butterfly off in it's natural environment. It has been used in magazines across double page spreads and has been a good seller for me.    

All images Nikon D200 with Nikkor 105mm F2.8 macro lens.   

Study of Bluebells

One of my photography passions is close up and macro. I spent a number of years trying to perfect this particular genre, but lost my way a little as wedding assignments took over and became all consuming, not allowing much time for nature shoots. Since opening my gallery in Wells-next-the-Sea on the North Norfolk coast and focusing on landscapes, I have managed to find more and more time to address this and indulge in nature photography once again, particularly flower portraits. I'm not trying to look at subjects with my business head on necessarily, but if I were to capture an image that has sales potential, all the better. Flower photography has always been popular and I tend to look at two different shooting styles when I'm out which may appeal to different markets. Standard portraits with good light, perfect focus, possibly showing habitat, may be a requirement for book publishers or a nature magazine editor. They may be looking for stock images illustrating how a particular plant looks, possibly for identification purposes or maybe to accompany a magazine article. More arty, soft focus, hazy images may appeal more to people who want to buy a piece of art and hang it on their walls. This second category offers photographers huge artistic licence, and for me, when shooting flower portraits in this way, I strive to capture the essence of the plant as well as its beauty.       

Bluebells are probably one of the most photographed wild flowers in the U.K. and whenever I have the chance, I will always try to visit nearby woodland, simply to take in their beauty. This year I visited the beautiful Tattershall Carrs wood in Lincolnshire, and was met by the most breathtaking of scenes. The Bluebells stretched as far as the eye could see, turning the woodland floor into a carpet of electric blue. Bees buzzed lazily between the flowers and the sound of Great Spotted Woodpeckers drumming away echoed throughout the woodland.

Tattershall Carrs

The lovely carpet of bluebells at Tattershall Carrs make for a great photographic subject. I visited the wood on numerous occasions but unfortunately the light was fairly flat each time I was there. It was still worth visiting however, as the more familiar I became with the wood, the more I understood what composition might work and where best to set up the camera for future visits. The composition for the image above seemed to work quite well, the trees framing the top half of the image, holding the bluebells in. The only thing missing for me was a lack of strong directional light. That would have given the image more depth, the raking shadows adding some much needed visual interest. 

Study of bluebells

But artistic shots are different. You can fashion your own light, add your own colour, add a texture. Pretty much anything you want. Have a bit of fun with it and go with what feels right for you. The more time you spend photographing certain subjects and certain locations, the more you will understand what works and what doesn't. Remember there are certain rules within photography, but remember also, these rules can be broken.

So next time you're out in the woods with a camera, look a the many different ways you can photograph a scene. Go wide, get in tight, go high or get down low. You'll be amazed at how many ways you can capture the one place, and how much fun you will have doing so.