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Butterfly Wonderland
Lens: Helios 40 & FA 100 Macro Camera: K-5 IIs Photo Location: Scottsdale, Arizona 
Posted By: scratchpaddy, 06-24-2013, 08:37 PM

There's a new attraction in the Valley called Butterfly Wonderland. The main attraction there is a greenhouse containing thousands of butterflies from all over the world.

It's doing well so far, as it was pretty crowded when I went there with my Nikon buddy yesterday. The people there were about 90% families with small children, 8% elderly, and 2% photographers. I would have expected there to be more photographers there. I sure had a lot of fun.

I took my Soviet hand grenade off the shelf for the first time in a while, just on a whim. Man, I was missing out! This lens needs way more love. I may never want to take it off my camera again! Too bad it's so darn heavy. I almost got blisters from working that knurled focus ring all day.

So, the pictures! Click on any to view larger sizes or look at the whole album.

This is a blue morpho, Morpho peleides. There were a ton of these.




This is the same butterfly; their wings are only blue on top.




That's my Nikon buddy. He just got that Nikkor 85mm 1.8G, though he's had that D80 almost since it was first released in 2006.




I used my FA 100 for the next few shots. Cheating, I know.




You're not supposed to touch the butterflies, but they do land on people sometimes. It's considered an honor.













The kids were clearly enjoying themselves.




Okay, back to the Helios. Since it has a ridiculous 66mm filter thread, for which there is no lens cap in existence, I have to use one of the color filters that came with it as a cap. For a few shots, I decided to leave it on for some B&W. This was my favorite of them.




Back to color for a bowl full o' morphos:




I was just trying to take a picture of this guy. I only noticed later that he was observing two butterflies on the wall beside him, and they happen to be perfectly in focus. I'm not good; I'm just lucky.




More morpho.




And, last, but not least. This is my favorite shot of the whole day. All I wanted was the baby, but a butterfly just happened to fly straight into the focal plane as I pressed the shutter. At f/1.5, the chances of that happening are so slim they're not even worth contemplating. But it happened. Lucky me.


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06-24-2013, 08:42 PM   #2
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Very sharp detailed and colourful. Well done.
06-24-2013, 08:50 PM   #3
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QuoteOriginally posted by eaglem Quote
Very sharp detailed and colourful. Well done.
Why thank you, Eaglem! I thought all these flowers might attract you.

This is quite a compliment coming from you. You're pretty much the master garden photographer around here. I know I don't comment on your pictures often, but I do enjoy them.
06-25-2013, 04:20 AM   #4
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Great shots. I especially like the ones of butterflies that incorporate a dreamy bokeh. And the butterflies have lovely colours, too

06-25-2013, 08:32 AM   #5
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I so enjoyed this series and I thank you for posting them. Beautiful shots.
06-25-2013, 08:38 AM   #6
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QuoteOriginally posted by Na Horuk Quote
Great shots. I especially like the ones of butterflies that incorporate a dreamy bokeh. And the butterflies have lovely colours, too
Thanks. That dreamy bokeh and colors is the Helios specialty. That's why I said I might never want to take it off again! The FA 100 is the king of sharpness, but there are lots of other lenses out there that do the same almost as well. The Helios is truly unique. Plus, I feel more proud of pictures taken with a 50-year-old manual-focus lens.
06-25-2013, 08:39 AM   #7
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QuoteOriginally posted by slowpez Quote
I so enjoyed this series and I thank you for posting them. Beautiful shots.
Glad you enjoyed them. I sure did enjoyed myself there, though I'm not sure if I'll return. My friend bought himself a lifetime membership!

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