[SteveM]

A couple playing with the K3 today....

[jac]

Nice work. Beautiful.

[SteveM]

Thanks!

[shooz]

Sometimes, when I shoot with a Tak, it doesn't hold the EXIF.

Attached Images

 

[OrchidJulie]

Not sure on the ID of this one. Cross-posted...

[jac]

Beautiful work, Julie.

[arkav]

Not sure on the ID of this one. Cross-posted...

Good shot. Looks like one of the Owl Butterflies:
Owl butterfly - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Cheers

[OrchidJulie]

Beautiful work, Julie.

Thank you, John. Much appreciated!

---------- Post added 02-24-14 at 08:22 AM ----------

Good shot. Looks like one of the Owl Butterflies:
Owl butterfly - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Cheers

Thanks, Arkav. This one was shot at the butterfly conservatory at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden in Miami. I was struck by the pearlescent, nearly metallic sheen on the wings.

The conservatory does hand out laminated ID cards, but the things are quite large and unwieldy, difficult to manage when you've got camera gear. And the cards don't necessarily show the current "crop" of butterflies, only the most common ones. I've asked, more than once, if the garden could design an ID page for their website so photographers could look up things later...they collect the ID cards when you exit.

Anyway, a beautiful and interesting part of the garden (which is beautiful and interesting in its own right)

[arkav]

The conservatory does hand out laminated ID cards, but the things are quite large and unwieldy, difficult to manage when you've got camera gear. And the cards don't necessarily show the current "crop" of butterflies, only the most common ones. I've asked, more than once, if the garden could design an ID page for their website so photographers could look up things later...they collect the ID cards when you exit.

It would probably be tough for them to be constantly updating their website. I don't know how it works at a conservatory that runs year round, but locally, the manager of the greenhouses at the University does a once-a-year butterfly show for ~1 week. A few of us who are lep enthusiasts help out. Every year, the lineup of butterflies changes, with the supplier having to make last minute substitutions and/or tossing in bonus species based on availability of pupae. He doesn't know exactly what he's going to get until the shipments arrive. It might be a similar situation at the conservatory, with the "cast of characters" changing slightly every few weeks as butterflies die off and new shipments arrive. Even if the conservatory had someone on staff willing to constantly update the website, they'd also have to find the images, get permission to use them, make sure all the names are correct, etc.

It's always tough to hit a moving target. Handing out a laminated guide for the "usual suspects" is a pretty good compromise.

[OrchidJulie]

Sure, you're correct, and I do understand the complexity (I manage a website). But they do obviously have a small library of images already (hence the laminated card, lots of photos), and I know at least one photographer who works for the garden and is in that conservatory on a regular basis, so it seems to me that they ought (by now) to have a decent image library, and that it's updated from time to time when new species are introduced. Bit of a project to set it up in the first place, sure, but adding a couple of images periodically as new species hatch out doesn't seem (to me, who doesn't have to do it ) monumentally difficult.

Then I could shoot to my heart's content and later cross-reference the images to ID the butterflies.

[DeliaRana]

A recent phot I took with the K200D

[jacamar]

Reminded me of my Blue Morpho shot. If any one has a decent shot of one in flight I would love to see it - I found it impossible.

[Hattifnatt]

This butterfly has been dead for some time but still hanging onto his flower. Kinda sad.

[ramseybuckeye]

Eastern Comma

[Bud]

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail