A well deserved rest!

[shane shacaluga]

This butterfly was fighting a galeforce wind for about 10mins without moving from its position in the air. Eventually i think i realised it wasnt making much progress so it took a bit of a break

Good for trying my new 200-500 as a macro lens

Got as low as I could and rested elbow on knee to get better stability

D800e
200-500 VR at 500mm
f10
1/125
ISO 1600

Criopped about 50% from original and slight CCW rotation. Cloned out a few small stones in FG and BG and selective sharpening on subject

Thanks for your comments

[John Robinson]

Nice paited lady Shane. If shes heading this way I would wait a while !! Unusual to see one on ground like this. Interesting shot.
Cheers
John

[shane shacaluga]

Thanks John. They do spend time on the ground in this area for some reason but a very wary of anything getting close. My dogs for example

So with this longer lens I can stay back and not frighten them off

[Jonathan Ashton]

Good try, I think you need a faster shutter speed, the head and eye look sharp but the tops of the wings are a little soft. We had very few painted ladies around here last year.

[shane shacaluga]

I agree Jonathan. The issue was that I knew i would be cropping quite a bit and was worried that increasing the ISO more would have been counterproductive

Will wait for better light and try again!

Thanks for commenting

[David Cowling]

Always nice to see a Painted Lady butterfly. Well done for capturing the image in difficult conditions.

[Steve Maxson]

Sounds like a pretty heavy "macro" lens, Shane. Nice looking butterfly and I like the even light. I would wish that it was a little sharper overall. As Jon noted, more shutter speed (and a tripod) would likely make the difference.

[Diane Miller]

Gorgeous, with great soft light and wonderful colors on the ground to go with the butterfly. Every time I've seen any insect on the ground that might be photographed, it is on the ugliest patch of ground you have ever seen.

I love my 100-400 as a macro. It is wonderfully sharp with the 1.4X, giving me 560mm that will focus at 3 ft. It's quite decent with the 2X but that needs manual focus or live view AF. And if I'm working from down low, I need a tripod. To use as a crutch to get up again.

[shane shacaluga]

Thanks everyone! These long lenses work very nicely especially for butterflies and dragonflies that get spooked quite easily. Great for separating the subject from the background compared to the normal shorter macro lenses