Since I’ve missed two weekends due to server troubles I thought I’d do a double post today. But rather than post two un-related photos I figured it would make more sense to pick two that are related. I’ve taken a lot of butterfly shots this year, and these two have come out as my favourites. It was a hard call to pick just two, but you can see the whole set in my Irish Butterflies Set on Flickr.

The first shot I chose is my best one of the most spectacular butterfly we have in Ireland, the Peacock Butterfly (Inachis io in Latin). We have no other butterflies with such striking colours or such impressive ‘eyes’ on their wings. I got this shot in my Grandmother’s garden near Cavan, Ireland.

Peacock Butterfly (Inachis io)
on Flickr – Full-Size

The second shot is one of our most bland species, the Small White (Pieris rapae in Latin). Not as interesting as the Green-Veined White, and very small. But I still think this is a beautiful shot. I love the way the zoom lens has completely blackened the background. You’d never guess there was a hedge behind this guy! I took this shot in the Junior Gardens on the St. Patrick’s College Campus (AKA NUI Maynooth South Campus) in Maynooth, Ireland.

Small White (Pieris rapae)
On Flickr – Full Size

For those of you interested in such things, here are the technical details of the first shot:

  • Camera: Nikon D40
  • Lens: Nikon DX AFS 55-200mm
  • Exposure: 1/640 sec
  • Focal Length: 200mm
  • Focal Ratio: F11
  • ISO: 400
  • Camera Mode: Aperture Priority
  • Exposure Compensation: -1.0

And of the second shot:

  • Camera: Nikon D40
  • Lens: Nikon DX AFS 55-200mm
  • Exposure: 1/1250 sec
  • Focal Length: 200mm
  • Focal Ratio: F8
  • ISO: 200
  • Camera Mode: Aperture Priority
  • Exposure Compensation: -0.67