One of my favourite muses this year has been the Common Blue butterfly (Polyommatus icarus). It’s just so beautiful, and this was a good year for them in Ireland. The summer’s long gone now, but it comes back to me vividly when I look at this shot.

This is definitely one of my favourite shots of the Common Blue from this year. In many ways this is very clichéd shot, these guys love sitting on grass seed stalks, so you see loads of shots of them in this pose. However, this ones stands out to me because of the wonderful soft evening light, and the strong contrast between the butterfly and the background. This was possible because this guy was friendly enough to sit on a grass stalk that was in sunlight, while the background behind it was in shade.

The Common Blue Butterfly
on Flickr – Full-Size

  • Camera: Nikon D40
  • Lens: Nikon DX AFS 55-200mm
  • Exposure: 1/400 sec
  • Focal Length: 200mm
  • Focal Ratio: f/8
  • ISO: 400
  • Camera Mode: Aperture Priority
  • Exposure Bias: -0.7ev