Cheap Shots

Bennett Hall and I went to Wren for a story on the Fender’s Blue butterfly habitat back in April.  You can read Bennett’s story here. After the interview, I realized we had been using the same low-resolution file photo for as long as I could remember. Because we knew where the habitat was,  we planned to get some new photos for our files.

The Fender’s Blue emerge in May and exist in the butterfly stage for about seven days. We met with Washington State University-Vancouver researcher Tyler Hicks for the shoot  and found the study worthy of a story. You can read it here. I had no idea what to expect and had brought a Nikon D300 with a 80-200mm lens. I also brought my personal Canon PowerShot G9 to shoot some video.

Tyler had told us that the best time was between 9 and 10 in the morning, when the butterflies were warming up in the sun and not moving too fast. Of course, Tyler was a pro at spotting the butterflies and pointed them out to us. He warned me that if my shadow fell on them they would think I was a predator and fly away. Things did not go well. I spent the morning cursing both cameras. With the Nikon and 80-200mm combo,  this was the best I could get.

Trying to shoot video with the Canon PowerShot G9 was also frustrating because the camera would focus on the grass behind the butterfly. With the macro on the Canon to fill the frame you had to be within a couple inches of the butterfly.  They would fly away when I got that close. After about 45 minutes, the wind picked up and the butterflies were in constant motion. Tyler caught one in his net and I made this image with the nifty macro on the Canon. This was my only success for the whole outing.

There was some free time before my first assignment the next morning, so I made arrangements with Tyler for a second visit. Late that night I rummaged through my old film gear and found a pair of extension tubes.

The Fender’s Blue butterfly is smaller than a quarter, so I tried a combination of lenses and tubes and found that with my old 200mm f4.0 lens a quarter nearly filled the frame from about 2 feet away.

The rig I had assembled looked a bit goofy, and I was a bit nervous as I arrived on the second day.

Because the winds had been an issue on my first outing,  I arrived early. The butterflies were not moving yet . When they began to fly they were pretty slow. They would land facing the sun and open their wings to absorb the heat.

Tyler pointed out a slow-flying female. We followed her for about five yards. When she landed, Tyler checked with his binoculars and said she was one he had marked with a red X. Watching where my shadow fell,  I moved into position. With the extension tubes, you focus by moving closer and further away from your subject. The depth of field is very shallow, so I lined up as close to straight on as I could so most of the butterfly would be in focus.  I then rocked forward and back to fine-tune the focus as I made some photos. She was kind to us and let me photograph her for a couple minutes before flying away.

Moments later we spotted one of the brighter males. It was pretty late in the season and most males had lost their bright blue color. He was the best we saw that morning. He landed after a short flight and allowed me to make photos for a couple minutes. He was not moving, so I thought I might get a chance to get some video. As I switched to the Canon, he flew away. At this point I had a nice portrait of a male and a female and put the rig away so I could concentrate on video and stills of Tyler for Bennett’s story.

I learned several lessons from this shoot. If you have the time, a second visit will make for better photos. I even considered a third trip. Timing is also important,. The window for good photos is pretty small, so show up early. When I try this in the future, the rig will be mounted on a monopod to help steady the camera. A monopod for the video would be a good idea because that little camera is difficult to hold steady. Most important of all is to enlist the help of an expert if it is a subject you don’t know much about. Thanks, Tyler.

Tyler’s Website

A photo gallery of endangered butterflies

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