Lustrous Coppers Mating On Pussypaw

[Mike Spinak]

Here's a shot I took, yesterday, of a couple lustrous copper butterflies mating on pussypaw:

© Mike Spinak

Shot at Loney Meadow, in Tahoe National Forest, using a Canon 1DS Mark II, a Canon 180 f/3.5 macro lens with a Canon 2x Tele extender, plus cable release and tripod. ISO 640, f/22, 1/100th of a second.

I hope you enjoy.

 

[Asher Kelman]

Mike,

Truly remarkable, Mike! where was this?

This is great catch. How do you know they are not just dancing? The flower platform looks like colored crystals of ice. Why?

The details of the butterflies are finely imaged. Lucky they re in the same plane of focus. If you have more of this series that would be a treat.

 

[Mike Spinak]

Thank you, Asher.

Loney Meadow is about 6,000 feet up in the Sierras, next to Mount Bowman, somewhat "close" to Colfax, California, in Tahoe National Forest.

How do I know they're copulating? For one thing, this is a somewhat classic mating position for many types of small butterflies, such as coppers and blues. For another example of this:

Silvery Blues Mating on Fiddleneck

© Mike Spinak

I also know because I got a good look at, ahem... the details.

Butterflies often (but not always) copulate in this position where they are both in the same plane of focus. They moved around, some, but I emphasised shooting them when they were in the same plane. For now, I think this is the only one I'm going to show... though I took some shots at different focus, and might try some focus stacking with them. If i do, I'll post that, too.

 

[Asher Kelman]

Mike,

This last photograph is superb and especially well balanced. I love the delicate nature of the image. It is great in the vertical composition. Seeing more of the stem would be fine too as this picture could take it, even an unusually long picture.

BTW, there's a trade-off between getting some depth of focus and at the same time getting into diffraction issues given the sensel size. Is that aperture really needed?

Asher

 

[Mike Spinak]

Again, Thank you.

Yes, I'm aware of the compromise with diffraction as apertures shrink. Yes, f/22 was necessary for getting the desired areas sufficiently within focus; keep in mind that these butterflies are just a little bigger than a fingernail, and that they're shot at ~2x life size; thus DoF is extremely shallow.

I do have a set of shots taken at f/7.1, ready to focus stack, for even better, but I have yet to put it together.

 

[Asher Kelman]

Again, Thank you.

Yes, I'm aware of the compromise with diffraction as apertures shrink. Yes, f/22 was necessary for getting the desired areas sufficiently within focus; keep in mind that these butterflies are just a little bigger than a fingernail, and that they're shot at ~2x life size; thus DoF is extremely shallow.

I do have a set of shots taken at f/7.1, ready to focus stack, for even better, but I have yet to put it together.

That should be amazing! It would ne nice to follow how it works!

Asher

 

[janet Smith]

Hi Mike

Wonderful, both shots are absolutely beautiful, if I had to pick a favourite from them, it would be the second one. Must have been fascinating for you to observe them, the numbers of butterlies and dragonflies seem to be falling here in the UK, in fact I've seen very few so far this year, is this also the case where you are?

 

[Mike Spinak]

Thank you, Janet.

I would not be in much of a position to judge whether the numbers of butterflies seem to be dropping. I haven't noticed any drop, but that means nothing.

 

[Sean DeMerchant]

Nice shot. I like the boke, nice and soft.

 

[Mike Spinak]

Thank you, Sean.

 

[Asher Kelman]

Hi Mike,

How's the focus stacking going! Focus stacking mating individuals is pretty intense post processing!

Keep us updated!

Asher