Shooting Fish in a Barrel

Lukas Nursery has a "butterfly encounter," a large enclosure stocked with nectar and larval plants and hundreds of free-flying butterflies. The captives are so tame [or depressed] that they tolerate very close human proximity. Species like the zebra longwing, which I have chased without success at Leu Gardens, will perch on the end of a human finger. So I thought that taking great photos would be as easy as shooting those proverbial fish in a barrel. After dumping the day's haul onto my computer and viewing the 150 shots, I learned otherwise.

I blame my macro lens, which I used exclusively, although I realize that my amateur status as a photographer was more likely the real culprit. I always aim for the eyes, and since the macro lens has such a small area of clear focus, I got lots of super-sharp butterfly eyes while the rest of the insect was reduced to blur. Below are some of my nicer efforts.

A Great Southern White:


Julia Heliconians:




And Zebra Heliconians:



I'll bet that shooting real fish in a barrel isn't as easy as one might at first think!

Spring Break Adventure

Elizabeth and I spent the day at Moss Park. I had hoped for lots of dragonfly photo opportunities but was disappointed by the small numbers of insects in inconvenient places. Moss Park has big areas of water, and alligator breeding season is right around the corner, so I was sticking to the shores heavily trafficked by people and boats! I did manage one shot of a cypress clubtail, a new species for me:


And another shot of a sandhill crane pair:


I am definitely feeling out of practice with the camera!