Well it is and it isn’t a blue monday today – it is in that all the images are of common blue butterflies and that it’s the first day of a frantically busy couple of them, but it isn’t in that on Wednesday I head to South Africa for a month of holiday, trip recceing and photography too so that can hardly make me feel blue can it! It does though mean that there’ll be no posting on here until I’m back though.
The tail end of last month and the beginning of this saw me head to Bulgaria for a weeks butterfly photography: a great location for such work simply because there are still plenty of traditional meadows to be found there which are really full of a good variety of species including some local specialities.
For me though, as so often seems to be proving the case these days, chasing the rarities or the unusual subjects whilst great fun doesn’t always result in the most intimate or engaging images.
Common blue butterflies are more akin to their naming than they seem to be back home nowadays, and the week gave plenty of opportunity to find and work with them in a multitude of different locations, settings, times of day and engaged in different behaviours too.
Dawn was generally the best time to be working with them though and the cool nights and high altitudes of the meadows where we were working always meant there was a good coating of dew on the plants as well as the butterflies which always helps bring something extra to the images.
On the final evening though we came across a pair that were a little more intimately engaged and the stunning evening light gave the opportunity to capture some dramatic images both front lit and backlit for a more artistic interpretation.
It was in many ways quite a therapeutic week – one lens (180mm), manual focus for virtually every image and a subject area that whilst I enjoy and do engage in every summer is not one I’d out at the top of my output list. I’d certainly recommend going just outside the normal comfort zones of your nature photography occasionally like this to any-one for sure.
I’m not sure if Great White Shark photography quite qualifies in the same bracket but it’s what’s next on this years hectic schedule and I’ll be posting again as soon as I’m back: hopefully in one piece!