Picture of the week

California Sister (adelpha californica)

A California Sister butterfly as found in Loney Meadows. Located in the upper reaches of the Yuba River basin near Bowman Lake, off a dirt road from Highway 20 (reachable by a Subaru or better), this remote meadow tends to be a good location for wildflowers and native pollinators.  I visited this area last week, being one of my favorite places for a day hike for this time of year (you can find a more extensive write-up of this location here).  As the snow in Sierra continues to melt, such opportunities tend to just move higher in elevation as the summer progresses.

The picture above was captured with a Canon 100mm L f/2.8 IS macro lens on a 70D body with settings of 1/400 sec, f/6.3, and ISO 400.  This lens works well for this type of photography, with a close minimum focus distance and fast aperature for quicker focus acquisition, plus IS for improved handheld use.  The 100mm focal length tends to also be better for photographing insects that can have a tendency to fly off if you get too close.  To capture this butterfly above, I applied my usual technique of after first spotting it to: pause to allow it to get used to my presence, take a slow step toward it, capture an image, move a little closer and take another picture, pause, and repeat all while moving slowly.  At some point you can typically get some nice close-ups before it realizes you are too close for its comfort and flies off.

All content and images are property of Stephen Fischer Photography, copyright 2010-2018.  Last updated: 6/10/2018   ()