Butterfly hunting; continuous shooting and shutter priority with ISO set at 100

[JBW]

I thought I might as well give some of the bells and whistles a try this morning. Because the Alpha has a translucent mirror it can continuous shoot at 5 frames per second until the memory is full. So with shutter priority set reasonably high for a cloudy day and the ISO at 100 I went butterfly hunting.

I took 80 plus shots and got a few that were superior. And even fewer that were tossers.

I chose this one because it shows the brown lower and blue upper wing colouring and the blue eyes rather nicely.

I also have a small nagging in my conscious that says continuous shooting is cheating. But it should pass and undoubtedly quicker than it should to paraphrase one of my favorite literary characters.

[gregj1763]

I also have a small nagging in my conscious that says continuous shooting is cheating. But it should pass and undoubtedly quicker than it should to paraphrase one of my favorite literary characters.

When I first started my painting trade some years ago we used to paint a roof by brush.
What used to take several men a day or more I can now do in an hour.
If you have the tools use them. Lovely image Brian

[JBW]

When I first started my painting trade some years ago we used to paint a roof by brush.
What used to take several men a day or more I can now do in an hour.
If you have the tools use them. Lovely image Brian

I shall.

[Shadowman]

Nice capture.

[JBW]

Nice capture.

gotta love that continuous shooting!

[mugge]

Certainly not cheating. You did get the picture. I have not tried what you have done Brian, I must try it.

[Ziggy]

Nice BFly. Does it have blue eyes?

[JBW]

Certainly not cheating. You did get the picture. I have not tried what you have done Brian, I must try it.

it certainly worked for me. and it's not like we are using up film.

[JBW]

Nice BFly. Does it have blue eyes?

I am going to hedge my answer: I didn't change the colour of the eye. But i have never gotten close enough to see the colour without the camera.

[Rita]

Well done Brian. I think you are having lots of fun with the new camera

[JBW]

Well done Brian. I think you are having lots of fun with the new camera

I am indeed.

[bnnrcn]

Good trial Brian

[JBW]

Good trial Brian

It was a lot of fun.

[DanK]

Brian,

Nice shot.

I don't think this is cheating at all--or if it is, I do as well. I do most of my bugs with focus set, moving the camera to achieve focus. Often, the bug moves on its own (either doing its thing or because I scared it), the wind moves the bug, or I simply trip the shutter at the wrong instant. Whatever the cause, I have to throw out most of them. There have been times when I haven't gotten a single shot worth posting. That's the cost of photographing things that move out in the field, and close enough that DOF is razor-thin.

The point is to use the tools to get the image you want. What does it matter how many tries you have to make?

So, keep it up. Looking forward to seeing more like this.

Dan

PS: the semi-translucent mirror probably makes it cheaper to build a camera with a fast burst rate, but it isn't necessary. My Canon 7D, for example, has a burst rate of 8 frames per second. I generally don't use burst mode for macro because I usually use a diffused flash, and my flash doesn't recycle anywhere nearly fast enough, even with high-capacity Powerex or Ansemann batteries. However, I don't think to try it when using natural light, and I should. Thanks for pointing it out.

[John 2]

Cheating? No. If you have the technology, you should use it. It's the end result that is important if it conveys what you saw and tried to capture. One of the other advantages of continuous is that where your shutter speed is a bit marginal e.g. to avoid camera shake, there are usually one or two frames that turn out sharp enough to use. It's just a tool in your armoury Brian.

BTW nice view point and image.