Great Spangled Fritillary

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Great Spangled Fritillary

July 13, 2013 by Mike Powell

I continue to be amazed at the insects that visit my neighbors’ garden and yesterday I was thrilled to see this Great Spangled Fritillary butterfly (Speyeria cybele). The beautiful butterfly moved around a lot among the flowers and even returned after flying away, which gave me time to change lenses.

I took this shot of the butterfly on a cone flower with my 100mm macro lens. I wanted take the photograph at eye-level with the butterfly, but initially the background was too cluttered and there was too much light coming from the back, which caused the butterfly to be shadowy. I decided to use my pop-up flash, suspecting that the background would go black and the detail of the butterfly would be revealed, which is what happened.

The result looks a little bit artificial, but I like the effect that I managed to achieve. I am working on a couple more images of the butterfly taken in natural light, so you may see it again soon.

Posted in Art, Butterflies, Flowers, Gardening, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography | Tagged Alexandria VA, canon 100, Canon Rebel XT, cone flower, Great Spangled Fritillary, Great Spangled Fritillary butterfly, Speyeria cybele | 8 Comments

8 Responses

on July 13, 2013 at 7:21 am | Reply Victor Rakmil

Really great photograph!
- on July 13, 2013 at 7:22 am | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks, Victor. Usually I try to avoid having the background go black because of flash, but in this case it seems to have worked out ok.
  - on July 13, 2013 at 7:28 am Victor Rakmil
    
    First I was worried about exposure with flash, then its harshness, and now the light fall off you mention. So I read up, I diffused, and now I am on multiple flashes 🙂
on July 13, 2013 at 8:40 am | Reply New Hampshire Gardener

I’m wary of using my flash because it seems to change the color of flowers and mushrooms slightly, but when it comes down to using the flash or losing the opportunity, I use the flash. I like the butterfly against the black background in this shot-I think it’s appropriate in certain situations.Small white flowers, for instance, work much better with a black background.
on July 13, 2013 at 10:31 am | Reply Jet Eliot

Butterflies are so tricky to photograph because they still for only seconds. Great work Mike.
- on July 13, 2013 at 12:09 pm | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks. This butterfly was pretty cooperative and sat still for a while. I was pretty fortunate.
on July 13, 2013 at 12:45 pm | Reply kenneturner

Nice composition and color.
- on July 13, 2013 at 2:45 pm | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks, Kenne. The butterfly was beautiful and cooperated in giving me the time to get an interesting angle.