Just Keep Shooting

I’ve photographed countless butterflies going about the business of hunting for their next meal. And I just keep shooting. With unpredictable subjects (almost everything right!?), you just keep at it and hope for the best.

Yes, being prepared and setting your camera helps too.

ISO 400. f 3.5, 1/2500. ©MHartong

Camera settings:

Aperture priority mode (A/AV), 1/2500 sec;   f/3.5;   ISO 400 even with a bright day so I have a better shot at action (pun – ha!).

Nikon D300s, 70-200 f2.8 Nikkor lens zoomed to 200mm – crop frame so it’s kinda 300mm.

TIP: Choosing ISO 400 gives me 4x faster shutter speed than 100 – can you imagine blurred wings?! Been there, done that. So when I shoot at the park, I opt for 400 – I’ll share the bird photos later… Avoid auto ISO – chances are it will opt for lower ISO resulting in blurred wings – too slow of a shutter speed, especially with non-pro lenses.

Continuous Drive

I almost never take my cameras off continuous high speed motor drive – because I really want to be prepared, whether I’m shooting news or everyday events like this. Even when photographing people, expressions change in the blink of an eye (another pun?!). So why just shoot one? I really didn’t count every frame, but I stayed for a few minutes and shot a BUNCH of images to get this. I got a bunch of butt shots too – much less interesting and now in the digital trash can.

You have to shoot a lot of butterfly butts to get a keeper this cool. So please keep at it – keep shooting, learn how to set up your camera for more successful images… and toss the butts, share the keepers, and celebrate each and every victory big or small.

I did VERY SLIGHTLY adjust contrast (I set my cameras at low contrast since I shoot portraits) and very slightly crop.

Questions? Email me! And Just Keep Shooting!