Ian Butler Photography

031/365 Common Frog

Ian Butler Photography — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 08:51:04 +0000

Well, for the last image of January, image 031 is of a Common Frog. This was taken in my neighbours pond, where I have never seen so many frogs in such a small space! I used a variety of lenses, including the 100mm f/2.8 macro and the 17-40mm f/4.0 lens to get different perspectives of these amphibians. This one in particular was taken with the macro lens, as I wanted to get a lot fuller portrait of this individual. Frogs do not have external ears, but a circular depression (just smaller than the eye) behind the eye known as the tympanic membrane. The frog can hear when soundwaves strike this area. Male frogs have bigger tympanic membranes than the females.

Common Frog, Rana temporaria, West-Midlands, March, 2009.

Canon 40D with Canon 100mm f/2.8 macro lens.

Filed under: Ian Butler Photography, Natural History Tagged: 365, a picture a day, amphibian, Canon, Common Frog, garden, Ian Butler, Ian Butler Photography, image, macro, Natural History, nature, photograph, picture, pond, professional, Rana temporaria, tympanic membrance, wildlife

030/365 Common Blue Damselfly

Ian Butler Photography — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 11:40:05 +0000

Todays image, number 030, is of a Common Blue Damselfly taken very early in the morning, hence all of the dew droplets covering this very delicate insect. Photography of dragonflies and damselflies is easier to do first thing in the morning when they haven’t had the chance to warm themselves up with the sun. Looking at my exif data for this image, it was taken at 05.16am, 28mins after sunrise!

Common Blue Damselfly, Enallagma cyathigerum, Worcestershire, June, 2009.
Canon 40D with Canon 100mm f/2.8 macro lens.

Filed under: Natural History Tagged: 365, a picture a day, Canon, Canon 40D, Common Blue Damselfly, Enallagma cyathigerum, Ian Butler, Ian Butler Photography, image, insect, macro, Malvern Hills, Natural History, nature, photograph, photographer, photographs, professional, wildlife, Worcestershire

029/365 Blue tailed Damselfly

Ian Butler Photography — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 10:27:44 +0000

I captured image 029 last year with the new Canon 100mm f/2.8 L IS lens. I must say that it is a dream to use, and the sharpness and contrast, as you would expect from a L series Canon lens, is superb. The species photographed is a Blue-tailed Damselfly taken in Hampshire. It is one of the commonest of damselflies within the UK so keep an eye out for them between May and September around ponds, lakes and slow moving water.

Blue-tailed Damselfly, Ischnura elegans, Andover, Hampshire, May, 2011.

Canon 1D MkIV with Canon 100mm f/2.8 L IS macro lens.

Filed under: Ian Butler Photography, Natural History Tagged: 365, a picture a day, Andover, Blue-tailed Damselfly, Canon, Canon 100mm f/2.8 L IS, Canon 1D Mk4, damselfly, Hampshire, Ian Butler, Ian Butler Photography, insect, Ischnura elegans, macro, Natural History, nature, photograph, picture, professional, water, wildlife

028/365

Ian Butler Photography — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 14:52:36 +0000

Another butterfly image today. Image 028 is of Lang’s Short-tailed Blue also photographed in Menorca (pretty much about 1 metre away from yesterdays post! ). Being about 14mm from the back of the tail to the tip of the nose, these blue butterflies are absolutely minute and are very difficult to keep an eye on them when they are flying, especially when warmed up under a spanish sun! If you compare this butterfly with the Cleopatra butterfly from yesterdays post with the size of the Ragwort’s yellow flower heads you can appreciate how small this butterfly really is! I really like those two irridescent gems at the back of the wing.

Lang’s Short-tailed Blue; Leptotes pirithous, Menorca, Balearic Islands, Spain, Oct, 2011.
Canon 1d MkIV with Sigma 150mm f/2.9 macro lens.

Filed under: Ian Butler Photography, Natural History Tagged: 2011, 365, a picture a day, Balearic Islands, Canon, Canon 1D Mk4, Ian Butler, Ian Butler Photography, image, insect, Lang's Short-tailed Blue; Leptotes pirithous, lepidoptera, macro, Menorca, Natural History, nature, photo, photograph, photographer, photography, photos, professional, Spain. October

027/365

Ian Butler Photography — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 12:55:09 +0000

Afternoon all.
Todays post is of a Cleopatra butterfly. This species is extremely similar to our native Brimstone butterfly in the UK, but unlike ours, the Cleopatra also occurs on the Balearic Islands where I photographed this one. The underside of the Cleopatra and Brimstone are almost identical but wait until it flies and you get a flash of orange from the upperside of the Cleopatra.

Cleopatra butterfly, Gonepteryx cleopatra, Menorca, Balearic Islands, Oct, 2011.

Canon 1d MkIV with Sigma 150mm f/2.8 macro lens.

Filed under: Ian Butler Photography, Natural History Tagged: 365, a picture a day, Balearic Islands, butterfly, Canon 1D Mk4, Cleopatra, Gonepteryx cleopatra, Ian Butler, Ian Butler Photography, insect, macro, Menorca, Natural History, nature, photograph, professional, Sigma 150mm, Spain, wildlife

026/365

Ian Butler Photography — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 12:15:52 +0000

After watching a programme about the plight of the Slow Loris in Java on BBC2 last night, image 026 is of a male Bornean Slow Loris I was lucky enough to see and photograph in a rehabilitation centre in Borneo. Although protected by law, Slow Loris are cruelly being taken from the wild to be sold as pets in markets in the exotic pet trade. The ‘cuteness’ of these animals is unfortunately linked to how popular they are as pets and therefore growing supply and demand of these creatures is playing a role with their rapid demise in the wild. The Natural World programme with Dr Anna Nekaris can be seen again on BBC iPlayer here.
Unlike the Slow Loris in Java this fortunate individual will be released back into the wild.

More images of this species can be found on my agency website here: ALAMY

Bornean Slow loris, Nycticebus menagensis, Sabah, Borneo, Malaysia, April, 2010.

Canon 1d MkIV with Canon 17-40mm f/4.0 lens.

Filed under: Ian Butler Photography, Natural History Tagged: 2010, 365, a picture a day, ape, April, BBC, BBC2, Bornean slow loris, Borneo, Canon 1D Mk4, declining, Dr Anna Nekaris, Ian Butler, Ian Butler Photography, image, Indonesia, iPlayer, Java, Jungle Gremlins of Java, Malaysia, mammal, monkey, Natural History, natural world, nature, Nycticebus menagensis, photo, photograph, photographer, photographs, photography, photos, picture, plight, primate, professional, programme, rainforest, rarer, Sabah, slow loris, wildlife

025/365

Ian Butler Photography — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 11:41:17 +0000

Like the Bittern in post 016/365 here, this Reed Warbler lives in dense reedbeds. Image 025 shows this species in its habitat rather than a portrait of the bird itself.

Reed Warbler, Acrocephalus scirpaceus, Gailey Reservoir, Staffordshire, May, 2006.

Canon 40D with Canon 500mm f/4.0 L IS lens and Canon 1.4x II teleconverter.

Filed under: Ian Butler Photography, Natural History Tagged: 365, a picture a day, Acrocephalus scirpaceus, bird, birdwatching, Canon, Ian Butler, Ian Butler Photography, Natural History, nature, photograph, reed, Reed Warbler, reedbed, wildlife

024/365

Ian Butler Photography — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 22:40:40 +0000

A quick post this evening in the form of a funky haired African Crowned Crane.

African Crowned Crane, Balearica pavonina, Lancashire, September, 2006.
Canon 20D with Canon 500mm f/4.0 L IS Lens.

Filed under: Ian Butler Photography, Natural History Tagged: 365, a picture a day, African Crowned Crane, Balearica pavonina, Canon, Ian Butler, Ian Butler Photography, Lancashire, Martin Mere, Natural History, nature, photograph, photographer, photography, wildlife, WWT

023/365

Ian Butler Photography — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 14:01:52 +0000

023 is of a male Marbled White roosting on top of a flower head backlit against the setting sun. I can’t wait for these to appear again. I have so much fun photographing these through the summer months.

Marbled White butterfly, Melanargia galathea, Malvern Hills, Worcestershire, June, 2009.
Canon 40D with Canon 100mm f/2.8 macro lens.

Filed under: Ian Butler Photography, Natural History Tagged: 365, a picture a day, butterfly, Ian Butler, Ian Butler Photography, image, insect, macro, Malvern Hills, Marbled White, Melanargia galathea, Natural History, nature, photograph, photographer, photography, wildlife, Worcestershire

022/365

Ian Butler Photography — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 10:49:08 +0000

Image 022 is of a Kestrel hovering against a blue sky. Research is the key to succesful photographs and here a lot of planning went into this image.

Kestrel, Falco tinnunculus, Malvern Hills, Worcestershire, November, 2010.
Canon 1d mkIV with Canon 800mm f/5.6 L IS lens.

Filed under: Ian Butler Photography, Natural History Tagged: 365, a picture a day, bird, bird of prey, Canon, Canon 1D Mk4, Falco tinnunculus, falcon, flying, Ian Butler, Ian Butler Photography, Kestrel, Malvern Hills, Natural History, nature, photograph, photographer, photography, professional, wildlife, Worcestershire