Anya and I took a trip down to Charleston, WV this past weekend, and so I spent two days taking photographs in Kanawha State Forest. The first day we spent roughly two hours walking just a 0.25 mile trail.

We saw tons of things to photograph because I had our Tamron 180mm Macro lens set on the camera. We spent the entire time looking for tiny critters to photograph - things from butterflies, to frogs, to millipedes, and spiders... tiny flowers, mushrooms, and even some strange wild dwarf strawberries.

Anya really is a great spotter. I love being out on photo excursions with her. She finds a subject for me, then wanders ahead to find another while I set up shop and take some photos. She really helps with my patience to move slower through an area and look at things much more closely - definitely helpful when you're out for macro shots.

Technical Details: Canon EOS 7D, Tamron 180mm f/3.5 Di SP LD 1:1 Macro, 1/100 sec at f/7. ISO 200. Dolica AX620B100 tripod. No post production. Kanawha State Forest, Charleston, WV.

Why This Photo: We had just hopped out of the truck, and gotten started. There were butterflies all over the place, so what better subject to get started with. Butterflies are incredibly elusive, but so rewarding when you manage to get a good crisp shot.

What Works: I like the soft background of this photo, with enough detail to not be bland and boring. The framing is nice - I had another shot that was slightly crisper in focus, but the edge of the wing got clipped off - this shot has the entire butterfly in the shot, and nicely offset to keep things interesting.

What Doesn't Work: The focus is just the slightest bit soft on the eyes of the butterfly (but you have to look at the full size version to really notice). Additionally, I failed to hit that perfect time when the both wings were parallel to the camera's sensor to produce both wings in focus - this isn't as huge of a deal in my opinion, but a shot with both wings crisp would be worth so much more. And finally, I wish the butterfly had been oriented in a more upright position as opposed to this downward facing direction - but beggars can't be choosers (at least not yet).

Researching more on this butterfly to find the species (Chlosyne gorgone) showed that they are only reported to live in that specific county in WV where the Kanawha State Forest is. They live plenty of other places in the country, but I just happened to get lucky with this one in that area.

They by far were the most abundant butterflies in the park, and were definitely the most cooperative to photograph. I'll have another shot of one that I shot later that day that literally let me move around it and inch closer and closer as if it could care less. I'll share that photo later, I promise.

What do you think of this shot? Maybe compare it to this one to the right which is the one I mentioned that the wing tip got cropped out (darn constantly moving subjects combined with a gentle breeze!).

Leave me a comment and give me a little critique.

And stay tuned as I have many more photos to share from this outing.

- Bill