# Portrait of a Lady



## Bend The Light (Apr 15, 2014)

These are  not wild...we bought a kit with some caterpillars and all we needed to "make" Painted Lady butterflies. The kids love it, and I also got my macro set up out for the first time in a couple of years...

Here are a few shots, shot with M42 Vivitar 90mm f2.8 1:1 Macro lens and a variety of extension tubes. Cheapo ring flash.



12Apr2014_Crysalid splitting by Bend The Light, on Flickr



14Apr2014 Number 3 by Bend The Light, on Flickr



14Apr2014 First Born by Bend The Light, on Flickr



14Apr2014 First Born close Up by Bend The Light, on Flickr



14Apr2014 Portrait of a Lady by Bend The Light, on Flickr

Quite pleased with them.


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## Bend The Light (Apr 16, 2014)

A few more taken today.

The first is the butterfly that didn't emerge properly - you can see his proboscis is in two parts, so he is finding it difficult to feed, I think. 



16Apr2014 Poorly Butterfly by Bend The Light, on Flickr



16Apr2014 Feeding by Bend The Light, on Flickr



16Apr2014 Feeding portrait by Bend The Light, on Flickr


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## tirediron (Apr 16, 2014)

BTL - long time, no see!  A bit of a departure from your usual work, but very interesting nonetheless!


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## Bend The Light (Apr 16, 2014)

tirediron said:


> BTL - long time, no see!  A bit of a departure from your usual work, but very interesting nonetheless!



Thanks. I used to do a lot of macro...

Been a little busy, been photographing families in the studio leaving less time for recreational photography. I will keep popping by but maybe not at my previous rate.


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## Bend The Light (Apr 18, 2014)

Well, today was the day to release the butterflies. We released 4 of the 5 - the last one only emerged today, so we kept him behind to strengthen. 
We also released the invalid butterfly - he wouldn't fly as his wings were not formed properly - and I doubt he would survive even if we kept him. Sadly, the ants took him while he was in the strawberry patch. 

A great experience, though..and we plan to repeat it later. First though, we are going to send a batch of caterpillars to my daughter's class at school - they can watch some butterflies develop too. 

1. A bit of sun before release:


18Apr2014 In the sun by Bend The Light, on Flickr

2. A bit of juice for the journey:


18Apr2014 Feeding by Bend The Light, on Flickr

3. On the brink...ready to fly:


18Apr2014 Ready to fly by Bend The Light, on Flickr

4. Annie (age 5) releases the invalid butterfly:


18Apr2014 Annie releases the invalid by Bend The Light, on Flickr

5. The invalid butterfly, before the anys took him:


18Apr2014 Poor thing by Bend The Light, on Flickr

Thanks for reading the thread.


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## baturn (Apr 18, 2014)

Cool series. Thanks for sharing.


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## Bend The Light (Apr 19, 2014)

baturn said:


> Cool series. Thanks for sharing.



Thank you.


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