Scouting Lambourn, Berkshire

24 July 2010. Confluence, as in a confluence of events, comments and interests. This is what decided me on a trip to Lambourn, Berkshire. You see I have re discovered an old love of horses and over the recent past I'd heard that Lambourn was big horse country.

Travelling south into Lambourn on the B4000, I passed through the village of Ashbury and then past the impressive Ashdown House on my right. The countryside is all rolling downs with horse pastures, fields of barley, wheat and oats. Oh and woods.

My primary goal on this trip was to scout the area for parking and access to sites for quality landscape shoots which would include horses. The low hills provide great sweeping views of the Berkshire Downs and it is easy to visualize some awesome images being photographed here.

The unexpected discovery of a herd of Fallow Deer was a bonus discovery, as was a hillside still sporting a fair concentration of flowering poppies. I mentioned confluence. The 24 July was the date of the Big Butterfly Count. I had been walking for 3 hours when on my right I happened onto a chalk hill nature reserve called Watts Reserve. Up to 32 species of butterfly have been counted on this hillside. I spent 40 minutes or so there and counted and photographed 12 species. Some of the photographs I took of these are now available as cards at http://glennb.redbubble.com/sets/55171/works

Tips for taking great images of butterflys and other insects.

1. Early mornings are great for taking photographs of butterflies.  They are usually still sluggish in the early morning cool before becomming more active as the days warms.  This is true of most insects, spiders etc. 
2. If the butterflies are already active, rather than trying to stalk or chase them, it may be more productive to second guess where they are going to land next and poition yourself accordingly. Some knowledge of your subjects' habits can be useful in anticipating their movements and may be really helpful.
3. Approach silently, obviously, but this also means treading softly to minimise vibrations which can alert the subject.
4. Set the lens apperture to a low f-stop, f5.6 or lower.  This will blur the background so your subject stands out in your photograph.  If the insect is still and you're using a compact camera, set the dial to the flower symbol (macro).
5. Up your shutter speed to 1/200 to compensate for any fluttering or camera shake.
6. Focus your shot on the eyes or even the tips of the antenas.  This will help bring the final image alive to the viewers.