Butterfly Exhibit at FTW Botanical Gardens

[bobcool]

We went to the exhibit on the 24th (for my birthday) with the family and had a great time! 12,000 tropical butterflies and tons of humidity in the conservatory! Here's a few highlights of the day, with a link to the gallery at the bottom.

1.

2.

3.

4.


Click here for the gallery...

[present]

I like the third one .. ..
Too bad I've missed the exhibit... they are just amazing...

[bbbpemberton]

Love them!! What did you use to shoot the butterflies with?

[haywyre]

We made it to the same exhibit this weekend, but I think we got there right when everyone else decided to. It got packed fast and on top of that the humidity inside was the same outside hehehehe.
Here is the link to my gallery of that day
http://haywyre.smugmug.com/2008%20Floral

[bobcool]

Originally Posted by bbbpemberton

Love them!! What did you use to shoot the butterflies with?

Thanks for looking!

I started with my 70-200 2.8 VR lens on the D80 because I knew that some butterflies would be up pretty high and a friend said it was a little dark in the conservatory. Got a few good shots with that lens. Unfortunately, that lens has a minimum focus distance of around 3 or 4 feet, so when a cool butterfly would land closeby I'd have to scoot back. It was pretty crowded in there, so it was frustrating. So, I changed to my 17-55 lens and was able to get the close butterflies much easier.

I also used my SB-600 flash to illuminate, since most of the light was coming from straight above. I should have brought my 50mm 1.8 prime, but forgot to put it in the bag. It was fun and the kids didn't want to leave, but I was ready to go after 45 minutes of being in that humid environment - pretty tropical, indeed!