Posts in Category: Holland

Admiral of the Oostvaarderplassen

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Along with many Small Tortoiseshells and an abundance of Large Whites, there were numbers of Admiral butterflies, both in Germany and in Holland. I have shots from Germany with the wings fully spread…classic field guide shots…but this less posed shot from the Oostvaarderplassen in Holland is my favorite from this trip. I like the contrast with the…well in the US it would be Iron Weed…the flower at any rate, and I like the glimpse of the underside of the wing. There is also a dynamic tension to the shot that I find interesting.

Canon SX50HS in Program with iContrast and -1/3EV exposure compensation. 1800mm equivalent field of view. Processed in PicSay Pro on the Google Nexus 7 2013.

Frog of the Oostvaarderplassen?

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I am not sure what this huge frog is. It was several sizes larger than the Common Frog I saw out on the trails at the Oostvaarderplassen in Holland. If it had been in the US I would have called it a Bull Frog without hesitation, but in Europe I am not so certain. In fact, the American Bull Frog is a problem in many countries in Europe…one of the most invasive of introduced species, so this could, in fact, be exactly what it looks like 🙁 A Bull Frog on the wrong side of the pond. 🙂

Canon SX50HS at 2400mm equivalent field of view. Program with -1/3EV exposure compensation and iContrast. Processed in PicSay Pro on the Nexus 7 2013.

Mazarine Blue. Holland

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I don’t chase little blue butterflies much anymore. I have learned the hard way that you rarely get the shot you would like and I have enough pics of a closed blue, generally tipped over on its side somehow, thank you very much! However, on my last day in the field at the Oostvaarderplassen in Holland, this one posed irresitably. I think it might be the Mazarine Blue, which is said to be a common Blue through-out Europe. It is certainly a well worn specimen, but it has the blue over the body that seems, at least in my brief study of internet resources, to give it away. I could certainly be persuaded otherwise by anyone more in touch with European butterflies 🙂

Canon SX50HS at 1800mm equivalent field of view. Program with iContrast and -1/3EV exposure compensation. Processed on then go with PicSay Pro on the Nexus 7 2013.

Cabbage Whites. Happy Sunday!

I took many butterfly pictures in England, Germany, and Holland this trip. My impression was that there were many more butterflies in England than I had seen on past trips (confirmed by locals), and I was certainly impressed by the numbers of Small Tortoiseshells in Holland…though my Dutch friends tell me that butterfly numbers overall, according to a national butterfly survey, are down. With large, showy butterflies like Peacocks, Admirals, and even Maps to photograph, I was not paying much attention to the ever-present Cabbage (or Large) Whites. There were literally every where I went, and, on the Oostvaarderplassen in Holland you could count…or rather…you could not have counted their numbers in any effective way. There were just too many, and they were too mobile. Their mobility is one of the reasons I was basically ignoring them, photographically, at least. I have tried Whites before, and I know they simply do not, in the general course of things, pose long enough for a satisfying shot.

So it came to the last day of my trip (or the last non-travel day), and I still did not have a good shot of a Cabbage White. It was Sunday, and I was still at the Dutch Bird Fair on the Oostvaarderplassen. I decided, after my talk in the big tent and some lunch to fortify me, to push myself around the loop of trails out to the observation deck and back one more time. And, I thought, perhaps I should at least try to get a Cabbage White.

My first attempts were a pair attempting to mate, with the male in constant motion above the female. Flight shots. But then I found several piles of fresh Konig Pony poop, which is evidently ambrosia for Cabbage Whites. Clusters of them! And sitting relatively still. Finally, the shot above…with a pair posed in as nicely as you could want!

Canon SX50HS at 1800mm equivalent field of view. My usual modifications to Program. f6.5 @ 1/1000th @ ISO 320. Processed in PicSay Pro on the Google Nexus 7 FHD.

And for the Sunday thought: If it did not happen so often, I certainly would not believe it, but, in my photographic life (and my life in general), I have come to rely on God’s intervention…that is on the intelligence and intent, not to mention absolute good will and undeserved love, of the universe as expressed in the natural world around me. God is, to my way of thinking, (and among many more incomprehensible attributes), the personality of all that is…and I can not escape the conclusion, based on daily experience, that God wishes me well, wants my wellness, and actively works toward that end. Oh, I can, and do, frustrate God’s work in my life. I will insist on having my own way, too much of the time…but even when I am acutely willful, God is gentle and gracious to make the most of my bad decisions. Yeah, I know. Too good to be true…and, once more, I certainly would not believe it if it did not happen so often…daily…hour by hour.

In this case, I merely half formed the wish that I would find some cooperative Cabbage Whites. And based on experience, I half formed it as a prayer, or at least in the full awareness that I have no…absolutely no…control over Cabbage White behavior…and that I was asking a lot of God (who I have to assume does have at least a measure of control over Cabbage White behavior) just wishing for a well posed shot. And…wouldn’t you know it…God came through! I have a whole set of the best Cabbage White shots of my photographic life. In fact, I was done with Cabbage Whites before they (or God) were done with me. I had so many good opportunities on that walk! I can only hope I made the most of them, which is, I have also learned, my gift back to God.

God is. God is good. God is good to me. And, in face of Cabbage Whites, once more I can not escape those conclusions!

Wild Konig Ponies of the Oostvaarderplassen