Backyard Butterflies

It took long enough for summer to get into full swing here in Germany. And now that it's finally here our backyard has been full of butterflies. Ariana has learned to gently catch them and put them in her bug box to study and observe.

The other afternoon she had up to 5 butterflies in her box that she caught all by herself. 

Of course for me it was the perfect time to break out my macro and take some shots. After a little while we set them free but boy did she have fun catching and watching them!

These were taken with my Nikon D7000 and Nikkor 105mm/f2.8G macro lens.

We discovered that macro shots of a butterfly makes them look kind of alien in the face.

 I was a little disappointed that I couldn't get their eyes more in focus no matter how I angled the camera, what aperture I used or where I focused. 

Fellow photographers, any tips?

The little yellow one was my favorite to photograph.
Ariana had such a good time playing outside. So happy I'm getting this quality summertime fun with my girlie!

Scavenger Hunt Sunday (16)

This Scavenger Hunt Sunday the prompts were sent in by me! How fun to be part of this project! I'm excited to check out everyones interpretations for these!

1. Beneath Your Feet:

I decided to go with this broken glass littering a nature trail from a few days ago. You can see my reflection in it! (When I'm out exploring nature, nothing makes me angrier than finding trash some inconsiderate people left behind.)

2. Capturing Movement:

Trying to capture Ariana while swinging and leaving the background blurred. This was hard. She moved a lot! I did get the chain in focus and the background blurred, so it was a minor accomplishment.

3. Texture:

Some colorful textured rocks found while exploring  castle ruins.

4. Face Your Fears:

One word. Spiders!

5. Currently:

Currently, chasing butterflies! My most recent butterfly photo is of this Large Tortoiseshell Butterfly.

I'm linking up with Ashley