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Deep Purple.


Deep Purple.
Photo Information
Copyright: Peter Stoeckl (peter_stoeckl) Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1629 W: 287 N: 3646] (10219)
Genre: Animals
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2004-07-03
Categories: Insects
Camera: Minolta Dimage 7Hi
Photo Version: Original Version, Workshop
Theme(s): European Butterflies 2 [view contributor(s)]
Date Submitted: 2006-02-25 4:14
Viewed: 2169
Favorites: 1 [view]
Points: 44
[Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note
Deep Purple.

Apatura iris (Linnaeus, 1758),
Purple Emperor, Grosser Schillerfalter, Weerschijnvlinder, Stor Skimmerfjaeril, Le Grand Mars, Tornasolada

Wingspan approx. 75mm.

In bright sunshine, the male butterflies of that species show a strong blue iridescence on the upper side of their wings. They seem to claim and to defend a certain territory of their own. Chased away they very soon return. That’s a good thing for a photographer.

The blue iridescence is caused by a surface structure of the dark brown scales. It seems to signal male dominance to male competitors and male attractiveness to the opposite sex. Female butterflies show dark brown scales without any blue iridescence.

Females can be observed on very rare occasions only. They prefer to stay high up in the trees.

The males love to present their shining wings sitting on protruding branches in the lower regions of trees, obviously to send a signal of attraction to their females that usually stay in the top regions of trees looking down to see what’s going on below.

As much as the blue iridescence, a pair of red eyespots with black centres on the hind wings calls the attention of spectators. That signal seems to aim at another target group than the blue iridescence. More about the markings of that species and their obvious function as signals in biological communication in my next posting.

Caterpillars live on willows (Salix). The butterflies can be seen from late June through July in one generation, never far away from the trees where they breed. The species is reported from a few locations in Portugal and Spain (Sierra de Guadarrama) through France and the southern UK, into central and eastern Europe, going as for north as the Baltic states and southern Finland. It is missing in the southern parts of the continent.

The picture was taken at the marshy borders of the Rohrwald forest near the town of Korneuburg, a few miles to the northwest of Vienna. In order to capture that emperor sitting on his lofty outlook, I had to get up on my toe tips and hold the camera with hands outstretched, relying on what I could see on the cameras's LCD screen from the distance.

Digital Camera: Minolta Dimage 7Hi. Telezoom with Macro, sRGB, 51mm, f/5,6, 1/250sec, ISO-100. 03.07.2004, 17:00. Downsized to the web.

Thank you for looking.
Have a nice day!
emmari, Janice, Merlin, dew77, rodosranger, extramundi, SkyF, phlr, AndyB, carper, wallhalla15, gelor, hummingbird24, thistle, firelord has marked this note useful
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Discussions
ThreadThread Starter Messages Updated
To rodosranger: favoritepeter_stoeckl 1 02-25 09:26
To Merlin: tiptoespeter_stoeckl 1 02-25 06:31
To emmari: monkey facepeter_stoeckl 1 02-25 05:25
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Critiques [Translate]

Hello Peter,
this is a well point of view, cause it seems the wonderful shot of the wings. Congratulations, Nikola
And thanks for critiquing "austriaca"

Unbelievable, Peter. I have never seen such a beautiful butterfly ever before. Thanks for sharing it.
The beauty of this photograph is beyond description.

Perfect Peter.
Relevant point of view : do you see the monkey-like (i.e. Proboscis monkey) face with the two points as eyes?
Regards.
Emmanuel

  • Great 
  • Janice Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 3315 W: 148 N: 6113] (18648)
  • [2006-02-25 5:51]

Hi Peter, the blue here shines out so brilliantly. Excellent colours and sharp details. Good POV and I am impressed with your butterfly. Well done,
Janice

Hi Peter,
Beautiful butterfly and very well captured,
amazing colours and very sharp details.
Thanks for sharing!

Peter - tiptoes or not, this is beautiful. It's hard to find an angle on this species where both wings refract the lovely blue iridescence and this time you've managed it nicely. It's a pity the DOF didn't quite catch the trailing edges of the wings, but in this case it doesn't spoil the picture.
Regards, Nigel.

  • Great 
  • dew77 Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 4774 W: 294 N: 4020] (13209)
  • [2006-02-25 8:15]

Hello Peter!
Excellent close up.I liked POV,colors,details,sharpness,
lighting and composition a lot.TFS...:-)

What a beauty! Its an interesting POV and the loss of dof on the edges on the wings isn't much of a problem really as the amazing colour and markings are enough to grab the attention!

Its one species I hope to photograph this year myself, you've done an excellent job here so well done!

Regards
Matt

  • Great 
  • wuta Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 856 W: 2 N: 617] (2142)
  • [2006-02-25 9:06]

Hello Peter ,beutifull colours from the butterfly ,good compositie ,good job nice weekend ,Teunie .

Hi Pieter,
this is one of the most butterflies I ever have seen.
Lovely colours and texture. The composition and the POV are good. I like the DOF and the details too.
Very well done.

Fabulous colours and detail on the butterfly.Fabulous capture.
Andrew.

  • Great 
  • SkyF Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2233 W: 188 N: 1929] (8127)
  • [2006-02-25 12:11]

Die Farbe tut richtig gut. Wunderbar fotografiert hast Du ihn. Er sitzt da, wie auf dem Präsentierteller. Prima Einteilung tolles Foto.
Sky

  • Great 
  • phlr Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1241 W: 129 N: 881] (2814)
  • [2006-02-25 13:27]

It's a really a wonderful butterfly!
Very good photo of this beauty!
Wonderful colours!
Very good POV!
TFS!

  • Great 
  • AndyB Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1391 W: 32 N: 1350] (3982)
  • [2006-02-25 14:18]

Hello Peter,
A beautiful butterfly,I wish we had these here!
You've captured it very well indeed.
Lovely colours and a very good POV.
A great shot and an interesting note.

TFS

  • Great 
  • carper Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2009 W: 122 N: 2581] (8424)
  • [2006-02-25 14:26]

it's not an easy shot Peter,
but even that you did it very good here, the butterfly is very nice, and the pov is almost perfect, I like the dof too, well done,
gr. jaap

Du Glückspilz! Ich befürchte um diesen wunderbaren Edelfalter abzubilden muß ich etwas mehr in Richtung Süden reisen. Ich beneide Dich um dieses sehr schöne Foto. Tolle Farbe, tadellose Schärfe und ein gelungener Bildaufbau. Ein sehr schönes Schmetterlingsfoto. Danke.
Ich wünsche Dir ein schönes Wochenende.
Gruß,
Heinz

Hallo Peter,
er hat seinen Namen zu Recht, er schillert wirklich wunderbar. Ich liebe Royal-blau - und wenn es dann noch so glänzt und dieses Design hat, wow, kein Maler könnte schöneres auf seine Leinwand zaubern, Danke
Sabine - wishnugaruda

  • Great 
  • gelor Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Note Writer [C: 126 W: 3 N: 12] (523)
  • [2006-02-26 8:52]

Bonjour Peter,
Quel joli papillon ! Les couleurs sont superbes. Merci. Gérard

What a wonderful butterfly and capture of it!

The colors really jump out at us, details, POV, and exposure are exceptional.

Thank you Peter for sharing it with us!

wow!
Nice shot, wonderful high colors on butterfly.
good job.

I like these butterflies a lot. There's quite many of them in my region though they are rather rare in Poland.
The picture is good technically, has nice POV and framing. Great colours.
Picture along with the note and WS deserves a big smiley!

  • Great 
  • RII Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 485 W: 0 N: 884] (2812)
  • [2006-03-02 14:03]

HI Peter.
Great point of view,excellent colors ,details and composition,very nice photo.

Thanks and I wait more photos ,tips, critiques and comments.

Saludos desde MEXICO....RICARDO.

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