Vlindertuin / kassen

Butterflies within arm's reach

In a butterfly house there is always a Blue Morpho hovering somewhere above your head, or an Owl butterfly sitting still long enough to capture properly. That is the great advantage of these locations: the animals are not going anywhere. The temperature inside is around 28 degrees, the humidity is high, and the butterflies move at their own pace. No wind ruining everything, no backlight you cannot control.

The Netherlands has a handful of permanent butterfly gardens. Vlindorado in Waarland is one of the best known, but Wildlands in Emmen also has a tropical butterfly house that visitors can walk through. Both are open all year, which makes them especially useful when it is grey and wet outside.

What works technically

A macro lens or a standard zoom with a decent minimum focus distance is enough to photograph butterflies at wing width. I often use a 90mm or 105mm macro myself, because it gives you enough working distance without touching the wings. Autofocus works well when the butterfly is sitting still, but switch to manual as soon as it starts moving on a flower. That saves you a lot of missed shots.

The light in a greenhouse is diffuse and warm, but not always even. Close to the windows you get better light than deep inside. Move slowly, because butterflies react to sudden movements. ISO 800 to 1600 is no problem on most modern cameras, and it gives you enough shutter speed to freeze wing movement.

Composition and approach

The best shots are not always the technically perfect ones. A butterfly drinking from a slice of orange, or two specimens approaching each other on the same branch, that kind of moment has context. Choose your background deliberately: green foliage at some distance gives a calmer image than a white wall or a sign with an arrow on it.

Go on a weekday morning, just after opening. There are fewer visitors, the butterflies are more active because they have only just started flying, and you have more room to get low or change position without someone ending up in the frame.

Sources and further reading

• Vlindorado Waarland
• Wildlands Adventure Zoo Emmen
• Wikipedia: Vlindertuin