SolarDarkroom Blog

I was lucky enough this weekend to join Ken Davenport and friends in Frazier Park and Mount Pinos in the Los Padres National Forest. I was especially interested in getting my first look at a very rare butterfly called the San Emigdio Blue and Ken felt confident he could take us right to them.

Our first stop was this dry stream bed near Frazier Park, the habitat of our quarry.

First contact was with another species I’d never seen before: Satyrium sylvinus dryope. It’s classified as a subspecies of the Sylvan Hairstreak and some believe it’s actually a separate species. It’s missing tails are a distinct feature at the very least. Note the faint pink hue layered over the gray scales. It’s subtle beauty is impossible to see with the naked eye in the harsh light of midday. When it comes to photographing butterflies it’s best to shoot first and ask questions later.

This is my prize for the day: The San Emigdio Blue (Plebejus emigdionis). I can guarantee you I never would have found it by myself. Ken knew it must be there and patiently examined every shrub along the banks until finally shouting my name. I was only 20 yards away and ran at top speed (lets not measure that) to find this brilliant little beauty. It was so busy feeding I was able to carefully nudge some foliage out of sight and take this shot with one hand. The day was young and already a success in my mind.

Next we went to Mount Pinos to look for Veined Blues, another elusive creature I had never seen before….

This is the habitat…

and this is the Veined Blue (Plebejus neurona) from above. Although its a member of the Blues subfamily (Polyommatinae) there’s no blue to be found. It’s a striking creature no matter what you call it but maddening to try and photograph. They fly low and fast and intercept other species in flight which makes tracking one kind of like a shell game.

This is the underside, below or “ventral” view of the Veined Blue. Since I write my captions below the image I could have said “above is the below…” but that just gets awkward doesn’t it?

Lower down the slope there were many of these Cythera Metalmarks, otherwise known as Mormon Metalmark (Apodemia mormo cythera). Some folks go wild trying to figure out all the incredible variations in this species-complex. I call it Metalmark Madness and even though it can make me a little crazy I can’t resist photographing these green-eyed beauties.

Ventral of A. m. cythera. (That’s what you might call Taxonomic shorthand)

This is Lake of the Woods and prime habitat for the Western Branded Skipper among other things.

First up is the Melissa Blue, subspecies Plebejus melissa paradoxa.

and this is the Western Branded-Skipper (Hesperia colorado)

in flight…

Here is the Melissa Blue again. This male (you can just see the blue scales from the dorsal side peaking through the forewing and hindwing) was perched on some sage just inches off the ground so I put my camera in the gravel and shot upwards using my trusty angle finder. Although my subject is back-lit the light colored gravel acts as a reflector and bounces a significant amount of fill light right where I want it. I spend much of my day down in the dirt and gravel trying to bring these images to you…

so if you like them feel free to buy me a beer some day. Just make sure it’s a California IPA;-)

Cheers!

At least once or twice a year now I’m sure to make a trip to explore the Kern River and Sherman Pass in Tulare Co. CA. It’s easily one of my favorite places on earth to roam with my camera in hand. The one constant is change and each visit holds surprises, challenges and adventures.My first stop was Fairview Camp along the Kern River where I spotted this Hedgerow Hairstreak (Satyrium saepium) sitting on the asphalt.

This Gorgon Copper (Lycaena gorgon) is a common sight in the area. The male’s coloring blends well in it’s surroundings.

and here we can see the underside markings. Note the prismatic effect of the fine hairs on the wing margin: This is often seen in backlit shots but I don’t believe I’ve ever seen this many colors of the rainbow at once.

Above, this well worn Mylitta Crescent (Phyciodes mylitta) is a first for me.

as is this California Hairstreak (Satyrium californica). Would I find any fresh specimens this day?

Further up Sherman Pass around 5680′  I stopped at one of several Alder Creek crossings…

and found this lofty Lorquin’s Admiral (Limenitis lorquini). They tend to perch well up in the trees but a 180mm lens helped me frame this impressive insect.

This wet meadow at about 8600′ is a favorite spot of mine but the season is a bit late getting started here.

Luckily I found this freshly emerged male Greenish Blue (Plebejus saepiolus) who was happy to pose for me. He was so relaxed I was able to pull a couple blades of grass out of the way, go back to the car and get a tripod, cable release and reflector which I placed below the dandelion for fill-light. He wouldn’t budge! I wouldn’t be surprised if he was preparing for his first flight. The meadow should be exploding with butterflies in a few days…

Next I went up to Bald Mtn. to see if the Indra Swallowtail (Papilio indra phylissae) were still flying. These elusive creatures are a thrilling find for any butterfly enthusiast and I expect them to be very difficult to approach. This male however was so relaxed I ended up sitting in the gravel and loose rocks about a foot away and shot dozens of frames. He seemed oblivious. There’s just no explanation.

His proboscis was on the rock…

probably gathering minerals. Butterflies can often be found at mud doing the same thing. They need minerals as well as glucose to survive.

Back down do the Kern River at Corral Creek I found my first Melissa Blue (Lycaeides melissa) on a piece of toilet paper of all things. It was right next to a Porta Potty in the campground parking lot.

I only had to wait a moment for it to choose a more natural perch and I ended up with that rainbow refraction in the wing margins again. Thats what portrait photographers call a “hair light”.

On the way home I stopped in the Piute Mountains and found Heliopetes ericetorum ovipositing on an unidentified mallow.

And while I was driving home there was something happening in my office…

This is Lumpy…

an Anise Swallowtail caterpillar we found on a Common Rue plant we got at the local nursery.

I made a time-lapse movie of him pupating.

He started to get crinkly looking.

Then a white stripe appeared down the length of his body…

and before I could speed up the camera interval he was done!

Nature is awesome!

So anyway as I said, while driving home he emerged in my office and Dierdre found him after stepping out for moment. Here he is on a hard drive I use to backup all my solardarkroom.com pictures. It’s warm so he probably liked that.

She was able to tempt him onto this plant.

I was somewhere in the desert driving just slightly above the speed limit.

When I got home a couple hours later I tried to take him out the front door on my hand but he saw the light in the bedroom and went straight for it. I let him catch his breath on the drapes for a moment.

Then one more try…

and he made it outdoors onto Dierdre’s flower arrangement on the porch.

Here he is as he should be.

We’d been referring to Lumpy as “he” so it was convenient he turned out to be a male butterfly. We’ve changed his name to Lucky and he’s flying somewhere in Santa Monica. Good luck buddy!

Well the little guy almost got away: While I was preparing the ultimate photographic-metamorphosis-containment system Lumpy was exploring the kitchen. After some anxious moments I found him crawling upside down on the rails of the window screen just a few feet away from the potted Rue plant he’d previously seemed so attached to. I got him into the cookie jar and setup lights, camera, background. 24 hours later he was starting to look different…

When it came time to actually pupate it all happened so fast it was frankly astounding. I’d been recording time-lapse photography the entire time but the truly dramatic part was all but lost for technical reasons I’m currently pondering and looking forward to correcting. I need more light! With a macro lens stopped down to f32 and an ISO of 2500 the shutter was 1 second long, and I do mean long. The sheer velocity of the pupation when it finally begins is too much for such a setup. My computer is currently spitting out a 24 frame per second Hi-Def time lapse movie which should be educational at the very least. I’ll share it if it amounts to anything but in the meantime these stills will suffice. I can’t wait for the next part and hope I’ll be around to catch it on film.

Lumpy has gorged himself to a whopping  1.4 inches long….but not for long.

This is Lumpy: He arrived on a Rue plant we got at the local nursery. The idea was to attract some of the Giant Swallowtails I’ve seen flying around the neighborhood but since Lumpy’s entered our lives he’s become the main attraction. That’s impressive considering he was 1/2″ long when I took these first two photos in an early instar.

He’s a member of the Black Swallowtail Family and when I looked at some pictures I wasn’t sure if he was a Black Swallowtail (Papilio polyxenes) or an Anise Swallowtail (Papilio zelicaon).

While I was taking these pictures I shot some video as well….

One week later he molted into a 4th instar and was an inch long. As insect larvae go, he’s a handsome devil.

The big question now is will Lumpy turn into a butterfly this summer or wait until next year.

Stay tuned…

On the way home to Santa Monica from Sedona AZ we stopped in Flagstaff where I photographed some butterflies on Schultz Pass Rd. I’d been very fortunate to receive some maps and tips from a local expert and was pleased to add two species to my collection that I’ve never seen before.

First up is a Western Pine Elfin, whose colors remind me of strawberry truffles. I think it’s a magnificent looking insect and it was especially tolerant of me and my lens inches away. The catch was that it kept rotating slowly around the flower, making composition and focus a challenge. Still, I’m happy with this capture and the Acmon Blue sharing the flower is a bonus. When I looked it up I found that Schultz Pass Rd. is actually the Type Locality for a particular subspecies of Western Pine Elfin named Callophrys eryphon fusca.

Below, is my first Spring Azure (Celastrina ladon). I didn’t get much of a chance with this one but it will do until next time.

With curled proboscis and characteristic orange spots I believe this is Plebejus acmon, a male Acmon Blue.

With many butterfly species, identifying gender by field-marks can be difficult but the Blues make it easy. It’s the males that sport the brilliant blue dorsal scales that people find so appealing.

Finally we have Strymon melinus, the Gray Hairstreak. As I’ve said before, I can’t ignore them no matter how common they are. This one was very fresh and kept those hairstreaks at the end of its hindwings wiggling the entire time. Birds think they’re antennae (next to the eyespots) and will try to bite the head. It gives the Gray Hairstreak a second chance at survival and indeed I often find the hairstreak tails missing. This little guy was also smaller than the ones I’m used to photographing near the coast. I imagine the 7800 ft elevation has something to do with that.

Summer’s just getting started. Let’s enjoy it!

Memorial Day Weekend began with a trip to Plum Canyon in the Anza Borrego Desert. I was all alone but the place was teeming with life. I was expecting to see lots of butterflies but my main interest was finding the Tiny Checkerspot (Dymasia dymas). In the meantime I enjoyed getting to know this special place…

Everywhere you look there’s something different.

California Barrel Cactus (Ferocactus cylindraceus) with some Buckwheat and Agave.

This Agave is unfortunately not the kind used to make Tequila – I looked it up.

I watched a friend fall on a cactus once. He took it like a man and I was proud of him. I had a brief encounter myself once and invented some new words in the process. You just have to pay attention to your surroundings. In Plum Canyon, these are your surroundings!

This Chaparral Prickly Pear (Opuntia oricola) seemed to call out for attention.

Along with the incredible diversity of cacti there is plenty of nectar here for butterflies and bees…

This mating pair look like Square-Spotted Blues to me. They can actually fly like this and at first I thought they were one butterfly.

This male Blue looks like Acmon (Plebejus acmon) but I’m not sure if Lupine Blues fly here. I can barely tell them apart. After a couple hours these were about the only insects posing long enough for a shot. Ironically I often find the easiest species to photograph are hardest to identify.

Finally a fleeting glimpse of the Tiny Checkespot but my lens was not stopped down enough to get it all in focus.

Soon I got another chance but with an obstructed view. Look closely and you can see this one’s been around a bit. There are missing scales and the pigments are faded. I’d seen fresher specimens so it was just a matter of patience to find the right one…

Finally after several hours I found it. This is a perfect specimen, on a simple branch with a nice optical bokeh. Once again, the Tiny Checkerspot (Dymasia dymas). It’s a keeper.

Next was a spot called Yaqui Well, recommended to me with a caveat regarding Africanized Bees. No problem I thought, bees and I have coexisted without incident for years. In fact one of my most popular images is a Honey Bee. So here I found the previously elusive Sleepy Orange just hanging out with a couple friends near a small watering hole in the grass. I watched the bees to see if they were interested in me, carefully measuring risk and reward. The Sleepy Orange was a torn up old rag anyway but still it would be nice to add it to the collection. Then I noticed a snake skin inches away. I like snakes but this was fat enough to belong to a rattler so that tipped the scales so to speak. I took one grab shot of that poor old Sleepy Orange, then returned to the car, closed up the camera bag and drove 3 hours home to Santa Monica.

I threw all the gear into my office, opened the camera case and a very angry bee flew out and stung me on the forearm. It must have hitched a ride…By the time I was lighting the barbecue for Memorial Day the effects of the bee sting had spread to my hand and upper arm, frightening our guests and causing a stir. I finished the burgers with the help of some fortified California IPA and a sling fashioned out of headscarves. The doc fixed me up the next day.

Before all that drama I managed a visit to Solstice Canyon in Malibu…

where I found this Umber Skipper (Poanes melane) which is another new addition. It may not win any beauty contests but it’s more than happy to pose.

This was nearby but I’m not sure what it is. Skippers make me crazy: there’s just too darn many of them.

Looks like an Acmon Blue again.

None of the butterflies were really cooperating but this Dragonfly was very eager to pose for an extended portrait session. It’s a female Flame Skimmer (Libellula saturata) and no, I didn’t touch the color of this picture. I did however have a gold reflector held in my left hand under the lens to use as fill light.

It’s head reminds me of those helmets the military helicopter pilots wear.

That’s probably close enough for most of you. But I’d get closer if I could. Just wait.

Despite a strained knee I was determined to get out on this gorgeous day in Malibu. I had a hard time maneuvering but there were so many butterflies on the wing I could just hang out and take my pick.

This is Anthocharis sara, the Sara Orangetip and the first female I’ve photographed. I could see the potential for a much better shot but I was up to my waist in thistle and it was getting a little prickly in there. Sometimes the things we want feel like they’re just out of reach.

This is Strymon melinus, the Gray Hairstreak and it’s the most common species of Hairstreak on the continent. You can see them just about anywhere. Still, if you get close enough to a fresh one with the tails still intact and the orange scales glowing in the afternoon sun, it’s hard to ignore the simple beauty of this insect.

This is Heliopetes ericetorum, the Northern White-Skipper. This female is the first I’ve photographed from the spring brood. If it appeals to you I have a better picture from the  fall brood.

If you sit still I’ll take your picture. That’s the deal. So this is a damselfly and according to my field guide it’s called Argia vivida, the Vivid Dancer.

Ok that’s all for now. I have to ice up that knee…

I took a day off to once again join the amazing Ken Davenport for an educational and productive day of butterfly photography. Every time I tag along with Ken I come home with photographs of several species I’ve never seen before. This particular location near the Piute Mountains is rich with Joshua Trees and Yuccas, host plants of the Yucca Giant-Skipper.

This is the wash where Ken knew we would find Megathymus yuccae martini,, the local subspecies of the Yucca Giant-Skipper…but where were they? We arrived early since they don’t fly all day and my best bet for a shot would be early when they’re still warming up. If it gets too late they’ll be moving too fast or just disappear into the sagebrush. We walked up and down the wash for over an hour in the early morning sun and saw nothing. Ken thought it was strange…and we had other species to pursue in different locations. Timing was crucial.

Just when we discussed splitting up to cover more ground I saw a dark flash buzz by.  They were there and they were waking up…

This male was sitting in the middle of the wash waiting for females. That’s it. That’s the plan. The males of many species will fly non-stop all day looking for females – not this guy.

When they call you “Mega” anything, the ladies just come to you.

Next up, a dirt road up in the Piute Mountains. No guardrails here folks just take it nice and slow.

This is Davenport’s Metalmark (Apodemia dialeuca davenporti). Ever since I’ve known Ken I’ve wanted to photograph this bug. Well now I have and Mr. Davenport himself led me right to them. Cool!

Later in another desert wash I photographed what I assumed was a Bramble Hairstreak but there was something a little different about it… Introducing the Perplexing Hairstreak. Ken considers this a blend of subspecies which gives it (for the time being) the most awesome name: Callophrys perplexa perplexa X superperplexa. If this doesn’t inspire you to study butterfly taxonomy nothing will.

This is an Arrowhead Blue, subspecies Glaucopsyche piasus excubita. Unlike many common names this one’s entirely appropriate.

From the desert to the sea, this is Solstice  Canyon in Malibu a couple of days later. I was slashing through thick brush trying to get a decent photograph of Anthocharis sara, the Sara Orangetip but this deer was easier to approach.

Orangetips have eluded me for a long time. I’ve seen plenty of them but they never stopped. This time I got close but not close enough and finally the clouds set in. The bugs stopped flying and I hiked back to my car only to see this perfect specimen perched at the roadside waiting for the sun to come out. I leaned into the bushes to get my lens as close as possible and it just sat quietly for a portrait. The sun began filtering through the diffuse cloud cover and finally lit up this beauty. I said before that if I got close you’d understand why I’ve been so determined for so long. Patience has its rewards.

The markings indicate this is a male.

Malibu is about a 15 minute drive from my home in Santa Monica. I won’t lie to you, it’s really beautiful. There’s a reason the rich and famous move to Malibu. It’s one of those things that really looks like it does in the movies.

I explored two quiet canyons just off the Pacific Coast Highway, slithered through thorny bushes, quicksand, slipped on some wet reeds and landed on my back in the stream. Luckily it was mostly puddles by then and my reflexes have been finely tuned to protect my camera gear before worrying about my limbs. All is well. Hey and the view was spectacular from the top of the canyon. I ended up below a multimillion dollar glass and steel home seemingly floating in air  just off the canyon wall. I’d show you a picture but I don’t want to get in trouble with whatever security guards were watching me on closed-circuit video…

Starting in Piedra Gorda Canyon:

The Buckeyes were plentiful but clearly getting on in days. I will have to come sooner next year.

Common Buckeye (Junonia coenia)

I’m not going to guess this Skipper’s identity but it seemed to want to pose.

This is a really tiny little butterfly, the Western Pygmy-Blue (Brephidium exilis) and it’s total wingspan is about 1/2″.

From Solstice Canyon, this is my first photograph of Cupido amyntula, the Western Tailed-Blue and I was fortunate to get dorsal and ventral shots of the same individual. The reflective blue scaling makes this male easy to spot in his surroundings.

You can almost feel the sun heating his wings.

My main target these days, the aptly named Sara Orangetip (Anthocharis sara). I’ve tried several times to photograph this species but they rarely stop in my experience. This was my only frame of the day and the only time I ever saw one of these males stop at all. Don’t they get tired? I’m told the females are more mellow but I haven’t been able to find any yet. This will have to do for now but I’ll be back in a few days to try again. If I get a good shot up close you’ll understand.

Here at home we have a resident squirrel. I call him Scratchy and he’s my nemesis. He likes to eat the flowers after the Queen of the Castle arranges them with great artistic skill. He tears things up and makes a nuisance of himself hiding roasted peanuts that one of my peanut-head neighbors is feeding him. So this week after they were restored with fresh product from the Farmer’s Market I decided to make some pictures before he returned.

I was driving through the Mojave Desert south of Death Valley when I came upon a large formation of Saline Seep. There was a fair amount of rain this year and Salt mining is major industry up there. It seeps up through the sandy soil and creates a hard crust. The ambiguous scale and harsh cross-light made this a compelling subject for me…or maybe it’s just ugly but as Mick Jagger said, “I like it.”

I’ve never been much of a panorama guy but I think I might be getting the bug. It’s kind of a photographic cult these days, with technology making it possible in ways never imagined 20 years ago. This is a series of 7 hand-held shots taken in great haste as the sun set over Red Rock Canyon on my drive home. I opened them in Photoshop which pieced them together seamlessly. The file is 53 megapixels and would easily print several feet wide. I don’t imagine I have anywhere to put it but if you do let me know!