My passion for nature has been strong from a young age. In the lake area in Southwest Friesland, stroll through the fields and sail on the lakes. Free nature in optima forma. The butterfly has left a special impression. The variety of colours and shapes, but especially the transformation from caterpillar via pupa to a unique, precious and tender life form. Over the years I have photographed many different species at home and abroad and now it was time to share this with others in order to initiate or expand that passion for this colourful phenomenon to others. All the butterflies, that I mention here, have been spotted in the wild, so no butterflies and moths whirling around in domesticated gardens. Each butterfly is indicated by the year in which I spotted the butterfly or moth for the first time and in brackets the country where the sighting took place. In addition to the described butterflies and moths, I have added, for your information, some more specific information about their build and taxonomy and worked out the family tree with a direct link to the subfamilies in my collection.
I mainly use a Canon 600D that was purchased in 2020 and I also have a Canon 1000D. As you gain more experience, you will also get a better idea of which lenses are suitable for macro photography. I once started with an 18-55mm lens and in 2014 switched to a Sigma 18-250mm Macro HSM lens with which I could capture most butterflies reasonably well. For the micro-moths, this was not enough, because it is not really a macro lens. That is why I expanded this lens with a conversion lens, Achromat Macro-200(+5) 62mm. Purchasing such a conversion lens is much cheaper than a new macro lens. In 2020 I bought a Tamron SP 24-70 mm F/2.8 since I was not very satisfied with the Sigma 18-250 mm with a conversion lens in view of photographing micro-moths. The sharpness/depth was so narrow and not convenient when you had to do the focusing at a location with the wind influencing movement. In the end, I bought a real macro lens in 2023. The Sigma 105 mm with F/2.8 is really the best purchase for me in terms of lenses for macro photography. This lens greatly improves the photos, can be used to take nice sharp photos without a tripod, and will be used to improve the quality of the published photos.
Since 2017, the focus has also been on moths. This can really be an exciting activity. Especially, the tension of which species will be attracted to the special light. With a stretched white sheet, I lure the moths with a special lamp, mini-lynx blacklight 20W, which scatters UVA light. For photography, I switch to the Sigma 18-55mm lens to avoid the shadow of the larger 18-250mm lens when using flash or to the Tamron SP 24-70mm. Sometimes I use a 160W lamp with 2735 luminous flux.
In December 2018 it was in my opinion necessary to create a contemporary logo that could be used as a watermark for my photos. With the idea to form a butterfly with my initials, the following logo was made (updated in 2023):
(c) 2023 – E.H. Schakel
From 2019 this logo will be used as a watermark for recognition.
