# In search of the Purple Emperor



## ViperLover (Jun 7, 2009)

I don't think anybody could have picked a worse day than Tuesday in terms of heat, to look for Purple Emperors. It was boiling on the South Coast, with temps in to the 30's.

However, we didn't go without reward. This female was quite damaged, but they're a very difficult species to find. They spend most of their lives in tree canopies and only come down a few times a day to feed or drink. The males are a lot better looking, but it's a start. A good friend of mine has had five previous failed attempts, I got lucky on my first.

Purple Emperor female (Apatura iris) by James Mintram, on Flickr

Purple Emperor female (Apatura iris) by James Mintram, on Flickr

Here's one of the hundreds of butterflies that were active, also.

Ringlet (Aphantopus hyperantus) by James Mintram, on Flickr

A basking grass snake was also seen, but it retreated quite quickly and was never seen again. However, that wasn't the only reptile species seen. A dead slow worm was found on the path, and this guy was sitting on a log pile:

Viviparous Lizard (Zootoca vivipara) by James Mintram, on Flickr


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## FishForLife2001 (Sep 23, 2014)

Great images as usual. Do you mind me asking how you got the blurred background in the 3rd image? Low aperture and focused on butterfly?

I have been trying with flowers and whilst I have had some success usually the background isn't blurred much, with an aperture of 4 and manual focus to the flower.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk


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## ViperLover (Jun 7, 2009)

FishForLife2001 said:


> Great images as usual. Do you mind me asking how you got the blurred background in the 3rd image? Low aperture and focused on butterfly?
> 
> I have been trying with flowers and whilst I have had some success usually the background isn't blurred much, with an aperture of 4 and manual focus to the flower.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk


Small DOF.


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## FishForLife2001 (Sep 23, 2014)

Thanks!

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk


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