In two previous blogs I described how to prepare your butterfly trip and what equipment to bring. Today, I will share four tips for when you are on location.
- Look for butterflies that settled for the night: do you have at least two days at the same location? Then this is the best tip of all. At the end of the day when the sun starts to set, butterflies will look for a place to sleep. Some do this in the forest treetops and you will never find them, but many sleep on plants or flowers. The trick is very simple: follow the butterflies to their bedtime place, memorize the place and return the next morning. You can then walk straight to the right place and start shooting while the butterfly is still warming up
An Adonis Blue (Polyommatus bellargus) in late September afternoon at 17:56, France.

- Go to eye-level: if you are a beginner, it pays off to get on your knees and eye-level with plants and flowers. Check them one by one for butterflies resting. A tiring task but usually with good results. Over time I have experienced I have developed an “eye” for spotting butterflies and it takes me much less time than when I started this hobby.
- Use the early morning sun: many butterflies, such as Blues, Browns and Skippers, have a habit of sleeping in the grass or perched on branches or flowers. In the first hour or so after sunrise, the sun will light them up like candles, as those living creatures reflect a tiny bit of sunlight. It takes some practice and a trained eye (see previous bullet) but once you know what to look for, it makes butterfly-spotting a breeze. Through years of training and experience, I can now spot a butterfly as small as a Blue from ten meters away.
A Grizzled skipper (Pyrgus malvae) lights up like a candle in the grass. Picture taken in April at 07:39 in The Netherlands.

- Put your pants in your socks: yes, you should. And tuck your shirt in your pants too. It is one of the best ways to prevent ticks access to your skin. Preferably, I have only my fore-arms exposed and my head. It decreases the risk of ticks substantially and ticks may carry Lime disease. Agreed, it does look a little odd, but hey, we are in the business of butterfly photography, we are not competing in a fashion show…
