Let me see!… I look like a large white. Take it again!

Marbled White (Melanargia galathea) – Hatch Hill, Somerset, UK. ID JB4_6052. Hatch Hill was a great spot to see Marbled White butterflies this year. The Urban Dictionary defines a hatch as a person who forces a photographer to retake a photo because of their appearance regardless even if other people in the picture like their appearance. Whether this butterfly liked its picture I’m not sure but all the other butterflies had flown off by the time I got a picture that did not show its torn wing or the small group of parasitic red mites clinging to its thorax.

In this photograph I used the on camera flash of my D200 covered in a plastic diffuser to light the butterfly from below. This stopped the butterfly turning into a silhouette. It also helped freeze the action of the wings as the butterfly was about to take off.