Butterfly Portraits - Magpie Crow

Butterfly Portraits
Magpie Crow (Euploea radamanthus radamanthus)

I still have vivid memories of how I chased and stalked this Magpie Crow (Euploea radamanthus radamanthus) on 22 June 2009 in Endau Rompin National Park, Johor. This male Magpie Crow was flitting and puddling on the riverbank. There weren’t any other species for me to shoot on that very quiet morning, so photographing this “Crow” became my focus.

I knelt down to attempt a puddling shot whenever it settled down on the sandy ground. Being  alert and skittish, it took off each time I inched forward. This happened a few times but allowed me to notice its taking-off flight was rather slow and lethargic. The idea of capturing an in-flight shot flashed through my mind, So , for the next few minutes, I didn’t have to “go down” to shoot it, what a relief !

Technically speaking, this was just an ordinary shot - the sharpness and composition are far from good. However, I treasure this shot very much because It was a precious reward for my determined and relentless effort that allowed me to nail this in-flight shot showing the uppersides of the Magpie Crow - a timely capture of an instantaneous moment. To me, nature photography is about how an interesting or a rare moment of any natural phenomenon being captured permanently that would make a person remember and marvel at it for a long time – just like this shot does for me.

Today, trekking cum butterfly photography is my weekend routine. I had many wonderful and fond memories of shootings and outings with friends from ButterflyCircle. Thank you very much and hope we would continue enjoy walking this butterfly photography journey together to scale new heights in the quest of understanding butterfly species and helping them to thrive in nature.

ButterflyCircle Photographer : Federick Ho in his early 50's who works in the education sector