Nikon D700 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — 1/200 sec, f/3.5, ISO 2800 — full exif
PuriPuri-chan, Today
( a Swallowtail Butterfly )
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 50mm f/1.2 + extension tubes — 1/100 sec, f/5.6, ISO 4000 — full exif
PuriPuri-chan, Three Weeks Ago
A month or so ago, Arthur gave us a black, blob-like, ugly little caterpillar perhaps half an inch long, and told us how to take care of it. It didn't move for the first two days, so when Arthur told me that it was just preparing for the “next stage”, I figure that would be “decomposition”.
But it eventually started eating the orange leaves we put in (kindly provided by Arthur), and went in cyclic fits of eating, rest, and the occasional little caterpillar poopy. Anthony named her “プリプリちゃん”, (puripuri-chan) which, as far as Anthony is concerned, translates to something along the lines of “Little Wiggle-Butt.”
After a week or so, she suddenly changed into the much-more-attractive green thing shown in the picture above, which I took with a 50mm f/1.2 lens attached to some extension tubes. It was much easier than using a reversed lens for macro work, but the quality I ended up with is still pretty bad. I didn't put much effort, but still, I'd have had better quality with less effort had I just used a real macro lens. Must get one.
Anyway, after a while, she climbed upside-down onto a branch, hung on with her bottom feet while suspending the top of her body with two thin threads, and turned herself into a chrysalis. Her outer body just morphed into a cocoon-like casing, in which she sat for almost two weeks.
This morning at 9am she was still in there, but when I looked again an hour and a half later, she was out and stretching her wings.
Anthony let her our when he got home from school. She jumped on his shirt for a few moments, then flew over to a tree.
If I ever do get a decent macro lens, I'll try to get another puripuri-chan and take a time-lapse of her life....