Corfu pt 5 Avlaki bay and Butterflies

We are going to Avlaki beach again , Jan is going swimming as its a hot sunny day while i will fly the drone and go on a butterfly hunt.

Its deserted here, the main season has not started  yet , i bet it will be heaving in a few weeks time!

 We have walked along the main beach and through the trees to come out in a small sheltered cove .

 

Time to fly !

 

Topdown while Jan is swimming .

The main beach and the large Pond where i will try to photograph the butterflies later over to the left side.

                Looking towards Kassiopi , the harbour is just around the headland in the distance.

                                     And towards Albania over the forest behind us.

It looks so much better with bright blue sky compared to the previous flight here couple days ago.

 

Time to go find some butterflies,a short walk through the Forrest track and onto the scrub around the large pond.
almost immediately i have spotted a Clouded yellow , after chasing it for a few moments it has landed on a fern frond .

This is the main flat area where there are loads of wild flowers, and i have spotted quite a few Clouded Yellows already along with Meadow Browns, Common Blues and a few species of Whites including Wood Whites but i have not seen any more of the Eastern Dappled Whites i spotted a few days ago.

                                               Hoverfly or Soldier fly     I'm not too sure

            A Skipper ,  no idea on species though ,  i always think these are Ugly butterflies  haha.

I have spotted a few of these bright red Darter Dragonflies ,  eventually managed this image, stunning colour!

The far side around the pond towards the road is flat and covered in wild flowers ,  a few Clouded Yellows are constantly flying around in the heat but not settling for very long . loads of what appear to be Brown Argus, but what has caught my eye is a small bright orange  butterfly which i have  seen glimpses of once or twice . i believe it is an Grecian Copper  , i am chasing it around for ages determined to get a shot .

                 At last , i have shot off 5 frames while it momentarily fed on a small daisy flower.

                        I didn't get a good exposure but managed to correct it from the raw file.

                                                           Grecian  Copper.  what a beauty!

                                                            And a common honey bee

                                                                      A Common Blue.

    Its boiling hot out here now , time to start heading back now .........

                                    One of numerous Small Coppers that are all over the area.

                                                                     Sleeping Miner Bee

          I caught up with another beautiful Clouded Yellow . sheltering from the increasing breeze.

Time to go now..............................

used

 DJI Phantom 4 pro drone
 Canon 5dsr with 100mmL macro lens

Corfu pt4 Longhorn and Castle

I am on my way back from the far side of the peninsula in the rain , walking around the road behind the pond where the butterflies are and  have just found a large Longhorn beetle .  Since i have the macro gear back in the hotel i will take it back for a photo shoot .

Back in the apartment and have set up the mpe-65 macro lens on my 5dsr to take a series of focus stacked images,  each frame will be focused slightly further into the subject then combined in software when i get home to produce the final high magnification images.


I have put the beetle on a low stone wall outside our room and found a large pale leaf to place behind for background .   5 frames used in this final image.

Now a closer shot,  16 frames used in this one to increase the depth of field.   all shot hand held with a diffused flashgun.

Now for high magnification portrait.   11 frames in this one.   combined in Zerene stacker software.

After lunch we are going down to Kassiopi harbour to go up to the castle ruins for a look around.
                                                         This is a Huge entrance!!!!

                                Up on the top of the castle,, super view across the harbour.

                         Close up view of the beautiful harbour , pity the sun isn't out.

 Walking around the castle , great views all around . the weather looks bad over on the Albanian coast and mountains.

 The olive trees are huge , the netting rolled up under them will be used to catch the olives i presume.

                                                              Back down to the harbour now

                A short walk around before heading back to the apartment .  looks like rain soon!

Kassiopi pt3 Avlaki peninsula

This morning i am going back to Avlaki to hopefully get some drone flying done , the weather forecast is for thundery showers but it is dry for now .

i phone 7 + panorama image ,  fabulous storm clouds as i arrive at the beach, luckily they are moving away out to sea fast!

Time to set up the Phantom ....

Straight up to 400 ft ,  looking behind me to the lake i was hunting butterflies around yesterday . From this first view i can tell that Topdown , ie  shooting straight downwards will be best today with the cloudy conditions, the blue sea is looking really good.  so i think i will concentrate on doing those type of images after i shoot some video.

After about 20 minutes of shooting video, including loosing signal completely way out over the sea and having the drone come back home automatically , i have landed to change the battery.

 Here is the first video.........

Here is a selection of Topdown images ........

My furthest distance out , this is a multi frame panorama , Albania in the distance has some serious storms going on , and there has been thunder behind me also.

I have now started walking through to the other side of the peninsula . heading towards the other side of the forest in this image.

              The good stony path has turned rocky on the final steep section down the the beach.

                                                             Deserted except for a seat :)

                 Its looking very threatening now,  don't think it will be long before the rain comes.

                     It raining now, I'm sheltering under a tree which also has a seat under it .  Perfect!

       The rain didn't last long so I'm up flying quickly before the next downpour comes along.

This is going to be a short flight,    straight up giving me a view down the coastline to the right , heavy rain in the distance by the looks of it.

The headland over to my left , there is a small island with a lighthouse way out from here but think its too far to risk flying out too.

                                                                  Topdown of the above image.

                                    The rain has returned so now time to hike back to the hotel.