Lead-coloured Drab

This is a Spring moth known as a Lead-coloured Drab, Orthosia populeti, fairly certain of the ID, I couldn’t check the degree of featheriness on the antennae to be certain, it may be a different type of Drab. Its markings are not particularly remarkable, but its hairy compound eyes can be something of a talking point.

The macro shot of the moth’s left eye was taken with my camera mounted on a tripod very close to the moth. I used manual focusing in “live view” mode (i.e. focusing with the camera’s rear screen. I set the shutter to “silent” mode on put it on a 10-second timer to minimise vibration.

The camera in question is a Canon 7D mkii digital SLR (2/3 cropped frame). It was fitted with a 1:1 90mm Tamron macro lens and a 44mm extension tube to allow focusing closer than the Tamron’s standard minimum focusing distance.

Shot was taken as a 2-second exposure, with an aperture of f/7.1, and ISO 200. No flash, just ambient light and a line of LEDs about 2 inches above the moth.