Butterfly

[VR8]

Website typo fixed, my apologies.

I am new to this forum and thought I should take the opportunity to show one of my latest photographs.



The full series is on my website: http://www.rakmilphotography.com.

The Butterfly is a Giant Swallowtail. It is rare here in Ottawa and has appeared only because of the extreme heat and drought. While many have been chasing the few specimens in the nature reserves. I stumbled on it in garden off a main street. I had my D7000 and a 24-70 lens, not ideal, but the butterfly was a very helpful model.

My photography covers lots of subjects, and I try to post a news series every Monday. Some new some old.

These forums cover a lot of interesting material, so intend to return often, time permitting.

Victor

[JPS]

Victor,
welcome to CiC, it's great to have you with us.

I love this picture, well composed and sharp.
You say you hope to "return often" with shots like this your more than welcome.

[jprzybyla]

Hello Victor, welcome to CIC. Nice capture of the Giant Swallowtail.

[Walshy]

Hi Victor
I agree with John and Joe. Excellent capture
John

[VR8]

Thanks for all the kind comments. Encourages me to meet the high standards I see in this forum.

Victor

[Bobobird]

Excellent catch. I have tried getting a similar in-the-air but failed.

[ggt]

I really like this. The sun on his wings is really good! Thanks for sharing!

[VR8]

Thanks for all the comments. As I mentioned it was all happenstance.
I am now trying out flash with my D7000/105mm d lens combo (I find the D7000 superior in some respect to the D300). Whenever practicable I use a tripod.
Obviously, patience and technique is the key more than the gear.

[Ken Curtis]

I like your butterfly and know how hard they are to photograph. I photographed my first only two weeks ago.

You did a very nice job. I do have a couple suggestions that you might want to try. The first is to crop off the right one-third of the image. Those flowers compete with the butterfly for my attention and add little to the impact. Next I would crop a bit off the left side so butterfly isn't so far to the right side of the newly cropped image. There may be other crops that help focus our attention on the butterfly without sacrificing the beauty of the flowers.

The second thing I would try is to select the butterfly (with your favorite software) and see if you can lighten the butterfly and darken everything else. The first thing my eye sees is the magenta flowers, and then it notices the butterfly. I don't know if this would work or not until I tried it.

But still it's a great capture.

PS: You forgot the letter 'a' in your website link.

[VR8]

I appreciate the comments. Has made me think. The crop is not an issue. I too am very very new to macro and butterflies, and so cropping is inevitable but I hope, as time goes by to limit it considerably. This will help with clarity and sharpness. As to post processing and darkening the background, I have done this very occasionally. There is a difference in my view between distractions, and making the viewer think just a bit. The eye may go to the purple but then the Butterfly jumps out. I will certainly try the technique on some other insect shots I have as it will help. Here I am not sure.

Thanks for pointing out the typo!

My website is http://www.rakmilphotography.com