Butterfly & Thistle

[Rebel]

Took these 2 earlier today, at first I was attracted to the thistle and then I spotted the butterfly.

C&C would be appreciated.

[Shadowman]

Nice captures, perhaps a faster shutter speed is needed on both to get image sharper and tone done the whites. Are you shooting in aperture priority mode? How much post processing applied?

[Rebel]

Nice captures, perhaps a faster shutter speed is needed on both to get image sharper and tone done the whites. Are you shooting in aperture priority mode? How much post processing applied?

To be honest I think these were shot in "landscape-mode" as thats what I was shooting right before this, I'm still quite new to photography but I am learning about the manual modes.

I have updated the images now and added a bit more PP, tried sharpening the images more and reducing the whites.

[HaseebM]

I like the first one, very vibrant.

[DanK]

I think the first is a much better composition--it's uncluttered, with nothing to draw your eyes away from the butterfly and thistles.

[vaez]

nice capture I think the first is a much better composition

[Stagecoach]

No 1 is the best composition, 2 would have been better if the thistle had not obscured things but that's nature.

For No 1 I see you used 1/1000s, f/5.6, at ISO400. There is some noise in the image which may be due to the ISO400 or may have been enhanced by your PP. If you find the noise too great you have the option of dropping the ISO and the speed should still be ok in these lighting conditions, this being easier to do if you use either shutter or aperture priority modes.

Grahame

[Geoff F]

I would crop the first image tighter, Matt, to lose some of the distracting background. Possibly try 4 x 5 ratio.

The second may look better with a crop but I suspect it is one of those many scenes that I just ditch because the composition doesn't quite work. So many of my butterfly shots end up getting zapped.

With regard to shooting settings. I normally use something around 1/200 or faster, F11 to F16 and Iso 400 but frequently as high as 800 if not using flash. There may be some noise but I can selectively reduce this during editing. I would sooner have a slightly noisy image than have a total reject because the shutter speed or aperture were wrong.

[Rebel]

Thanks for all the comments and suggestions, much appreciated!