Visitors to Milkweed

[RandyRFJP]

Goose Lake Prairie. Morrris, Illinois.

Haploa moth (H. reversa??) and two red milkweed beetles visiting common milkweed.



C&C and definitive identification of the moth are welcome.

[Ziggy]

Nice group of visitors on the milkweed Randy.

[RandyRFJP]

Nice group of visitors on the milkweed Randy.

Thanks, Jim; you're too kind. I think the flower and insects are fine. Unlike the moth, the beetles tend to get "lost" within the flowers, but I like both the way their antennae curl near their tips, and their relationship to each other. The greens, however, are overly saturated/vivid, making the prairie grass/flowers background very distracting. I have very meager post-processing skills. In the future, I might revisit this photo to see what I can do to improve on it.

[rtbaum]

Okay Randy, I have been looking at this photo for two days now. Firstly, I somehow get the feeling that I am not the only prairie enthusiast here. The vibrant green background is apparent, rather than distracting, however, I find it representative of how lush a prairie in the mid-day sun can be.

The problem here, as I see it, is a slight matter of composition. The center of the bloom and insects are all on a line running smack dab through the mid point side to side. I recommend a slight cropping of the top of the photo, leaving a little breathing room above the leaf with the mid-rib that leads the eye to the moth. You lose the tip of a leaf, but in my opinion yields a stronger composition.

[IzzieK]

Try to click on the image then hold the left mouse button while you move your image around the screen. Then you will see where you need to crop it. Since this image is not the standard 1600 px on the longest side, you can also enlarge your image and move it around the screen. You will find your strongest and weakest points on where to crop it. Just a suggestion. I like looking at images like this in an expanded form. It gives more room to criticize one's own image too.

[Geoff F]

Looks good to me, Randy. A nice flower portrait plus some additional insect interest.

Maybe fractionally tight to the edges, but nothing really serious.

[RandyRFJP]

Okay Randy, I have been looking at this photo for two days now. Firstly, I somehow get the feeling that I am not the only prairie enthusiast here. The vibrant green background is apparent, rather than distracting, however, I find it representative of how lush a prairie in the mid-day sun can be.

The problem here, as I see it, is a slight matter of composition. The center of the bloom and insects are all on a line running smack dab through the mid point side to side. I recommend a slight cropping of the top of the photo, leaving a little breathing room above the leaf with the mid-rib that leads the eye to the moth. You lose the tip of a leaf, but in my opinion yields a stronger composition.

Randy, thanks for the comments. I am very much a prairie enthusiast. Goose Lake Prairie is a state managed one that I've been going to for years, I have more photos of different subjects I've taken at the prairie, and I hope to post them in the future.

Thanks for the comments regarding the cropping. I like your suggestion of cropping a bit of the top off of the right leaf, and having the mid-rib of the left leaf lead a viewer's eyes to the moth. I also cropped a bit off the bottom. and about 1/2 of the flower buds on the left side. That "moves" the moth to approximately a vertical third of the composition. The new problem is that the connection to the bottom right leaf is now missing. If you have time, please let me know what you think.



Original Image Below:

[RandyRFJP]

Try to click on the image then hold the left mouse button while you move your image around the screen. Then you will see where you need to crop it. Since this image is not the standard 1600 px on the longest side, you can also enlarge your image and move it around the screen. You will find your strongest and weakest points on where to crop it. Just a suggestion. I like looking at images like this in an expanded form. It gives more room to criticize one's own image too.

Thanks, Izzie. I hadn't thought of moving the image around the screen as you suggest. Great idea!

[RandyRFJP]

Looks good to me, Randy. A nice flower portrait plus some additional insect interest.

Maybe fractionally tight to the edges, but nothing really serious.

Geoff, I'm glad you liked the photo, and thanks for your comment regarding the tight crop. I don't think of myself as being in the least bit artistic. I know that I tend to use non-standard-ratio crops, and often crop too close to the frame or main image edge(s). I also know I need to get more more disciplined in framing my shots correctly before activating the shutter. However, I am usually more interested in capturing a decent image before my subject decides to leave, than in getting better framing of the shot. I also realize that if I want to improve my photos, I need to pay more attention to the compositional aspects of them, as well as greatly improving my post-processing skills.

[rtbaum]

Randy, thanks for the comments. I am very much a prairie enthusiast. Goose Lake Prairie is a state managed one that I've been going to for years, I have more photos of different subjects I've taken at the prairie, and I hope to post them in the future.

Thanks for the comments regarding the cropping. I like your suggestion of cropping a bit of the top off of the right leaf, and having the mid-rib of the left leaf lead a viewer's eyes to the moth. I also cropped a bit off the bottom. and about 1/2 of the flower buds on the left side. That "moves" the moth to approximately a vertical third of the composition. The new problem is that the connection to the bottom right leaf is now missing. If you have time, please let me know what you think.



Original Image Below:

The crop off the top works for me, but I would restore the left to where it was.

I have developed a pattern of centering the primary subject when I take the shot. Most of the time, I want the best focus on an eyeball or antennae, if you get me. I use center focus, as these are the most acute from as I understand it. Once I have made the capture, I download into my processing program and edit and crop to taste. I'm of the school that says that it is OK to allow ample space on the margins for cropping.

In regards to the rules of composition, you should find a plethora of information out there.

[RandyRFJP]

The crop off the top works for me, but I would restore the left to where it was. ...

Thanks Randy for the additional comments. I appreciate your advice. For the types of photos I usually take, I "think" I can deal reasonably adequately with basic exposure and focus issues, which I consider the ""technical side" of photography. It's the "artistic side." of photography -- determining framing, when/where to crop, how to post-process, etc. -- that is usually the most problematic for me.

[rtbaum]

http://www.naturephotographers.net/a.../ab1110-1.html

http://www.naturephotographers.net/a.../ab1210-1.html

You may find these links helpful as a start for the composition part of the equation

As far as processing, I use Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop CC. I will not be so pretentious as to say it is the only way to achieve the final image, but it definitely does the trick. Lightroom is where I import the raw image to for 90% of my processing. Lightroom is quite intuitive, I have found. Over time I have developed a sequence of steps that I routinely follow. Generally I will begin at the top of a series of sliders and work my way down, tweaking as I go. It really takes very little time in practice and I actually enjoy the process as much as capturing the image in the first place.

Once I have taken it as far as I can in Lightroom, I send it to Photoshop for any additional edits, such as removal of annoying twigs with the clone stamp tool. When I am happy with my edits, I will downsize to post online and convert to a jpeg.

All of this actually takes me about 10 minutes for the average image, actually less time than it took to type this response...........I really am a lousy keyboardist

[RandyRFJP]

http://www.naturephotographers.net/a.../ab1110-1.html

http://www.naturephotographers.net/a.../ab1210-1.html

You may find these links helpful as a start for the composition part of the equation..............I really am a lousy
keyboardist

Thanks, Randy. I looked over the links quickly, but will go over them in detail later this evening. Even from my quick look-through, I'm certain I'll find them useful. I have Lightroom and a Photoshop CS3. I can do basic things with the Adobe programs, but nothing too complex. I intention is to work on becoming more proficient in post-processing, Like everyone, I have a lot things I'd like to do, and not enough time to do them all. Thanks, again, for all of your help and advice.