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nick clayton
03-04-2013, 03:32 PM
125483

Snakeholme, Lincolnshire, UK. 22/07/11

Canon 7D
Canon 100mm macro f2.8
1/4 @ f8
+1 EV
Aperture priority
ISO 400
Pattern

Levels
Curves
Saturation
Selective Color
Noise reduction - background only
Photoshop USM - subject only

In the UK there are two very similar looking butterflies, these are the Essex Skipper and Small Skipper, possibly the only reliable way of telling them apart is the underside of the tips of the antennae, in the Essex Skipper they are black whereas those of the Small Skipper are orange. The inspiration for this image was to show this feature of the Essex Skipper.

Jonathan Ashton
03-04-2013, 04:58 PM
Nick I like the shot and also the narrative, I often have difficulty sorting out even large and small skippers!
You show the dark underside very well - in terms of colour, the tips of the antennae are however out of focus, I see from the data that the light probably prevented you from going for a smaller aperture which may well of course addressed the DOF issue. The DOF in general is a little short but it doesn't bother me too much as I think the primary interest is at the head end. I like the colours of the butterfly but the green background seems a strange shade of green to me??

Dave Leroy
03-05-2013, 03:51 PM
Nicely done Nick and an interesting look at the skipper. I like the nice tight focus on the body and eyes getting past the perch. Wow. What a tough way to have to ID something. Looking forward to more.

Steve Maxson
03-05-2013, 07:55 PM
Hi Nick. I really like what you are trying to do here - it's a very interesting perspective! Good exposure and nice sharpness around the eyes where you most need it. Like Jon, I would wish for more DOF to get the antenna tips and the stem sharper - though at this magnification even f/16 may not have been enough. At a ss of 1/4 I assume you were using a tripod. You might have upped the ISO to 800 to give you another stop of depth (would require more aggressive nr in post) and even lowered the ss (if there was no wind). Another option might have been to move a little farther away from your subject to gain more depth (and then crop more in post to get the same subject size in the frame). Another trick to give the "appearance" of more sharpness of the antenna tips would be to zoom in to 200-300% and carefully clone away the OOF fuzzy edges around the tips. Just a few things to keep in mind the next time out. :S3:

nick clayton
03-06-2013, 07:44 AM
Thanks for the comments. I think regarding the underside of the antennae being OOF is something which may not be so obvious whist in the field looking at the back of the camera but becomes glaringly obvious when looking at it blown up on a computer monitor, in hindsight I should have used a smaller aperture, although I do have some photos where they are not as badly OOF and could possibly copy them to this image if I really wanted to :w3. Regarding the strange colour green you mention Jonathan, I often find green can look a bit strange when taken in low light and I sometimes find it difficult to get it looking right. Many thanks again for your helpful comments.

nick clayton
03-06-2013, 11:36 AM
125547

I thought I had better not be lazy and have a go at improving the image based on the criticism above. I have copied the antennae from another frame where the tips were in a lot better focus. I have also selected the background with color range and altered the hue by -10, hopefully this gives a more correct background colour. Thanks for the comments which hopefully enabled me to improve the image.

Jonathan Ashton
03-06-2013, 12:21 PM
Nick, I wasn't there but does this colour appeal:-

nick clayton
03-06-2013, 01:05 PM
Yes, I quite like your version; mine looks a bit green compared. I can’t remember what it looked like at the time because it was nearly 2 years ago now, but I don't think that matters, I think you have to judge an image as it stands and not what the scene looked like at the time it was taken. Thanks for your time Jonathan.

Dave Johnson
03-08-2013, 05:07 AM
Hi Nick, I like the angle you chose to capture this little chap. A simple yet pleasing image with a lovely BKG and comp. With regards to the brightness I think something in between your second post and Jon's would suit me personally. I'm really liking this shot although I have a little nit and that is the front or top pair of legs. Being OOF and so close to the eyes is a little distracting. No one else has mentioned it so it's probably just me. Other than that though I think it's great. Well done and TFS.

nick clayton
03-10-2013, 12:46 PM
125692

This is a 50/50 version of my last upload and Jonathan's version, is this what you meant Dave? I think the second from top leg makes it look like its smiling.:S3:

Dave Johnson
03-12-2013, 08:16 AM
Yep, looks great Nick. I love those 'eyelashes' :)