Scallops

[Randy Stout]

This butterfly was imaged two years ago. I had never processed it, but came across it today while checking some settings that I had used in the past.

D700 sigma 180 f/3.5 f/16 1/200s ISO 500 R1C1 hand held (no tripods allowed)

Post: Selective sharpening , crop for comp.

This has an artificial background created by Roy Van Loo.

Not the most colorful butterfly, but I really liked the shapes. Wish the antenna were a bit better.

Advice and comments always appreciated.

Cheers

Randy

[Steve Maxson]

Hi Randy. I really like the diagonal of the leaf edge as well as that of the butterfly! Good sharpness and lighting and the artificial background worked very well here. You could make the antennas "appear" a little sharper by zooming in to about 200% and then carefully cloning away the OOF fuzzy edges. This is very nicely done!

[Jonathan Ashton]

Excellent composition, love the stance. As expected exposure is just about perfectomondo! I am curious about the antennae, one dark the other pale, are the inner aspects paler, I presume so - never noticed it in other species before. A very well prepared image, I like the background it works well. I know there is little that can be done now but I wonder if the background had a higher contend of the emerald green it would lift the butterfly a little.
One tiny criticism, if I look carefully I am detecting a few small dark splodges in the background.