Swallowtail on Centranthus

[Sandy Witvoet]

Hi all... first time in this forum... since it's snowing up here right now, needed to look at something pretty. This image was taken 3-1/2 years ago (in May, when things here are bright and beautiful!) with my first adv. p/s. Photo taken in my garden with the lawn as background.
Canon SX10, 1/500 ss, ISO 200, @85mm, f5.7.

[Mitch Haimov]

Welcome, Sandy. I like your subject and perch, the stems leaning right, the subject angled left while off center to the right, soft BG. The swallowtail is a good size for the frame, although I would prefer it to be a little lower so the head is not so near center. Also, it appears to be in focus, yet not quite crisp, if that makes sense--perhaps a little selective sharpening on the butterfly would help there. (Your original file may be fine; sometimes things happen when downsizing macro subjects for web.) Hope to be seeing more of your work here.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Sandy firstly welcome to Macro.
Did you capture this as a jpeg? The butterfly does not seem to be quite sharp and the blacks are a little heavy or blocked. I have coincidentally taken an image on my wife's Canon G15 and I set it to jpeg and raw, once I processed the raw it turned out to be quite a it better than the jpeg.
If you only have the jpeg facility I would suggest bracketing the images.
A little more sharpening of the butterfly may help but if possible I would try to reduce the blacks a little first.
I like the composition and the overall exposure looks good.

[Markus Jais]

I like the composition here and the flowers in the background. Soft light looks great.
I agree with the others that it looks a bit soft. A bit more sharpening might help.

Markus

[Sandy Witvoet]

Thanks Mitch, Jonathon and Markus! Appreciate your comments very much. This was a first attempt several years ago with my first adv. P/s. JPG only... not much I can do with the blacks.... but... here's another "go" at the PP (I think I had done a multiple JPG Save, which degraded it too.) ... Well, any better? Or.......?

[Mitch Haimov]

Repost is an improvement, Sandy. The most noticeable difference to me is that the eyes stand out better.

[gary ellwein]

Welcome Sandy. The repost is an improvement. Nice job getting the subject in the same plane as your sensor. I also like the diagonal line of the wings.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Sandy - yes repost is better.:S3:

[Sandy Witvoet]

THANKS Mitch, Gary and Jonathan... I think the RP is cleaner and also shows more of the iridescent blue spots on the hind wings. Appreciate your warm welcome and help. (I miss that little "thank you" button too!) I hope to contribute here more often... we'll see what up-north winter brings! :S3:

[Diane Miller]

I agree on the blacks but it's a very striking image and since they are well-defined areas, it isn't a huge problem for me. Blocked-up blacks are worse when they are "pools" in OOF areas.

[Steve Maxson]

Hi Sandy and welcome to the Macro forum! Lots of good suggestions and advice above - and your repost is a clear improvement. You found a very nice specimen giving you a good pose and I like the double diagonals of the stems leaning the the right and the butterfly pointing to the left. One minor tweak I would suggest would be to remove the small bit of flower sticking into the ULC. Overall, this is nicely done and I look forward to seeing more of your work here in Macro!

[Sandy Witvoet]

Thank you Diane and Steve! I left that little "goober" up there(ULC) intentionally... but might look better "all gone". Love birds, but also love "other stuff" too. There is lots of opportunity out there!