The Southern Festoon butterfly

[MiroslavMaric]

140643

Butterfly: The Southern Festoon (zerynthia polyxena)
Canon 5DIII, 100mm L, tripod, M mode, ISO100, 1/200s, f4.0, twin flash in manual mode 1/64, focus mode: manual
Outdoor focus stacking: 16 photos, SW: Zerene stacker
PP: contrast, vibrance, filter
Full size of photo: 5172 x 3480 pixels


Thanks for looking and comments. Cheers!

[John Robinson]

Wow ! 16 stacks !! Thats going some indeed> I would have thought taht would have got the orchid in focus too.
Why 16 ? I usually am able to manage about 4 if I,m lucky.
On some sort of orchid too. Anyway Good sharp shot.
Cheers
JohnR
PS - 16 stacks Wow again !

[MiroslavMaric]

Why 16 ?

Thanks for comments. Just to explain why 16 frames. My goals: max size of the image and max blur of the background. So the distance was 30cm and aperture f4. In total this butterfly is thick around 8mm, DOF was 1.4mm. For needed overlaping of the frames and to be sure to catch the focus from start to end I used 16 frames, in this case could be enough 10-12 but the start and end position should be fixed well. I used motor head with contoller and to prepare all I lost 20-30 minutes. It was cold weather, butterfly was fixed. I did 3 series of 16 frames because of air flow. Due to air flow I gave up to include the frames of flower. However I'm not 100% happy with result (color tone etc) and I will have to do some more PP.

Cheers.

[John Robinson]

Well explained ! Didn't realise so little DOF at 1.4 mm !!! Must re think my stacking methods !
Thanks
John

[Jonathan Ashton]

A very impressive image the detail in the butterfly is amazing. I have never seen this species before.

[MiroslavMaric]

I have never seen this species before.

Thank you. This species is well known in my country from April to May, so local name is Easter Butterfly.

[Norm Dulak]

A very sharp, colorful butterfly. And the background is excellent. But despite the stacking technique employed, I note that some of the more proximal and distal parts of the flower are still not in sharp focus. How much further stacking would have been required to bring all of the image into sharp relief?

In any event, the butterfly is outstanding. TFS.

[MiroslavMaric]

But despite the stacking technique employed, I note that some of the more proximal and distal parts of the flower are still not in sharp focus. How much further stacking would have been required to bring all of the image into sharp relief?

In any event, the butterfly is outstanding. TFS.

Thank you. Please note this was done outdoor and I'm happy to use stacking technique outdoor. Regarding air flow (from time to time vibration) the stacking frames were taken from butterfly only. The flower is thick around 40 mm. So more than 30 frames would be needed with 100mm lens, 300mm distance & f4 on FF sensor! If count needed overlaping, 40 frames would be minimum. To take each frame 1.5 second is needed. For example with f11 the number of frames would be around 3 times less but in above case the background will be different.

Cheers.

[Jay Gould]

"It was cold weather, butterfly was fixed."

Miroslav (http://www.birdphotographers.net/forums/member.php/13487-MiroslavMaric), What do you mean the butterfly was fixed?

BTW, lovely image!!

[MiroslavMaric]

What do you mean the butterfly was fixed?


Thank you. Sorry, you are right, it wasn't clear. It was cold and therefore the butterfly didn't move. One of the main reasons why I prefere outdoor stacking technique is that I don't want to harm the nature by any means, for example to collect and keep the samples indoor. Cheers!

[Ron Conlon]

Thanks for explaining the technicals behind the stacking that you did, it is very informative and gives some of the limitations as well as the advantages. We are often forced into choices by technical aspects, and it is good to know this ahead of time--I haven't made a stack I have liked, and now I now some of the mistakes I have made. In the end, there is a contrast between the very sharp butterfly and the less sharp flower--it is striking to a photographer's eye because it doesn't arise with a single shot. Thanks again for sharing.

[MiroslavMaric]

In the end, there is a contrast between the very sharp butterfly and the less sharp flower

Thanks, yes my first goal was to get sharp butterfly and the second option I tried to get all together but I was not lucky. Cheers!

[Steve Maxson]

This is a beautiful subject set against a pleasing background! Excellent sharpness within the DOF of your stacks. Like some of the others, I would wish that the flowers in front were sharp - that would take this strong image up to a whole new level - but I also understand the challenges of doing this amount of stacking under field conditions. :S3: