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View Full Version : Polydamas Swallowtail (Battus polydamus)



Joseph Przybyla
12-21-2018, 08:23 AM
Kaufman in the Field Guide To Butterflies Of North America describes this butterfly as "A dark, tailless speices of tropical affinity found throughout the Carribean region and tropical America". It is classified as a Swallowtail while lacking the distinctive tails. I captured this image as the butterfly worked the blossoms of a Firebush (Hamelis patens) plant in my backyard. Comments and critique welcomed and appreciated. Thank you for viewing.

Nikon D500
Nikon 80-400mm F/4.5-5.6 VRII AF-S ED image captured at 400mm
1/1600 F/8 Matrix Metering EV +1 ISO 720 Auto 1 WB HH
Post processed in Lightroom Classic CC, Photoshop CC 2019 and Neat Image for noise reduction
Cropped for composition and presentation

Jonathan Ashton
12-24-2018, 07:11 AM
Nicely framed, the butterfly appears a little flat in terms of tonality. If the situation were to recur I would suggest a little flash would help.

Ravi Hirekatur
12-28-2018, 07:27 PM
Sharp and well composed. Like the high key background. blackish butterfly contrasts well against background. Agree on tonality of butterfly.

Allen Sparks
12-31-2018, 08:51 AM
Hi Joseph,
I like the composition. Nice view of the flowers as well as the butterfly. Agree with Jon's comment - maybe some flash would have brought more pop to the butterfly.
Allen