On the River

[Amy DeStefanis]

I finally hit the river during a time when the butterflies were visiting the water plants. Not many birds, but these guys were pretty cooperative:
Nikon D80
ISO: 250
70-300 VR Nikon lens @ 170
1/320 @ f 5.6

[Gus Cobos]

A very beautifull capture and composition Amy.
I like the back lighting on the wings and the fine details. The oofs in the background looks very nice and balances the image. My only suggestion would be to tone down or clone out the white blotsh on the lower right hand side of the frame...good show...:cool:

[Amy DeStefanis]

Thanks Gus,

I'm exercising my PS skills today. Here's a quick clone-over for the hot spot....

Amy D.

[Ed Vatza]

Amy, I like this a lot. The butterfly looks terrific and I really like the detail and backlighting. Unlike Gus, I do find the oof leaf under the wing to be distracting. I don't mind, and rather like, the oof flower repeating the perch flower though. Like I said, overall I like this a lot.

[Julie Kenward]

Reallly glad you cloned that white spot out as it really made a big difference! Lovely lighting on this, Amy.

[Mike Moats]

Hey Amy, a very different look to the usual up right butterfly. Repost looks better with out the hot spot.

[Robert O'Toole]

HI Amy,

I also really like the repost. Nice image. The pose is different and it works.

This is an excellent example of where fill flash, even the pop up would have really would have brought out more detail and sharpness in the butterfly.

Robert

[Amy DeStefanis]

Thanks Robert - I was really trying to capture the stained-glass effect of the wings, but I see your point. I do have some that I used fill on, but they didn't quite turn out as well as the ones with the backlighting. Maybe it was too much, and I could have dialed back the output.... I'll play with that next time I have an opportunity - we're going back out on the river Saturday.... :)

Amy D.