Lavender Dreams

[Bill McCrystyn]

D300 70-200VR 1.7X ISO800 F/9 1/1000

I don't know what kind of Butterfly this is but it reminded me of Alice in Wonderland. I really struggled with the BG but I think I got it under control. I should have used a bigger stop but I'm just getting confident with this lens wide open. With my old rig f/8 was marginal. Hard to change old habits.

[Fabs Forns]

Bill, this has a soft feel to it that is very pretty, BG is OK only wish the wings were fully open. Some may like more saturation, I like as is.
Glad you are having fun with your new toys!

[Julie Kenward]

That's a swallowtail butterfly by the way. I'll check my book at home and see if I can find you an exact classification.

I don't mind the mutedness of the overall image either but do with that the entire BG was either the plants OR the blurry part. This is a good example of a butterfly that would look good if you selected and copied him and put him on an equally stunning flower in another photo. You might want to try playing with something like that because he's in a great position where he'd look totally natural cloned into another image and it would be great practice for doing montages.

[Bill McCrystyn]

Thanks you guys, for sure this is not one of my better ones. Fabs encouraged me to show it - BLAME HER - :) I appreciate your idea and I'm sure it would work but I'm one of those hard heads that never combines two shots for one. It took me a while just to use PS. Wildlife pretty much demands it. When I use to shoot still life in my old A-1 film days The most I would let a custom lab do was clean, burn and dodge, the latter two rarely.

What owuld you recommend for a butterfly book?

[Ed Vatza]

Hi Bill,

I actually like the wing position here. It is very different than what you usually see (wings either spread wide open or closed shut). This is like the best of both worlds. :) I think I would like to see it cropped in a bit tighter on the butterfly. The leafy background seems a bit busy to me and the crop might help that as well.

[Mike Moats]

Hey Bill, thanks for posting it, and I like the look and soft feel. ZThe B-fly came out sharp and you maintain a nice soft BG, so I think you did fine.

[Bill McCrystyn]

Appreciate it you guys. I felt the same way on the wings Ed and It would hold up to a closer crop so I may try it. If I get anywhere I'll repost. Thanks.

[Anita Rakestraw]

A beautiful butterfly in a very natural looking setting. I do wish the upper wings were lighter, on my monitor they look solid black (but it may just be my monitor.) The bg doesn't bother me at all, but I might crop just a bit from the right, keeping the flower in the image.

[Bill McCrystyn]

Thanks Anita. I think maybe the wing darkness is your monitor. I want to be careful in my assesment for you, since of course, I am not looking at what you are. The base shoulders are very dark and in the shaded area. The wings standing are lighter on the tops and down the outside edges and much darker half way down to the base. Actually on my repost coming below you will see that a dark navy blue may be closer to the truth. I agree with you and ED on the crop as you will see.

[Bill McCrystyn]

I would like to thank Fabs and Mike for urging me on, and Julie, Anita and Ed for giving me ideas on how to fix it. The repost below is what I was looking for and just couldn't see, (forest for the trees) and I hope meets with everybody's approval. Happy hunting - Bill

[Ed Vatza]

Hi Bill,

Obviously the background is still busy but I think the butterfly really pops here. Nice job on the re-work.

[Anita Rakestraw]

Nice rework, Bill, and I can see all the color on the wings now! :)

[Fabs Forns]

Excellent repost, Bill, you really made it stand out now :)

[Bill McCrystyn]

No problem Anita. Next time just give your monitor a swift whack on the upper right corner. :D