Luna Moth.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Back from a one week family vacation at the cottage. The highlight of the vacation was the Luna Moths (among many various other species) greeting us every morning, clinging to the cottage exterior under the porch lights. One morning there were four of them! I took many close-ups (some which I will post later) but first off here is a "full-body" image. This one was actually on the floor of the deck, right in front of the door...a certain recipe for disaster (especially with a couple of kids coming in and out). I picked it up and placed it in the forest, in the shade for its' own comfort. I also strategically chose for it a nice "perch" with a good, clean BG ;).

Canon 40D + 100-400L @220mm, aperture priority, evaluative metering, 1/200s., f/6.3, ISO 500, +0.7 EC, handheld, full-frame except cropped from bottom to 5:4 ratio.

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w98/dancad/tn_LunaMoth_4704-01.jpg

[Ed Vatza]

Beautiful image, Daniel. Your selection of perch was excellent. The detail and focus right down to the antennae is perfect. Terrific job!

[Julie Kenward]

Daniel, I have always longed to run into one of these gorgeous creatures - you really did it justice here. I love the hard edges of the top and outer wings mixed with the soft details of the "fur" on the body area. This is really wonderful!

Was the BG naturally that dark or did you adjust it in pp? It really sets off that soft green and those beautiful antenna.

[Fabs Forns]

Pretty good DOF fpr f/6.3, and the black BG really makes it stand out.
Texture of the wings is very evident, great job!

[Rene Quenneville]

Beautiful specimen. Lighting is excellent. I wish the branch was not behind the antenas. Tack shap!

[denise ippolito]

Daniel, I like the BG and the lighting!! Beautiful image.

[Bruce Enns]

Beautiful image of a beautiful animal Daniel! Great textures, and the BG and lighting really make it pop. Congrats on a great shot!

Cheers!
Bruce

[Alan Melle]

Terrific image of this lovely moth! Wonderful light and a well chosen BG. To me the dark green BG is so much better than black and it goes great with the lighter green moth. Excellent!

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Daniel,
one of my favorite moths......super BG and exposure and very well done all around! Enjoy the rest of the vacation!

[Daniel Cadieux]

Hey thanks all. It sure was a pleasure photographing these guys.

Julie, yes the BG was like this in-camera. I deliberately chose a dark BG for the same reasons you guys like :-)

[Katherine Enns]

I think this looks very fresh, (possibly they were all relatively newly emergent?) and that gorgeous lime green color they have, wow. You dont get very often in winged creatures, this is a fabulous photograph.

[Juan Carlos Vindas]

Amazing moth!

Great work and lovely colors.