Sulphur

[Doug Hitchcox]

Here is my second attempt at macro, I was trying for a better composition this time but let me know what you think. Also if anyone knows that id of this sulphur please share... clouded or orange, how can you tell?

Canon EOS 30D
EF70-200mm f/2.8L USM @105mm w/ 37mm of Extension Tubes
1/100 f/4 ISO200

[Julie Kenward]

Doug, very nice comp. It is nice as presented but almost borders on being cropped too close - almost. The only way I can imagine getting a better horizontal composition on this would be if you had tilted the camera a little more, causing the perch to appear more on a horizontal slant. Still, what you have is really nice.

Here's what my book says about the two sulfer butterflies:

Orange: Wings are brilliant golden orange, sometimes with a hint of pink...the forewings have a black spot in the middle near the leading margin, the hindwings have a pinkish orange spot OR the wings are orange, yellow or greeish yellow and the hindwings have a silvery spot ringed with pinkish red.

Clouded: Males wings are yellow, females are yellow to greenish white. The hindwings have a single or double white spot ringed with reddish pink.

Oranges are most often found in alfalfa fields whereas the Clouded are found in parks, suburbs and agricultural fields. I'd say if you found this in a park or suburban area, going by the light body color and the white (not so silver) spot on the hindwing, I'd guess it to be a female clouded.

By the way, anyone looking for a good, generic insect book, I have the National Wildlife Fderation's "Field Guide to Insect and Spiders of North America." It doesn't have every single insect but the range of what it does have is pretty darn good. The cost from Amazon is about $20.

[Fabs Forns]

Hi Doug, very nice as presented. IMO, you could have mover the camera to the right a bit to place the subject more to the left of the frame, with most of the negative space in front of him.
As far as depth of field, f/4 is giving you a sharp wing with a fall off in the head, being in a different focal plane.
f/8 at least, since the background looks clean, would have yielded a better image.
Looking forward to more :)

[Alfred Forns]

Fine image Doug I like how you were able to set parallel and making sharp with the small dof !! I make use of the dof preview button to see how much I can stop without bringing the bg in play.

Love the tones and great feel !!! Big Congrats !!!

[Mike Moats]

Hey Doug, agree with fabs on moving the subject to the left of the frame. Also agree on the extra depth of field, that would have given more focus on the front legs. Al make a good point about using the depth of field preview button to check the BG as your increasing the DOF. Also remeber pixels are free, so you can bracket your f/stop and see what works best when you get home on the computer.

[Markus Jais]

Beautiful shot with a very good BG. I agree with the others about a little more DOF.
I like the soft light and the colors.

Markus

[Thomas Herou]

Lovely butterfly!
Nice soft colours,maybe a little bright on the head.

[Doug Hitchcox]

Thanks everyone, your advise is extremely helpful.
Its funny working so close I can no longer focus on the head then recompose; I am using manual focus but I typically trust the center more for sharpness. Next time I will make more use of the DOFp button.
I like it for a clouded also, some guides say they are more likely in this area (southern Maine)
Thanks again!

[Bob Allen]

BG plays nicely with colors of the butterfly. Wings & hindleg are terrific & sharp. The "eye" color matches the BG. You did a nice job with that big lens plus extension. Tripod or handheld?

Head, antenna tip, & first 2 pairs of legs are OOF, as said earlier, more DOF needed (I would have gone f11 or more, DOFp button is vital). This was a tough angle to shoot. The tip of the grass blade is coming toward us. The butterfly was holding onto the blade at an odd angle: its front & middle legs are on the other side of the blade, the hindleg we see is holding the blade with the spine at the tip of its tibia instead of by its tarsi ("toes). I might clone out the brightest spots on the grass blade - distracting. Plus crop from both sides. Your preference may vary.

I agree with ID as clouded sulphur, Colias philodice, male. You asked why, so here goes. The two concentric circles on the HW underside are very bold, as are the submarginal spots. Orange (=alfalfa) sulphur, Colias eurytheme, almost always has some orange (or totally orange) on the upper wing surface that is usually visible through the wings in this angle & in this light. This one looks to be all yellow (= clouded, usually). Though without a specimen in hand, it's difficult to be 100% sure.