Dots

[Kurt Bowman]

Another shot from the butterfly pavillion.

7D
100mm macro IS
580 EX II
1/250 handheld
f/11
ISO 640

[Peter Farrell]

I like the spotlight effect and shadow on the leaf. Maybe a tad tight on the right.

[Allen Sparks]

Love the light on the wings here even though the upper front wing tends to get lost in the background. I agree the right side is quite tight.

Great image overall with superb detail.

[Julie Kenward]

Beautiful butterfly, Kurt! I agree that the frame is tight on the right side but that would be an easy fix if you added a little more canvas to that end.

I also like the "spotlight" effect lighting but feel the front wing near it's body is a little bit underexposed. Try masking that off and pushing it open a bit more with levels or Viveza.

I really like how all the colors and tones in this are dark and deep - it makes for a very dramatic portrait.

[Don Lacy]

Hi Kurt, I did A quick redo of your image using the suggestions from Jules which I happen to agree with. I used curves and a layer mask to lighten the front of the BF and added canvas behind the BF using the crop tool and the Free Transform tool which can be found in the edit drop down in PS. I also added some sharpening to the BF wings using a duplicate layer and mask

[Kurt Bowman]

Thanks Don! Really appreciate the new look :D

[Julie Kenward]

Beautiful work, Don! That's exactly what I was talking about! It's always the littlest things that make a really good image great. ;)

[Jerry van Dijk]

Hi Kurt, wonderful butterfly and I like the dark understory mood of the image and the nice contrasts of the greens and whites with the BG. Wish the tip of the leaf made it to the frame. Jules' suggestions regarding composition worked out really well in Don's version. I might even consider adding more canvas to the right to place the wing more symmetrically in the UR corner.