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Ken Childs
02-05-2010, 11:35 AM
http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p193/kjchilds/BPN/IMG_0120.jpg

Canon EOS REBEL XT
Canon 100mm f/2.8 Macro
Manual mode
1/500"
F8
ISO: 200
Canon 430EX: On, Fired
CS3

There are problems with compression artifacts in the BG because I had to use a relatively low quality setting to keep it under 200kb. Reds desaturated a lot and yellows a bit to keep the milkweed from glowing too much.

Randy Stout
02-05-2010, 12:20 PM
Ken:

Lovely colors, nice job keeping the butterfly in the plane of focus. I find that I do most of my butterflies at f/11 to give myself just a fraction more DOF.

Truly a minor point, might be tempted to add a sliver more canvas to the right, and come down just a bit from top, kind of a butterfly pano crop.

This image gets me excited for spring!

Cheers

Randy

Jerry van Dijk
02-05-2010, 03:23 PM
Hi Ken, I second Randy's plea for more canvas on the right and crop for the top. Somehow, I always like symmetry in the room around a butterfly (equal distances to the upper and side edge of the frame). I love all the details you captured here and the nice clean BG. Exposure is also spot on. I think you are a bit on the conservative side in desaturating those colors. Nice work!

Markus Jais
02-05-2010, 03:51 PM
Beautiful shot. I like the soft light and the colors. Awesome background.,
A little more room on the right would be good.

Markus

Julie Brown
02-05-2010, 07:09 PM
Ken, I like this a lot. Was this HH? Sharp detail in the wings. The orange of the butterfly weed complements the colors of the insect. Nicely set against the green BG.

Julie Kenward
02-05-2010, 07:43 PM
(Ken, next time try uploading an 8x10 instead of an 11x13 and see if that doesn't help your compression issues a bit.) Although I wouldn't mind seeing a slice more on the right side you are darn close to having the eye of the bf right on the ROT's so the comp works for me. Nice placement of the flower in the image as well. I also agree that you could get away with a bit more saturation in the oranges than what you left but it's a beautiful image as presented - all depends on if you are going for bright and colorful or soft and delicate.

It ALMOST feels soft to me in the sharpening of the wings...it's right on the border and I am going back and forth on this one. I would imagine in a print you would definitely want to crisp him up a bit more.

Beautiful color combo - I can hardly wait to see these guys in person again!

Mike Moats
02-05-2010, 08:04 PM
Hey Ken, I like it! nice being in really close, brings out all the nice details and textures in the wing. Beautiful color in the BG.

Charles Wesley
02-06-2010, 05:04 AM
Ken,

Really good work. Love the color and detail. Like seeing him sipping nectar.
Keep 'em coming....
___________________
Charlie Wesley
St. Augustine Beach, FL

Mike Fuhr
02-06-2010, 08:25 AM
The detail on this one is fantastic! I'm fine with the comp as is. Nice shot and I second the fact that I cannot wait until spring...:)

Ken Childs
02-06-2010, 06:25 PM
Ken, I like this a lot. Was this HH? Sharp detail in the wings. The orange of the butterfly weed complements the colors of the insect. Nicely set against the green BG.
Yes, this is HH. When I'm chasing down warm weather bugs, I find it next to impossible to get a shot if I have to setup a tripod. But the time I'm setup, the bug has moved. I tried using a monopod and it helped on rare occasions but for the most part my bug macros are HH.

Vida van der Walt
02-09-2010, 08:09 AM
Beautiful image Ken. Great detail and I like the comp. I would maybe warm up the green of the bg as I find it a bit cold compared to the warm orange of the flowers and butterfly.:)