Dotted Blue (enoptes)

[Julie Brown]

I think I have the species ID correct. Shot in the Sierra Nevada, late June, 2008

Canon 20D, 300mm f4L IS, ISO 100, 1/320sec, f7.1, 0 EV, pattern metering, manual exposure, HH

PP in LR 2.6
significant crop
exposure: set black and white point
enhance clarity and vibrance
tone curve: bring down darks and lights
sharpening and NR
post-crop vignette

I know that the stem running through the butterfly is a problem, but I thought taking it out might throw off the balance of the whole flower.

[Vida van der Walt]

Love the soft pastel colours and great bg of this shot. I also like the unusual position with the butterfly facing downwards. I don't have experience with the lens but wonder if you could have used a smaller aperture to get the wings more in focus. The stem is not a big issue to me.:)

[Julie Brown]

Thanks, Vida. I am trying to find the right balance between a nice blurred BG and enough detail in the subject. I used to shoot all my butterflies with f16. Can't wait to get back into the field and practice!:)

[Peter Farrell]

Like the soft colors of the BF and the BG compliments them well. The stem through the BF is okay IMHO because the flowers at the end of the stem add to the composition. I might try a slight CW rotation?

[Markus Jais]

I, too, like the soft colors and light.
It looks a bit soft on my monitor. Maybe a little more sharpening would be good here.

Markus

[Anita Bower]

Beautiful colors and light and BG! The buds are lovely and the upside down butterfly works for me.

[Mike Moats]

Hey Julie, this is one sweet shot. Love the B-fly pose, and like the comp in the stem, BG looks great. Well done.:)

[Julie Kenward]

Lovely image, Julie! The butterfly's position is great - you just don't see that happen that often! I agree that the flower is fine as it is because it does add to the comp. I think a bit more sharpening on the butterfly alone would take this over the top.

[Julie Brown]

Thanks everyone for the C&C. I used the adjustment brush on the butterfly wings to try and get it a bit sharper. I also bumped up the contrast. I'm never sure how much sharpening to do.

[Anita Bower]

I think it looks just great.

[Julie Brown]

Thanks Anita.

[Ken Childs]

This one's really nice, Julie. The comp, BG and perch all work very well together. Because of that heart shaped spot, it's a great submission for Valentine's Day. :)

Is this species of Blue naturally brown or is this a worn specimen? Or is all of the color on the top of the wings?

[Julie Brown]

Ken, from what I can tell in Glassberg's field guide, it looks like most of the other butterflies in the genus Euphilotes have a brown dusting on the ventral side. Actually, because it has very little orange on the hind wing I think this individual looks more like the species bayensis than enoptes, but bayensis is a coastal butterfly. As for the color, the males are blue and the females are brown on the dorsal side.:cool:

[Ken Childs]

Ken, from what I can tell in Glassberg's field guide, it looks like most of the other butterflies in the genus Euphilotes have a brown dusting on the ventral side. Actually, because it has very little orange on the hind wing I think this individual looks more like the species bayensis than enoptes, but bayensis is a coastal butterfly. As for the color, the males are blue and the females are brown on the dorsal side.:cool:
The Dotted Blue complex sounds just as confused as the Azure complex. :confused:

[Julie Brown]

Ken, according to Glassberg there are 3 species complexes within the genus Euphilotes: Square-spotted Blue; Dotted Blue; Rita Blue and Spalding's Blue. He goes on to say that a Euphilotes Blue spends its whole life, from egg to adult, around its host plant-one of the species of buckwheat. The individual populations are adapted to fly when their host plant is blooming. I wondered about this when I was going through the images from the butterfly workshop. We never saw them on other flowers.