Crescent or Checkerspot

[Julie Brown]

From the SFSU Sierra Nevada butterfly workshop, June, 2008.

Canon 20D, 300mm, f9.0 @1/320, ISO 200, pattern metering, 0 EV, manual mode, HH

PP: Lightroom 2.6
cropped tight to minimize cluttered BG
exposure: set black and white points
tone curve: brought darks and shadows down, lights up
sharpening and NR
clone tool: removed dust spots from butterfly wings and body, removed dead plant material and a big rock at top L and R
adjustment brush: selective sharpening on wings and head, lightened and darkened gravel areas above BF
post-crop vignette

This is my first attempt at removing so much from the BG. Not sure if I pulled this one off. I think the transition is too obvious. C&C welcome, as always!

[Vida van der Walt]

I think you did really well with the PP work. I can't even see where you removed the rocks and plant material. I like the warm colours and you captured nice detail. You can even remove a little bit of space from the bottom if you want to.:)

[Ken Childs]

I also think you did well with the cloning. Tilting the 'fly a bit would be a good idea.

I'm not a big fan of photos of variegated looking species of 'flies on dirt. Because the bug is so close to what's in the BG, there's not enough separation and the BG looks too sharp but it's always worth taking the shot. At least you have a record of the species. :)

[Julie Kenward]

Nice cloning but it is a bit lighter in tone...I'd pull that back with either a multiply blend mode (masking off the bf and bottom half) or try using a levels or curves adjustment in that area.

I really like the view of the butterfly and the way it blends so well with it's surroundings!

[Allen Sparks]

Julie,
To me you did fine with the cloning. Like Ken, I'm not a big fan of butterflies in dirt but of course I would have also hustled to take this shot myself of a beautiful species I rarely get to see.

[Julie Brown]

Thanks Vida, Ken, Jules, and Alan for the comments. Now I feel more confident to do this to other images! :cool:

Jules, I will take this image into PSE and try to figure out what you're talking about. :confused:

This was my best image of this BF, but I am glad to have a record of this species, even if it was in the dirt!:D

[Mike Moats]

Hey Julie, sometimes you have to work with what is presented, you did a nice job, my suggestion would be to have given some tilt/angle in the body and wings.

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

THe only thing I can notice is the darkening above the BF, especially above the wings. A layer mask should help I think, but I only tried once and it's a bit of fiddling. Otherwise a nice capture showing good habitat.

[Julie Brown]

Thanks Mike and Akos for the additional comments.I don't know how to do layer masks in PS Elements so I just went back to the things I know how to do in Lightroom. I did a bit more cloning, tilted the butterfly, and used the GND filter to bring down the brightness above the wings. Here is the repost.:)

oops! forgot the attachment.

[Julie Brown]

Now I can see that the ULC is too dark.