Look out!

[Ramesh Adkoli]

Captured this image on the outskirts of bangalore few days back. Experimented with TC and extension tubes to get magnification and reduce working distance. I feel this setup might work well for butterfly images. I have to give it a try but don't many butterflies at this time of year here:( Appreciate your feedback.

EXIF: D700, 300mm F4 + 1.4x TC + 20mm Extension tube, 1/50s, f/11, ISO 200, mirror lockup, remote release, tripod mount, early morning
PP: CNX2, selective brightness, contrast and noise reduction on dark areas in BG, boosting colors a bit, cropped a bit from RHS and TOP.

regards,
ramesh

[Jerry van Dijk]

Hi Ramesh,

finally your image is showing again! I like the color combination of the perch, the lizard and the BG. I would crop from the top and the right to focus more on the lizard. Compositionwise I like the angle you got on this little guy a lot. I wish for a tad more room on the left and I may have moved a bit to get that dark spot right behind the lizard. One of those brighter lines from the BG (a branch I guess) now intersects with your subject.
Great details on this one, your setup seems to have worked well. I guess it would work for butterflies as well, but they might be a bit smaller than this lizard, so I hope you have enough magnification.

[Ramesh Adkoli]

Thanks for a detailed view, Jerry. Appreciate your views. I was surprised as well by the details i could. I tested the magnification. I can get a magnification of 1:2 with this setup at a working distance of 55in! The image above illustrates that.

regards,
ramesh

[Jerry van Dijk]

That should work great with butterflies, you'll need both the working distance and the magnification. I usually shoot them with a 500 mm telelens since they are so easily startled.

[Ken Childs]

Hi Ramesh,

I like the comp as it but might try to further blur the BG.

Butterflies rarely sit still for long so using a tripod and slow shutter speeds won't work all that often. You could try a larger aperture and increase the SS so you can take HH shots but then you'll lose the DOF needed for many butterflies.

[Jerry van Dijk]

Good point made by Ken. I hadn't noticed the shutter speed on the lizard. Seems you're loosing a lot of light with your setup! I agree that 1/50 is a bit long for butterflies, but you may get lucky when they're feeding. Your working distance ensures that you won't spook them a lot. Hope to see some butterflies soon!

[Ramesh Adkoli]

Ken, agree such slow shutter speed may not be practical for Butterfly shots. I shot this image at f/11. I guess i can stop further still with adequate DOF. I need to give all this a try in the field:)

Jerry, i do not think i am losing that much light. I am still at a max aperture of f/5.6. My gut feel is that 20mm extension tube does not lose much light. I am very eager too to get some shots in:)

[Ken Childs]

I'm looking forward to those shots! :)