Butterfly

[Bob Ries]

Went down to the Cincinnati Krohn Conservatory Monday evening for the Butterfly show they have going on.
First time trying my hand at macro shots of bugs. Going to go back down this Monday to try some more.
Let me know what you guys think of this shot.

http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r152/bobr99/IMGP8629-2.jpg

Taken with;

Pentax K100D, Old Vivitar Manual focus 70-210mm.
On camera flash with tissue paper taped on as diffuser.
ISO 400, SS 1/180 (don't remember the Fstop but think it was F16).

Thanks for looking!

Bob

[Desmond Chan]

I think the head and the body of the butterfly may be a bit over-exposed. The leave in the foreground is overwhelming. Sharpness looks fine. Composition-wise I would consider cropping more. Just my $0.02.

[Lance Peters]

hi Bob - would probably crop some from the bottom to minimise the leaf which does tend to draw the eye - the butterfly looks just a tad overflashed - want it to look natural - not sure if you can adjust the flash output on the 100D using the built in flash.
Like were you were heading, looking forward to seeing more :)

[Dave Mills]

Bob, Good advice given...I might add to eliminate the small bright area above the wing on the left...

[Bob Ries]

Thanks guys!

No, I can't change the settings on the flash. I need to purchase a flash unit instead of using the pop-up flash. But I'm thinking of switching to a canon camera and don't want to put more money into my pentax gear at the moment.

Maybe I will try 2 layers of paper and see how that goes.

Bob

[Desmond Chan]

Thanks guys!

No, I can't change the settings on the flash. [snip]
Maybe I will try 2 layers of paper and see how that goes.

Bob

Or stop down, if you're using the flash light in manually mode. Increasing the ISO on the flash light should work, too, if I remember correctly. Then of course you can move farther back from the subject, too.

[Alfred Forns]

Hi Bob You are doing mighty fine for your first macro outing !!! Bug looks good and all I would do is crop some of the green foreground to just over the edge of wing !! As presented it detracts from the Bfly !!

I'm sure the extra layer of paper will do just fine !! With macro the use of flash is tough at times because of bright spots ... btw the best light would be using a large diffuser and natural light when possible !!

Are you able to use a tripod? Most places don't allow !!

[Bob Ries]

Thanks Alfred!

Monday nights from 5:30 to 7:30 they open the exhibit up to photographers only. So we are allowed to use tripods. I brought mine last time but ended up not using it. As I found by the time I got set up for the shot the butterfly would fly off. I did also try natural light but had to slow the shutter speed down to 1/80 and got some motion blur from the butterfly moving. I'm going to try some different setups at home this weekend and see which works best and try them on Monday. I will post some more shots and see what you guys think.

Bob