Common Blue - Polyommatus icarus

[Jonathan Ashton]

Camera Model Canon EOS 7D
Monopod
Firmware Firmware Version 1.2.1
Shooting Mode Aperture-Priority AE
Tv( Shutter Speed ) 1/320
Av( Aperture Value ) 11.0
Metering Mode Evaluative Metering
Exposure Compensation -1/3
ISO Speed 400
Auto ISO Speed OFF
Lens EF180mm f/3.5L Macro USM
Image Quality RAW
Flash Type External E-TTL
E-TTL II flash metering Evaluative flash metering
Flash Exposure Compensation -1 2/3
Shutter curtain sync Hi-speed
FE lock OFF
White Balance Mode Auto
AF Mode AI Servo AF
AF area select mode Manual selection

I had a small time space to get a few images, the weather was breezy but there was 30 min sunshine before yet more rain. The tripod was not practicable to day so I went for the monopod which is better than nothing. I think the image is acceptable but there is a loss of detail in the left wing and antennae where I was unable to get good focus partly due to my movement and to that of the butterfly.
As ever you comments will be much appreciated.

[Ken Childs]

Jon, with a little extra editing you should be able to take this up a another notch. Selectively sharpen those outer fringes on the forewings, the outer area of the left forewing and the antennae and it may not be perfect, but I think it will look better. Maybe also increase the contrast on the antennae. I think I'd also crop a small slice of the left side.

[Matthew Pugh]

Hi

I think you have controlled both lighting and DOF issues nicely for this open winged veiw, I doubt that the slight fall off in sharpness upon some of those little areas was movement related, assuming this is full framed, I suspect this is just a normal DOF issue. And one that is highly difficult to overcome since these lovely little fellows hardly ever present a truely parallaled look regardless of how it appears in the image.

Overall this is indeed a fine shot, perhaps a little central in compositional terms - but lovely none the less

All the best
Matthew

[Jim Bridges]

<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CUsers%5CJ&J%7E1.JIM%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01 %5Cclip_filelist.xml"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:OfficeDocumentSettings> <o:RelyOnVML/> <o:AllowPNG/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> </w:Compatibility> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"; panose-1:2 11 6 4 2 2 2 2 2 4; mso-font-charset:128; mso-generic-font-family:swiss; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-1 -369098753 63 0 4129279 0;} @font-face {font-family:Georgia; panose-1:2 4 5 2 5 4 5 2 3 3; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:647 0 0 0 159 0;} @font-face {font-family:"\@Arial Unicode MS"; panose-1:2 11 6 4 2 2 2 2 2 4; mso-font-charset:128; mso-generic-font-family:swiss; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-1 -369098753 63 0 4129279 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:Georgia; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Arial Unicode MS";} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} </style> <![endif]-->I have never seen one of these butterflies in my area. The color and detail on the wings are fabulous...it seems to be glowing against the background.

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Jonathan,
Well....I like tight crops.....but this works just fine for me as presented. I do like Kens tweak ideas.....will be final touches to an absolutely lovely image!!! :cheers:

[Steve Maxson]

I'm envious, Jonathan - I've never had any luck photographing these little guys. I like the pose, your diagonal comp, and the background. Ken has some good suggestions - I would agree with taking a little off the left. I would also agree with Matthew, that the loss of sharpness in the left wing is likely a DOF issue. Overall, well done.

[Jerry van Dijk]

Hi Jonathan, amazing colors and details on this Blue! I'm curious how Ken's suggestions work out.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Thanks for the feedback the OOF is due to DOF which arises from the butterfly moving in the breeze along with the fact that I could not keep still enough at this angle. At this aperture I am sure there was sufficient DOF if I only I could have got the camera and butterfly in the correct/same plane - but not to be.
Ken I will try your suggestions but in my experience if something is not focussed you cannot make it focussed/appear focussed, sometimes it can look a little better but it will not really up to the mark:)

[Ken Childs]

As I said, it's not perfect but IMO, it does look better.

[Julie Kenward]

Beautiful colors and super sharp in areas. I was bothered by the left forewing when I first opened the image but I see why you had some falloff there. It is centrally located but, by putting it on a diagonal, you did a wonderful job of making it interesting to look at. I think your crop is spot on.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Thanks for the repost Ken, I agree it is better.