Hoary Edge [Archive] - BirdPhotographers.net

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Ken Childs

08-05-2010, 12:08 PM

Canon EOS REBEL T1i
Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS @ 340mm
Av mode
1/400"
F13
ISO:400
Canon 430EX: On, Fired (comp -3)
LR & CS3
Tripod

I smoothed out the color in the BG. This is on my Butterfly Bush which grows right next to the Zinnias.

Roman Kurywczak

08-05-2010, 12:14 PM

Hey Ken,
Nice job with isolating and getting the nice BG (good job of smoothing it out too!) but the bottom of the bloom....even though it matches the BF...doesn't add to the image for me. Usually, I am not a fan of square crops but taking most of the dead stuff off the bottom...sligtly below the lowest blooms....works for me best. Let's see what others chime in....but overall, very well handled! What strikes me most about this one...is the contrast of the beauty of the blooms....and the ugly duckling;). Very well done!

Steve Maxson

08-05-2010, 02:05 PM

At first glance, I like the diagonal comp, ROT placement of the skipper, sharpness, and clean background, Ken - but then, like Roman, I notice all the dead flowers on the lower part of the stem and, for me, that detracts from an otherwise excellent image. I would second Roman's suggestion to crop from the bottom to remove most of the dead flowers (and perhaps also clone out the few that remain). This would still leave you with all of the best aspects of your image. :)

Paul Lagasi

08-05-2010, 06:38 PM

I find any new Butterfly or Skipper image catches my eye, I like what you've done here. After reading Roman and Steve's comments above I went back, looked at the image again. I found myself leaning towards a landscape crop of just the top with only the skipper and a few flowers.
But Ken thats just me...I always go by the Mark Fuge (OOTB BPN member) saying "your image, your vision".

Julie Kenward

08-05-2010, 07:17 PM

I'm going with the landscape comp as well...it was the first thing that came to my mind. The top of the flower is so pretty and the bottom just blows it for me. The background color is gorgeous BTW and the image screams "summertime"!

OvidiuCavasdan

08-06-2010, 01:11 AM

Everything looks good to me except the dead flowers. Good pose, nice BG, sharpness/details and lovely flowers at top but would like another comp/crop without the dead flowers.

Jim Bridges

08-06-2010, 08:51 AM

I like the image as it is...it illustrates that butterflies don't always land on the perfect flowers and I'm fine with that because that's the way I see them most of the time out in the field.<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"><STYLE>  </STYLE>

Mike Moats

08-06-2010, 06:19 PM

Hey Ken, a very nice image, I agree with roman on cropping the dead stuff off the bottom of the frame. I would also crop some of the top to keep the format like it is now.

Jonathan Ashton

08-07-2010, 02:29 AM

Lovely image Ken, my immediate reaction was similar to those above, i.e. make it landscape and crop off the dead flowers, though I can see a reason for retaining them in so far as they do reflect a little on the butterfly.

Anita Bower

08-08-2010, 04:28 AM

I'm in agreement with Mike on cropping top and bottom. This image illustrates my main frustration with Butterfly Bush flowers--it is almost impossible to find ones that are perfect. Are the whites on the wing slightly blown? Perfect BG. Wow!

Ken Childs

08-08-2010, 09:09 AM

Better?

Anita Bower

08-08-2010, 09:24 AM

Yes!!! I like the contrast between the delicate flowers and the coarse moth/butterfly. Very nice!!