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Jerry van Dijk
08-11-2010, 02:27 PM
This is a Jersey Tiger (Euplagia quadripunctaria), a rather large day-active moth. It was feeding on this butterfly bush, giving me a little time to get a few shots. Under its tiger striped upper wings, it has bright red underwings with two 'eyes', which it shows to scare away any opponents. I saw it effectively use this strategy to scare away a big bumblebee that tried to hijack its flower.

Panasonic DMC-FZ18, handheld, 32 mm (192 mm eq.), Suntec 4+ closeup lens, ISO-100, F/5, 1/125 sec, pattern metering, aperture priority, RAW.
ACR 5.0. Cropped to 3:2 for composition.

The image seems to have lost some color in the sRGB conversion.<O:p</O:p

Roman Kurywczak
08-11-2010, 03:30 PM
Hey Jerry,
I've got to love anything with Jersey in it......as I am from New Jersey! It is sharp where it needs to be......even though I will confess to wanting more DOF.....just because I have never seen one and want to see all of those wonderful wings!!! I think you captured a good angle and BG.....so as a whole...kkeping in mind you feel it lost some color...this does have a very nice look to it.

Dave Leroy
08-11-2010, 05:22 PM
A nice angle on this one and interesting wings.

I like how the moth is positioned at the pinnacle of the flower, the nice simple colours and clear separation with bg.

The only small suggestion I can make would be to clean up the bit of flower smudge on the left side, no big deal.

Vida van der Walt
08-12-2010, 03:58 AM
Hi Jerry. Such a lovely moth and a great shot. Nice detail, great bg and the colours seem fine on my screen. I would maybe sharpen the face a bit.:)

Jerry van Dijk
08-12-2010, 06:46 AM
Hi all, thanks for commenting! I intentionally used shallow DOF on this one, to create a sense of depth. Roman, I have some more images showing the whole moth, which I will post later for you! I'll have to disappoint you, though, the species is named after a British Island off the coast of France, where they are abundant. Then again, I guess that's how they came up with New Jersey in the first place ;)!
Dave, good eye on those smudges, I missed them compeletely!
Vida, I think I'll follow your advice on sharpening the face. I think there is some motion blur there. They're quick when they're feeding! Good to see you again here!

Julie Kenward
08-12-2010, 02:52 PM
Jerry, I really like the way you positioned the insect within the frame. I also find myself wanting a bit more DOF on those wings but it is still nicely presented.

Jonathan Ashton
08-13-2010, 04:35 AM
Very nice image butI think it needs a little more sharpening. I have sharpened the image a little more and this has also provided a bit more contrast.

Jerry van Dijk
08-13-2010, 09:59 AM
Thanks for commenting! Jonathan, I think you did a great job on the repost. I'll have a go at it with the original. Thanks!