Swallowtail on Thistle #2

[Bob Miller]

Nikon D-300
1/1600 sec at f5
ISO500
200-400 mm at 400mm
HH
All comments welcome and appreciated!

[Ian Cassell]

I like the composition, color, and BG very much. I might crop a tiny bit off the top. I guess the one thing that hurts IMO is that the butterfly's face is hidden behind the thistle.

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Bob,
What sun conditions was this taken in? It appears sunny judging by the shadows.....so given the sunny 16 rule.....way over exposed with math.....but the BG looks pretty good. Given that the contrast on the thistle is most bothersome.....but again.....whatever you did in PP'ing is giving this a rather interesting graphic look.

[Kaushik Balakumar]

Beautiful image. The BG is very very striking. Might clone out the left-most OOF bud.

[Jim Bridges]

<!--[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]--><!--[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 really like the BG of this photo it's soft enough for me so it's not distracting and gives it a painting look. It looks like the BF has a few miles on it too...:D

[Bob Miller]

Thanks for comments and suggestions!

[Ken Childs]

Bob, the BG looks really cool and IMO, that's the best part of this image. :)
I think lowering the ISO and using a bit of fill-flash could have helped fill in some of those shadows.

If this were mine, I'd clone out the 2 buds near the bottom and crop a tiny bit from the left and the right.