Pipevine Swallowtail Caterpillar (Battus philenor)

[Ian Cassell]

Canon 7D
Canon 100mm f/2.8 Macro
Canon 430EX + Diffuser

1/250sec f/13 ISO 320

S/H, Sharpening in CS5

[Steve Maxson]

Hi Ian. This is a very interesting looking caterpillar with all the colors, knobs, and projections. Good job with sharpness and DOF on the caterpillar. The issue that I see here is that this cool critter is competing for my attention with all the other colors, textures, and patterns in the image. I don't know how cooperative these guys are in the field, but if you could somehow position it in a situation with fewer distracting elements, you would end up with a much stronger image. :)

[Ian Cassell]

Thanks, Steve. Like most caterpillars, they don't move very fast and can be positioned how you want them. I sort of liked the habitat-background, but I see what you mean. This was my other from the same date.

[Ken Childs]

Hey Ian, I definitely need to plant some Pipevine on my property! This caterpillar is really cool! Steve made some good points about what could be done in the field but I think there are a few things you could do to improve the shot you already have. First I'd try a square crop which would remove some of the distracting elements, especially most of the OOF leaf on the left. Then, select the caterpillar, inverse the selection and use SH or whatever method you prefer to tone down the brighter elements surrounding the subject. Lightly paint over the flash highlights on the antennae and maybe boost the contrast a tiny bit. It may not be perfect but I think you'll end up with a nice looking environment shot.

If you do get another chance at one of these, be sure to post the results!

[Ian Cassell]

Thanks, Ken. I'll try your suggestions and look. It's no longer caterpillar time, so no more chances until next year, I'm afraid. The guy IS really cool looking! The butterfly, itself, is very hard to get images of as they don't seem to like to land!

[Ken Childs]

The problem with Pipevine Swallowtails is that even when they do land, they rarely hold still. We had a banner year for them in this part of the country but that didn't help me to get any good images of them!