Life cycle starts again.

[Grahame Hamblin]

D300 100mm macro taken at f2.8 and 1/180 ( i think) Did a little sharpening and ran it through NIK high key any comments welcome and needed Fist photo taken in 2 months need a kick start.
Grahame

[Julie Kenward]

Grahame, welcome back! A couple of things you can think about:

The butterfly wasn't quite square to the focal plane so the back of the wings are a little bit sharper than the head and body. Ideally, the head and body should be as sharp, if not sharper. You might be able to do some selective sharpening here to make them match up better but remember that its always easier to get it in camera so you don't have to get it in pp! A simple step to your right would have probably done it.

Also, not sure why you cut the cocoon and stem half out of the image. I'd prefer to either have them all in or all out. With them so close to the edge of the frame it gives the viewer a chance for their eyes to wander out of the frame and we want their eyes in!

[Ken Childs]

Hi Grahame, Jules covered the composition and the focal plane but I think the real problem with the focus is that you shot this at f2.8. That shallow of a DOF would make it virtually impossible to get a butterfly this size completely in focus. Actually I'm quite surprised it looks as good as it does! :)

Next time out you might want to go to f8 or maybe even up to f16. The smaller aperture will have an effect on the BG but in this case, you probably could have placed your own BG behind this butterfly since it was likely to be stationary for awhile. The smaller ap setting will drop the ss so shooting manual and using some flash would help to keep that ss up at a manageable setting.

BTW, according to the exif, the exposure was 1/125.

Please keep the bug shots coming!

[Steve Maxson]

Hi Grahame. Both Jules and Ken made some good suggestions for you to consider. Was this butterfly originally in a vertical orientation? I ask this because the newly emerged butterflies that I have seen always seem to be hanging straight down from the chrysalis as their wings develop. :) Keep them coming.

[Grahame Hamblin]

Thank you for comments, you have got me back on track. Another about to hatch will try and do better and will post
Grahame

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Grahame,
Both Jules and Ken covered my thoughts so can't add anything. As these things are pretty still for the first few minutes.....try the different f-stops and even use a bit of flash......this will maximize the potential for a succesful image.