Heliconia butterfly

[Steve Maxson]

This Heliconia butterfly was photographed at the Green Hills Butterfly Farm in Belize. 5D M2, 100 mm f/2.8 macro, 1/200, f/8, ISO 400, MT-24EX Macro Twin Lite (diffused), hand held. RAW file PP in CS5 - curves, selective color. I cleaned up some tiny debris on the leaf and cloned some flash-generated spectral highlights on the butterfly. I cloned the blurred edges around the OOF antenna to increase the apparent sharpness - but I expect Ken will ding me anyway. :S3: All comments are welcome and appreciated.

[Patrick Sparkman]

Great subject, lighting, and sharpness. The OOF antenna does not bother me at all. Composition is very good. The "dots", which I imagine are eggs, really make the shot for me.

The only negative is the OOF stem to the LHS.

[Mitch Haimov]

Very nice. I particularly like the detail in the (compound) eye and the proboscis, as well as the eggs. I would crop 1/4 to 1/3 of the empty space between the left edge of the frame and the upper wing, but that's a very minor point and a matter of personal preference.

[Steve Maxson]

Thanks for the comments Patrick and Mitch.

After doing some additional checking, I think this is a Tiger Longwing (Heliconius hecale). There are a number of Heliconius species and it turns out that they form "mimicry groups" - several coexisting species evolve to look similar to each other. Pretty cool, I thought, but it doesn't make identifying them any easier. :t3

Also, my wife (the botanist) tells me that the structures on the underside of the leaf are fern sporangia rather than butterfly eggs (they have a lot of "different"-looking ferns in Belize). :S3:

[Jerry van Dijk]

Very pleasing image, Steve! Rather than "dinging"(I didn't know that expression) you for the OOF antenna, I noticed that the tail is OOF too.....:w3. I think adding a little local contrast/clarity and sharpness will get you a long way (but probably won't fool Ken:t3). The lower part of the lower wing also seems on the soft side. Depite the diffusers, I still find the light on the harsh side. Especially the wings seem to have lost some of their visible structure from the flash.
A lovely butterfly image nevertheless!!

[Nick Palmieri]

Great overall butterfly shot. I wish that one BG stem on on the left side was absent, for some reason my eye keeps going there even with all the other cool stuff going on in this shot...I think it's my personal overuse of the the clone tool (I may to force myself not to use it for a week..) . I really like the "fern sporangia" which add to the story, especially since most of would think they are butterfly eggs. Nice job overall, TFS!

[Ken Childs]

DING! :bg3::bg3::bg3:

Actually the antenna looks pretty good but I do think a bit more contrast will make it look even better. The other soft areas on the 'fly should be easy to fix with some more sharpening and/or contrast. I agree about the stem on the left and the leaf on the right being distracting so I think the BG could use a bit more blurring......this shouldn't be too hard to do. A few easy tweaks will make this beautiful creature look ever better. :S3:

[Steve Maxson]

Thanks for the comments Jerry, Nick, and Ken. It looks like this one needs a little more work. :S3:

[Brendan Dozier]

This is just awesome, Steve. Like the whole comp, exquisite detail, and love that perfect curl of the proboscis. Well done! :cheers: