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Randy Stout
04-27-2011, 07:57 PM
I had a chance to return to our local butterfly conservatory. It is near the end of their season, so not as many butterflies, and it was a cloudy day, which also slows down their activity, but had a great time. Went with Roy Van Loo who is a well known local photographer and a very creative tinkerer. He had made up a small artificial background that he had hand painted on a piece of fabric stretched over a photo reflector. It had two different patterns, and was easy to carry and position.

We would take turns shooting or holding the BG. Really improved the keeper rate.

D700 Sigma 180 macro f/16 1/160s R1C1 flash setup hand held (no support allowed in butterfly house)

Post: Selective sharpening, minor crop for comp.

Advice and comments always appreciated

Cheers

Mitch Haimov
04-28-2011, 08:58 PM
Excellent sharpness and exposure throughout--all the tones are right where they should be. (Far antenna slightly soft, but not very noticeable.) Love that honeycomb look to the eye! I wish the eye were not in such a bulls eye position, and normally would suggest a crop from the left but not in this case because you wouldn't want to clip the leaf. The handmade BG is a great idea put to effective use here. A very effective image overall! :5

Why is it this 'fly appears to have only four legs?

Andrew McLachlan
04-28-2011, 09:46 PM
Perfect Randy! :5

Kaushik Balakumar
04-29-2011, 03:04 AM
Loved the eye-level composition, Randy.

Brendan Dozier
04-29-2011, 03:39 PM
Very nice, Randy, love the color and crytal clear details and sharpness to this. Excellent exposure, like the inclusion of the leafs below, and BG works well. Agree it would be nice if the eye were not so close to center, but still very nicely done! :5

Steve Maxson
04-29-2011, 08:28 PM
Hi Randy. Nice use of the artificial background, though I would suggest using the patch tool (or equivalent) to remove the dark spot in the URC. The butterfly gave you a great pose and you have good sharpness on the butterfly and plant. The light from the flash is well controlled and you have nice detail in the whites. Well done.

Steve Maxson
04-29-2011, 08:41 PM
[QUOTE=Mitch Haimov;663692

Why is it this 'fly appears to have only four legs?[/QUOTE]

Mitch: Males of Brushfoot butterflies (Family Nymphalidae - a very large family found worldwide) have 6 legs, but the front pair are reduced in size and not used for walking. They are typically tucked up tight against the thorax and are difficult to see. The Postman butterfly is a Heliconius spp. and is a member of that family. :S3:

Mitch Haimov
04-29-2011, 10:44 PM
Males of Brushfoot butterflies (Family Nymphalidae - a very large family found worldwide) have 6 legs, but the front pair are reduced in size and not used for walking. They are typically tucked up tight against the thorax and are difficult to see. The Postman butterfly is a Heliconius spp. and is a member of that family. :S3:

Thanks for another interesting entomology/arthropodology lesson, Steve! I love picking up these bits of natural history wisdom.

Roman Kurywczak
05-02-2011, 11:28 AM
Hey Randy,
very nice use of the BG and great job of controlling the flash! I've debated the leaf for a while and you know my preference for tighter:bg3:......but it does give a nice base so all in all......very nicely done!

Ken Childs
05-04-2011, 03:03 PM
Hey Randy, nice work with the BG.....it's completely believable! I do agree with Steve that it would be a good idea to lighten that one black area near the URC. Like Roman, I like tighter crops and I think you can go in a little tighter on all sides and keep the top halves of the leaves as a nice base. :S3: