Fluffy white

[Jerry van Dijk]

I finally made the jump! My D7000 came in last week and my macro lens took a week longer. And now it's raining with a strong wind blowing....:2eyes2:. This Small white was taking cover in my garden. I managed to get off a few shots between two showers.
It seems like I have to start over again learning to handle this new gear. It's a big change from my <500 grams bridge setup to this >2 kg beastly combi! It's practice, practice, practice for the coming weeks.
I wish the eye and antenna top were sharper and that the antenna wasn't crossing the flower. I cloned out the tip the other OOF antenna poiting towards the camera, since it posed a distracting white blurry dot in the FG. I liked the fluffiness of the butterfly in combination with the OOF white flowers

Nikon D7000, Nikkor 200mm Micro F/4, handheld, ISO-400, F/10, 1/125 sec, man. focus.
ACR5.0/CS4, levels, clarity, sharpness, NR, selective sharpening of antenna and eye. Cloned out OOF antenna tip and added a sliver of canvas on top for composition.

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Jerry,
Congrats on the new gear!
The brightest OOF white area in the FG is drawing too much attention in this image. If you can tone it down, that may help the overall comp. Looking at this overall....the focus point seems to be a touch off also.....given the wind you were dealing with....could be the culprit! Looking forward to many posts from your new combo!

[Mitch Haimov]

Nice start with your new rig, Jerry. I agree with Roman's comments and your self-assessment: not your best work, but a good start with unfamiliar equipment. Enjoy working with it!

[Jerry van Dijk]

Thanks for the encouragement, guys! I'm gonna need it......

[Steve Maxson]

Hi Jerry. It always takes a while to master new gear, but the learning process can be fun! Nice self assessment and I would agree with Roman's comments about the whites and the focus point. Keep working on it - it does get easier. :S3:

[Jerry van Dijk]

Thanks for the feedback Steve! Ascension Day is coming up, which is a holiday here. The weather promises to be nice, so ample time for practice!

[OvidiuCavasdan]

Nothing to add, just congrats on your new gear, enjoy it and hope to see a lot of nice images.

[Jerry van Dijk]

Thanks Ovidiu!