Tiger Swallowtail

[Mike Wilhelm]

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/flyfishermike/5873687408/" title=" Tiger Swallowtail on Buttonbush Pod by flyfishermike, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5154/5873687408_2b3c105c5d_z.jpg" width="640" height="492" alt=" Tiger Swallowtail on Buttonbush Pod"></a>

When I visited Ken Child's farm last year, my impression was there were more butterflies than I had ever seen. Last Saturday, my friend Curt and I visited Shelby Meeman Forest near Shake Rag, Tn finding many dozens of Tiger and Spicebush Swallowtails on the many wild flowers flourishing in the area. Ken may have competition.

This shot of a female feeding on a button bush was taken with a Nikon D7000 with a 300 F4 and 1.7 TC. 1/320 shutter speed, F8 aperture, minus 1/3 exposure bias, ISO 400.

[christopher galeski]

nice image M ike,very nice BG,needs more room all round,especialy at the top,its a bit tight,and the leaf peeping on the right I would clone out.thanks.

[bhavya joshi]

Hi... Mike Nice colorful butterfly... Well Bg also... But I also Think that,.. it's too Tight.. More space around the image would be better and top part of both wings are unfocused... But overall Nice Shot.. TFS:S3:

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Mike,
Even a bit tight for me! You did well with the light.....but a bit more even light would be preferable. You need to be careful with your position/angle too....at f8 you need to be close to parallel to plane in order to achieve the best possible results. Try pushing the D7000 a bit more on the ISO front too.....may allow you more flexibility when in the field. Just some thoughts to keep in mind. Add the room back.....and that tweak will take this up a notch.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Beautiful specimen! Looks fresh, with no visible wear and tear on the wings. A agree with comp suggestion...notice how the antennae are almost touching the edge. Worth the recrop. Dappled light can be tamed via burn/dodge tools...but careful not to overdo it.

[Steve Maxson]

Hi Mike. Your fresh specimen stands out well against the background and I like the detail you captured on the hind wings. Good suggestions above for you to consider. The image would be stronger if the butterfly was in more even light - while the differences between bright and shaded parts of the butterfly are actually rather subtle in your image (and not a deal breaker), there is a diagonal stem shadow that detracts a little. :S3: Sounds like you had fun working with all the butterflies and I hope to see more of your images.

[Mike Wilhelm]

Thanks to all for the kind comments and very good suggestions. The crop on this photo is very slight as we were shooting so close so adjusting it is not possible. I'll have to back up next time. I can work on some of the distractions mentioned and the lighting. Thanks again for you help.