Orange tip - female

[Jonathan Ashton]

Tripod Mongoose head
Camera Model Canon EOS 50D
Shooting Mode Aperture-Priority AE
Tv( Shutter Speed ) 1/13
Av( Aperture Value ) 16.0
Metering Mode Evaluative Metering
Exposure Compensation -1/3
ISO Speed 400
Lens EF180mm f/3.5L Macro USM
Image Quality RAW
Flash Off
White Balance Mode Daylight
AF Mode AI Servo AF
Color Space Adobe RGB

As we were walking Barney (my avatar) my son noticed this tired old lady roosting. I snipped the stem and took it carefully back home and placed the stem in a clip on a small mickey mouse tripod I use for such set ups. the background is the back lawn. After taking the images I place the flower head and butterfly in the wild flower patch, i was pleased to see that it had flown off by 8.00am next day, probably it's last flight.
On reflection maybe I should have cloned four stamens to contain the flower head.
All C & C welcome.

[Steve Maxson]

Hi Jonathan. Very nice lighting, comp, subject, and background. The tiny weevil is an added bonus. I would agree with you that cloning the four stamens touching the right side of the frame will take this strong image up several notches. :S3:

[Don Lacy]

Lovely colors and light for me just a tad tight in the frame all around

[Jerry van Dijk]

Hi Jon, a nice butterfly anyway! Agree with your self assesment (a little more distance from the subject would also have worked well for the composition). I do find the image a bit dark. I would try to bring up the shadows a little.

[Bob Miller]

Hi Jon....I agree with opening up the shadows on the flower cluster. Your bg and subject complement each other nicely. Good luck with the cloning!!

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Jonathan,
I like the recommendations above but you are doing a great job with the comps as usual!

[Ken Childs]

Hey Jon, it's a beautiful butterfly image.....the comp looks great to me as it is. I agree with Jerry that this looks a bit dark but I think I would take up the entire image, not just the shadows. Maybe the exposure adjustment in Photoshop would do the trick.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Thank you everyone for your comments, here is another image, a little brighter as suggested. I think that when I process images I tend to reflect the light and conditions as they were and it doesn't always occur to me that I could change the mood of the picture.
I have brightened all the image a little then I applied curves to a mask of the dark seed head an elevated the lower part of the curve, then I selected the butterfly and did a linear curve. I also cleaned up a couple of stamens on the right.