This common morpho was in such good shape, that he was probably just freshly released. The bg here is courtesy of Roy Van Loo, who makes a variety of interesting bgs for the butterfly shoots. We often try 4-5 patterns to find the one that looks best for a particular butterfly and lighting condition. One guy holds the bg while the other shoots, and then we switch.
D4 Sigma 180/f.3.5 f/13 1/125s ISO 1000. No tripods allowed, so sharpness is always a challenge at the lower shutter speeds. Flash from R1C1 with two heads.
Post: 20% crop for comp, selective sharpening of the butterfly. Smoothed the bg slightly. Ideally you want to position it a ways behind the butterfly, but that isn't always possible.
Nothing short of excellent, the butterfly is pin sharp so are the antennae, the pose on the leaf is ideal. Lighting is very gentle allowing maximum detail to be seen.
I don't mind the more or less square presentation but have to confess I think I might prefer a landscape. I reckon there was a good reason for this - were there a lot of disturbing stems and leaves on the right?
Just had a second look, I really like the image as presented, almost pastel shades but I am curious what a bit more pop would do......or maybe more pop would not be in keeping with a newly emerged specimen?? What do you think?
Wonderful image, i think the key to this image was the angle which you chose to click it, perfect side on to the subject making the DOF perfect to capture all the details needed.
Nice Looking BG never knew that this is also a option that can be used for the macro subject. Nice colors
Jon - The reason for the crop is an unsightly jumble of leaves to the right, plus I ran out of artificial background at that point too! Re: contrast - after I posted, I did do a version with a bit more contrast, because I had the same feeling you did. Global adjustments didn't look good as the wings quickly went too dark, and the bg got a bit rough looking. I do think the head and thorax would tolerate a bit more contrast safely.
Hi Randy. This is a striking image! You have a perfect specimen with interesting colors and patterns, very nice lighting, and good sharpness throughout. The background really catches my eye (in a good way) - looks almost like a watercolor painting. Very well done!
A stunning butterfly which you captured perfectly imho Randy. Love the angle you cropped/captured him at and how the wings run parallel with the left edge of the frame. Superb!
Hey Randy,
Look who's getting into macro! I think you could pop the color more on the morpho......BG looks good. Just keep in mind that you could take a picture of some greenery....make it OOF....print it on matte paper...and that works great too! Tack sharp.....so works for me!
A fresh common morpho
Reply With Quote
