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Thread: Common Blue Polyommatus icarus

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    Macro and Flora Moderator Jonathan Ashton's Avatar
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    Default Common Blue Polyommatus icarus

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    Taken late evening whilst walking Barney, this is the first and only common blue I have seen this year.
    Monopod Canon 7D Canon 180mm macro ISO 400 1/250 sec f7.1, fill in flash -1.66. I corrected the colour balance with the white balance tool, the colours were a little too warm due to the late evening light. The sun was going down directly behind me so I was wriggling about in the grass trying not to block the light becasue as soon as you do the butterfly is likely to fly off. This drew a few wary glances from passers by who were reassured once I told them I was photographing butterflies!
    The seed head is perhaps a little dominant (??) I toned down the seeds a little bit, I wonder what you think? The background is natural I have not done anything at all - not even NR.
    All comments welcome.
    Last edited by Jonathan Ashton; 06-06-2013 at 09:56 AM. Reason: typo

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    Jon....another great shot! Nicely sharp and bg works well. I wonder if darkening the bg just a bit would set off the bfly even more,

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    Love the BG and the blue. The seed head does compete too much for me--drew my eye before the subject did. Excellent subject sharpness w/o bringing up BG.

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    This is a great combination of colours. Although the seed head does compete a bit but I can live with that. Background is wonderful and the subject very sharp

    Congrats!

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    Landscapes Moderator Andrew McLachlan's Avatar
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    Hi Jonathan, beautiful capture and superb sharpness. I think the seed head is just fine...it is an integral part of the story. Lovely work!

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    BPN Viewer thijs broekkamp's Avatar
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    Seed head might be a bit dominant, but it doesn't take away attention form the butterfly. Nice sharp shot, bg is nice as well. Only thing is, that it seems like it's head is just outside the DOF.

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    Forum Participant OvidiuCavasdan's Avatar
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    Excellent sharpnes and details. Colors are very nice. Seedhead looks good for me and I like it, and BG is beautiful. Very well done!

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    Very good capture, Jon. I find that the edges of the wings of these blues get overexposed easily, but it looks like you profited from the gorgeous light here. I do find the seed head a bit overpowering for this small butterfly.

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    BPN Member Steve Maxson's Avatar
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    Hi Jon. I can only echo the favorable comments of the others. The seed head does not bother me at all. This is outstanding!

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    Macro and Flora Moderator Jonathan Ashton's Avatar
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    Thank you very much everyone - much appreciated.

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