Random Salato Moth

[Bob Sanchez]

Hi all! This is my first post on the forum so if I screw it up sorry in advance, awesome site btw. I captured the image of this little guy while walking through Salato game reserve in Frankfort KY one afternoon. No idea what kind of moth this is but I will send a copy to UK Entomology to get it ID'd if so if anyone's interested in knowing that info PM me and I will get back to you.

Anyway, shooting on a D800 with 28-300 attached - f5.6, 1/320, iso 200. Highlights are blown on the moth's abdomen and this is the best I could do to attempt to correct with a curves and levels layer using the threshold/eyedroppers trick, other than that the only modifications are crop and resize. I really appreciate any feedback, my skills, or lack thereof, really could use some help.

[Jeff Cashdollar]

Bob,

I live in Nashville just down the road. Welcome and the first think that comes to mind is preparation and planning....do you have any reading material like "The Art of Bird Photography" or "Digital Basics". These are two books that speak to the exposure and field techniques needed for nature photography...I reference them monthly.

This picture is nice but the opportunities are subject focus. for example...this beautiful living creature is a bit lost in all the background and too much negative space. Consider a crop or reduced focus on the subject...the tech specs look good what was the focal length. I like the way you framed the moth and the colors are beautiful...nice first post.

The best method to improve is to post often and comment on others work..this is an educational site and you will improve fast. Keep em coming!

[Bob Sanchez]

Thanks Jeff! I will take a look at those books you recommend and get to work, I've got a few more shots to post up, now just need to find the time. Thanks again for the feedback!

[Bob Sanchez]

Ok, so I re-cropped and man, I can really see what you mean now. Take a look and let me know what you think, focal length is 300mm btw. Thanks again - Bob

[Jerry van Dijk]

Hi Bob, welcome to the forum! This isn't a moth but a butterfly, some Skipper species (sorry, not familiar with the US species). Your closer crop looks much better compositionwise, although the image quality becomes an issue now. For macro images, the point of focus is very critical. If you take a close look, you'll see that the point of focus in your image is on the butterfly's wings, while the head isn't in the plane of focus. The head , or rather, the eyes, is usually what draws peoples eyes first, so they have to be sharp. As for the blown abdomen, did you shoot this in RAW format also? Blown highlights can sometimes be recovered in the RAW editor. In RAW, the data that's hidden in the blown area is still there, while in the jpeg its just the blown color information. You can tone down the highlight in jpeg, but you can never recover the details. Looking forward to see more!

[Bob Sanchez]

Thank you Jerry! I will start paying more attention to focus planes as you suggest. Since I got my D800 I haven't been shooting much in RAW format, go figure ;). Since taking this pic I've knocked a couple of EV's off exposure when shooting in bright sunlight to try and prevent blow-outs, so far it seems to be working well. Nice website too btw!

[Bob Sanchez]

FYI here's what UK had to say about the species...

"Hi Bob,

This is one of the "skipper" butterflies, but I do not know which type. There are dozens of species, and they all look the same to me!


Here is more about them:
http://bugguide.net/node/view/189"