Results 1 to 6 of 6

Thread: Peacock Butterfly

  1. #1
    BPN Viewer Nigel Kibble's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2013
    Location
    Leicester UK
    Posts
    32
    Threads
    14
    Thank You Posts

    Default Peacock Butterfly

    [IMG] Peacock by kibbsnk, on Flickr[/IMG]Taken with Nikon D3100 , Tamron 70-300mm Di LD , 5.6F , zoomed macro on lens , hand held , Aperture Priority , Exposure 1/2000 , WB set to sunny,The butterfly behaved beautifully for me on a very hot afternoon ,

  2. #2
    Macro and Flora Moderator Jonathan Ashton's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2009
    Location
    Cheshire UK
    Posts
    17,016
    Threads
    2,604
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Nigel this is a big improvement the colours are much more natural and your plane of focus is more appropriate. the background is unobtrusive. You provide the Shutter speed but not the aperture, my guess is the aperture is fairly wide and this has provided a narrow DOF. The "eyes" look pretty sharp and focused but the rest of the butterfly is just a little soft.
    1. For shots like this you will need (generally speaking) f8 - f11 or even f16 sometimes.
    2. When focusing ensure the focal point(s) is where you want it to optimise the DOF.
    3. Consider if you need to lock focus or not.
    4. I always use continuous focus (AI Servo) and if necessary I lock the focus but this is not usually necessary especially in conditions like these where there is likely to be some breeze.
    Last edited by Jonathan Ashton; 08-15-2013 at 01:28 PM.

  3. Thanks Nigel Kibble thanked for this post
  4. #3
    BPN Viewer Nigel Kibble's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2013
    Location
    Leicester UK
    Posts
    32
    Threads
    14
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Thanks for the kind remarks the aperture was f5.6 and I taken on board your comments and hope to improve with practice

  5. #4
    BPN Member Steve Maxson's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    Bemidji, Minnesota
    Posts
    5,801
    Threads
    818
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Hi Nigel. You captured a beautiful specimen in nice light and this is a big improvement over your first post. Jon has, again, given you some good suggestions above. In addition to those, I have a few more to help you improve your technique - the sharpest part of your image appears to be the butterfly's abdomen - you will want to have your sharpest focus around the head and then have enough DOF to make other important areas sharp as well. This can be tricky with a small, moving subject and a small DOF to work with. In terms of composition, it is usually better to move your subject away from the center of the frame and it is usually better if the subject is facing into the frame rather than out of it. Cropping and comp are subjective, but I see a couple of alternate presentations for this image. One would be to crop from the right up to the edge of the lower flower. This would remove some of the distracting bright areas of the background and would move your subject off-center and make it appear to have more room to look into on the left. Another option might be to crop from both left and right giving you a vertical format. Just some things think about and keep in mind the next time out.

  6. #5
    Forum Participant
    Join Date
    Dec 2008
    Location
    West Nottingham, PA, USA
    Posts
    7,038
    Threads
    427
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    This is a lovely and stunning butterfly. I think the light and exposure are just right. You received excellent advice above, which I'm taking since I'm new to butterfly photography also. Thanks for sharing.

  7. Thanks Nigel Kibble thanked for this post
  8. #6
    Publisher Arthur Morris's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    Indian Lake Estates, FL
    Posts
    32,506
    Threads
    1,433
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Nigel, That is one gorgeous butterfly and it is in perfect condition. While sharpening up the subject a smaller aperture would have brought up unwanted BKGR detail (at least for my tastes). Agree on placing the butterfly more to the right. Welcome and let's see some more.
    BIRDS AS ART Blog: great info and lessons, lots of images with our legendary BAA educational Captions; we will not sell you junk. 30+ years of long lens experience/e-mail with gear questions.

    BIRDS AS ART Online Store: we will not sell you junk. 35 years of long lens experience. Please e-mail with gear questions.

    Check out the new SONY e-Guide and videos that I did with Patrick Sparkman here. Ten percent discount for BPN members,

    E-mail me at samandmayasgrandpa@att.net.










Tags for this Thread

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
Web Analytics