Australian Admiral

[Mark Bennett]

I captured this image of an Australian Admiral feeding on the flowers of a Small Grass Tree in late Spring 2013. 2014 was not a good flowering season for the grass trees and I was not able to get any more images. This is on my property at Emerald, Victoria.

Nikon D800E, Sigma Apo Macro 180mm f/2.8 EX DG OS HSM, HH
0 EV, ISO 400, 1/640 sec at f/8
LR5, PS CC 2014, 10.5x8 vertical crop, Topaz Clarity
Removed some stamens at lower edge, upper edge and near the proboscis

[Diane Miller]

Lovely! Great sharpness, and the colors of the grass and BG work very well with the butterfly.

This must be full sun? I wonder if it's possible to hold a diffusion screen in place if that would reduce the tiny highlights from the scales on the wings? (I assume that's what they are.) It doesn't sound very practical, though.... And it's a gorgeous image as is!

[Warren Spreng]

Beautiful shot, the colors are great and I like the "perch".

[Mark Bennett]

Thanks Diane and Warren.

Diane: your obs of the tiny highlights is very interesting. Although the image was indeed taken in full sun, I can't help wondering if I overdid the Topaz Clarity. I will look into this on the weekend ...

[Mark Bennett]

I am happy with the strength of the Topaz Clarity filter. Will try and diffuse the highlights next time thanks.