One Monarch is opened up on the right so that you see the topside color, the rest are closed. Close to the real color, maybe a bit extra saturation. A medium size cluster.
Topaz Impression (Da Vinci) blended color with luminosity blend, Topaz Adjust cool coloring, some detailing.
I am so jealous that you have these butterflies grouping in your area! I really like the surprise orange one and I would probably crop to just include the butterfly cluster so that one is more noticeable. I would also increase the saturation on the other butterflies. I hope you don't mind but I took this into topaz impressions for some more experimenting. I love the cluster!
I like the cluster and I agree with Nancy. I would prefer a close crop to the cluster and a little more saturation and contrast to the closed one. Nicely photographed. I've never seen a cluster in real life.
Very cool...I don't think I've ever seen this either. I usually find the Da Vinci filter too busy and distracting, although it is muted enough in this image to overcome that. But I agree about the crop and contrast to bring more focus to the butterflies.
Very beautiful, Michael. I only saw in the Kalahari butterflies gathered in this way, and usually where there's a drop of water:)
Enjoyed viewing, thank you!
Thanks much for your comments. They are much appreciated. I have the left in for the oof Monarchs but perhaps not strong enough to keep.
I should mention that the location of the Monarch clustering shown here is in the Natural Bridges State Park here in Santa Cruz, CA. It is a grove of Eucalyptus trees wind sheltered in a stream cut depression (too small to call a valley). The Monarchs gather every year here from October through December... as few as a couple hundred or as many as thousands. The amazing feature to me is that they are the great, great, grandchildren of the previous year's arrivals. The arriving generation has flown from the Rockies (I think Montana-ish) the succeeding three generations meandering through the spring and summer north-east. One of those amazing natural migrations that happen every year.
Here's a vote for just the way it is. The background is very attractive, so I wouldn't want to lose any of it. The cluster is different enough from the background in a number of respects, and it's in a good location within the frame, so I don't see a need to increase the saturation to add emphasis. I did try an increase to the oranges in the cluster just to see how that'd look and concluded that it increased the overall intensity of the image too much.
Thanks for all the interesting butterfly information. We're happy in this part of the country to see a few -- usually individually and not all that often -- on milkweed plants.
Theme: Monarch Leaves II
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