"Butterfly" eater?

[Adrian David]

Camera Model : NIKON D300
Exposure Time : 1/800 sec
F Number : 8.0
Exposure Program : Aperture Priority
ISO Speed : 400
Exposure Bias Value : 0.-2
Max Aperture Value : 5.3
Metering Mode : Multi Segment
Light Source : Auto
Flash : Flash was not fired
Focal Length : 500.0 mm
ColorSpace : -1
Sensing Method : One-chip color area sensor
Lens : Sigma 150-500 OS

[Axel Hildebrandt]

I like the angle, sharpness, eye contact and BG but the butterfly puts it over the top for me. I would tone down the highlights and crop a bit tighter.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Oh man, what makes this wonderful image for me is the fully outstretched wings on the butterfly and its' clearly visible antennae. Excellent colours, sharpness, perch, BG. I agree with toning down the highlights and cropping a bit tighter.

[Erich Stevens]

Adrian,

The light was pretty strong but who cares?! Great detail, sharpness, and perfect poses by both subjects. Another vote for a tighter crop. Excellent work!

[Phil Ertel]

I agree with the others; the butterfly makes this image. I also find the background pleasing and I also like the perch. Tone down the highlights a little and this is winner in my opinion. Thanks for sharing and congratulations on nice image.

[Charlie VanTassel]

Very nice, Adrian. I agree that it seems a bit bright. Still, an incredible image. The butterfly really brings this one up a few notches.

[David Fletcher]

Wonderful image Adrian. The butterfly as mentioned makes it a winner. Agreed some tlc on processing would be useful.

[Arthur Morris]

Sharp. Perfect head and bug angles. Lovely colors and BKGR> Agree with toning down the highlights a bit and redcing contrast. This one would have been better with the additon of the 1.4X teleconverter....

[Joe Senzatimore]

Aside from all the other very valid comments , I might crop just a bit off the top and left as well. Still one killer image as is. The bg looks just like a portrait bg I purchased for my studio sittings. Love it(yours and mine).

[Adrian David]

Thank you very much for all the suggestions to improve my photo!
Here is the result...I hope I've got it right!:)



@Arthur
(This one would have been better with the additon of the 1.4X teleconverter....)
Arthur, using a TC on my Sigma 150-500 OS F/5-6,3 would be an overkill!!! The IQ of the images obtained with this lens is low enough, even without a TC...:( Unfortunately I can't afford a better lens, so I need to deal with this one...:( It would be a dream of my life, to have a Nikkor 500mm/ F4 VR...but no luck at the lottery...:(
Thank you very much for the kind words, and the continuous support!

Adrian.

[Arthur Morris]

I like both reposts. As far as not using a TC on your lens, I understand. That said, the IQ here looks pretty darned good.

[Adrian David]

Thank you Peter!
I didn't want to crop too tight, to give a little more space to the bird.But, I like your crop version too!
About the lens, I agree that this photo is looking good, but this is a web sized image.The 100% original crop does not look that good at full resolution.I would like to have all my images looking good at full resolution.I'm still learning, and maybe I'm not doing something right....

[Hugh J McLaughlin]

Somehow the second repost looks too tight for my taste. With such a great BG, the subject doesn't get lost with more space. Perfect pose by both!

[Ramon M. Casares]

Butterfly's position could've not been better. Great HA, pose, BG and nice light and perch.
Congratulations!

[Simon Bennett]

Excellent image, butterfly adds considerable interest.

[Kiran Poonacha]

Loved the image.. I like the peters repost. loved the colours the BG and the butterfly adds well here.. congrats...