Calico Wings

[Mike Landwehr]

Taken near Crested Butte, Colorado. While this is not the subject matter I usually look for, I liked the combination of the white butterfly (moth?) against the soft yellow of the OOF flowers. Any help with identification of the butterfly/moth, as well as any C & C, will be appreciated.

Canon 1D Mark II N
Canon 100-400 at 375 mm
ISO 200
1/2000 at f/5.6

[Vida van der Walt]

I like this Mike. Great dof and detail on the butterfly. Good exposure and lovely soft colours as well.

[Steve Maxson]

Hi Mike. The butterfly looks like it might be a Checkered White (Pontia protodice) or closely related species. Nice sharpness, DOF, and exposure on the butterfly. IMO, the overall image would be stronger if the flowers on the left of the frame were more in focus. :)

[Julie Kenward]

Steve makes a nice point about the flowers on the left - I, too, think that would add even more to this lovely image. I'd also consider taking some of the pinker tones out of the BG as it looks "off" against the yellows - you might try playing with a filter adjustment or color balance in Photoshop and see what you can get. Overall, it's a really nice image - and the butterfly is a lovely focal point.

[Don Lacy]

Hi Mike, I think this would really work nicely as a vertical eliminating the flowers on the left this would still leave you with the white BF against the yellow flowers which works nicely but simplify the image at the same time.