July 2008 Votes

[Pete Eeles]

This thread is here to allow you to cast your votes for the July 2008 competition, see entries at http://www.ukbutterflies.co.uk/phpBB2/v ... =23&t=2317

You need to be registered and logged into the forums, where you'll be able to cast your votes for your three favourites. Once you've voted, that's it!

This poll will run until August 18th.

So ... vote away! and good luck everyone

[Neil Hulme]

Congratulations to FISHiEE, Gruditch and Marcin. Great photos. Rosy, Denise and Eccles were all deserving 'runners-up' and as is often the case these days, some really good shots got very few votes. The standard just seems to get higher and higher. Might get tougher this month unless the weather picks up.
Neil

[Susie]

Well done, Fishee.

I thought my picture might have come turd ..

[Denise]

Congratulations to Fishiee, a well deserved winner, Gruditch, an excellent second place and Marcinklysewicz, new to the forum and straight in at number three. I share the honor of fourth place with Rosy Rustic, with Eccles close on our tail. Well done to everyone who took part.

Well another comp over, votes cast and here comes my humble and possibly inadequate critique. As I am fairly new to photography, I don’t feel qualified to comment on others, so please accept my apologies in advance if I cause offense as this is not my intention. I wrote these notes before voting started to see if I agreed with the majority. It seems that I did on the most part.

Charles Nicol – A great capture of the Emperor under wing. Shame about the blade of grass interrupting the head end, but very nice.

Twitcher – Cracking pair of mating Ringlet. One seems to be hanging by their naughty bits. Sharp and well composed.

Jackharr – Smashing Small Tortoiseshell. The natural background works on this shot, but a little more definition on the butterfly would have made it better.

Dave McCormick – A nice clean image and good colours. It’s a shame that it was interrupted by the thistle.

Pete Eeles – This Comma shot is just beautiful. Clear and crisp. Another quality photo Pete.

IAC – This Small Skipper is lovely. It’s a shame that the antenna is out of focus but still a nice shot.

Paul Kippling – Your Purple-Shot Copper is stunning. Wing tips and antennae in sharp focus. Really nice.

Antonym – Nice composition with a natural background. Sharp and again, one appears to be hanging by their naughty bits.

Gruditch – Another consistently good image. Sharp and clear. Well done Gary, keep it up.

Mike W. – Brimstone nectaring is always a joy, and this shot is very good. Sharp and well composed.

Nick B – I like this different shot of a blue, sharp and well lit. Nice.

Shirley Roulston – This Small Copper is sharp and well diffused. Very nice.

Gwenhwyfar – A beautiful classic pose of a Meadow Brown on scabious. Excellent as always Lisa.

Chris – Your Dark Green Frit was really nice, eye and antenna in perfect focus. I would have cropped a little higher, giving a bit more space at the top of the photo, but an excellent shot.

Fishiee – A stunningly beautiful shot. This photo got my first place vote. I would give anything to take a shot like that.

Paul Crook – Nice Small Skipper, sharp, but the angle for me didn’t work.

Eccles – Large White female, doesn’t sound very interesting, but it was! Well composed and pin sharp. Beautiful shot Mike.

Roger Gibbons – As you say, how can you improve on nature? A beautiful clear sharp shot, as always from you. Excellent.

Denise – I’ll leave that one up to you.

Polly – I love this photo. It’s perfectly positioned, turned to a nice angle and space around it. Very well done on your first comp, entry.

Malcolm Farrow – Interesting Comma shot. I like the way the light penetrates the wing. Very nice.

Brian H – Nice Meadow Brown. It’s sharp and clear but it’s a shame we got such a good view of its backside.

Paul Brock – Fabulous Purple Emperor. Very nice. Sharp and clear.

Roundwood123 – This hairstreak taken on a compact is brilliant. Very well done.

Ian Pratt – Cracking Scarce Swallowtail. I like this shot a lot.

Deano – Your Small Skipper is beautiful with a good diffused background which really brings it out. Well done.

Nick Patel – Well done on getting this open winged shot of a Purple Hairstreak. Wing tips are just a little soft but otherwise great.

Anneke – These mating Meadow Brown are clear and crisp. The vein on the leaf draws the attention slightly, but otherwise, very nice.

Rosy Rustic – Well done Susie, I think that this shot is great. Clear, bright and I’m dead envious!

Padfield – I can hardly believe that you took this photo on a compact! Stunning capture. I love it.

Alex Mclennan – A very well taken shot of this most unusual butterfly. Very nice.

Rogerdodge – Cracking shot, so crisp and clear. I love it.

Sussex Kipper – An excellent entry from you again Neil. Really good.

Keith Woontoon – Welcome to the forum! A nice nectaring shot of a Holly Blue. Well composed but maybe just a little soft. Still a good photo.

JKT – As always, a very well taken photo. It’s sharp and clear and gives you a sense of the butterfly. Well done.

Simon C – Another excellent shot from you Simon. I like the natural background for this Silver Spotted Skipper. Lovely.

Annie – This Speckled Wood is a little worn (so not at it’s best) but it’s nice and sharp and the angle is perfect. The photo could have been a little bigger so that we can see more detail but well done on your first attempt in the comp.

Darrel – A nice crisp image with eye and wing tips in focus. Very pleasing to the eye. Well done.

Web4160 – This Red Admiral was cropped just a little too closely to the head, but a nice image all the same.

Marcinklysewicz – Welcome to the forum. A stunning shot of Marbled White. Sharp as a pin and I really liked the evening light effect. An excellent first comp entry.

Thank you so much to the kind people who voted for me. It means a lot to me.
These competitions have taught me a lot, and the quality of the entries just keeps getting better and better. I had a tough time deciding which other two to vote for after Fishiee, but in the end I went for Rogerdodge and Pete Eeles.

I await someone to critique my entry and these notes. Please don’t be too harsh.

Cheers
Denise

[eccles]

Thanks for the critique Denise. I also put one together, simply because I was having such a hard time sorting out so many high quality shots and you suggested at one point that I might do so. I hope I'm not too unkind in my appraisal, which is done with the best intentions.

Charles Nicol
Obviously, any picture of a purple emperor is going to be a little bit special but I think Charles could have made a better picture with better depth of focus control, and sorry, dog poo, or whatever it is that the butterfly is drawing sustenance from just isn't photogenic.

Twitcher.
Ringlets are such an unassuming little butterfly, but close up they're really rather attractive. This is a nicely taken shot, well exposed, tack sharp with a pleasing background.

Jackharr
I hear what you're saying about backgrounds, Jack, but this doesn't work for me. It's just too busy. The butterfly is rather washed out as well, I guess maybe due to the use of flash? You've posted much better this month in the other forums.

Dave McCormick
This one *almost* works but there are a few niggles: the out of focus thistle in the foreground is a distraction. The general picture looks a bit flat but oversaturated. A few tweaks with colour and contrast would improve it. It's a nicer shot that the common blue last month.

Pete Eeles
Nice, slightly understated comma pic. Spot on exposure and nice composition. Mention of the will-o-wisp makes for a distraction and my eye is now continually drawn to the pesky thing.

IAC
Lovely lighting on this skipper and nicely exposed, but the image is a little small, cropped a bit too tight to the right of the insect and maybe a bit soft. Still a keeper though.

Paul Kipling
A pretty butterfly and definitely one for the album, but perhaps not in a frame on the wall. I would have preferred the left hand side to be cropped to decentre the insect, and a slightly lower viewpoint.

Antonym
This is a delightful picture. The background is just detailed enough to see that it's a footpath and that becomes part of the composition, but it's still diffuse enough to make the butterflies 'pop'. A purist would probably say crop the left side but I like it as it is, with the grass seeds framing the top.

Gruditch
I hate to say it but my heart sank when I saw this picture so early on in the month as it meant that I'd have to work damned hard to beat it. My chopping and changing of my entries are a reflection on this. I could say the whites are blown in the bramble blossom but that's really nitpicking. It's a dream of a shot, and to get a valesina as well just rubs it in.

MikeW
A year ago, this shot would have done quite well, and it's a reflection on how many good shots in this thread that I believe that by comparison this isn't quite up to scratch. Framing is nice, and female brimstones don't often offer themselves up for photos. But there are sharpening halos and noise which suggests that it's cropped a bit too much. Still a nice picture.

NickB
I'm not sure about this one. The OOF background and foreground give interesting effects, and there's some nice backlighting bringing out the wings of the butterfly, but the insect is wrongly placed for good composition.

Shirley Roulston
You did well to isolate this small copper from BG clutter considering you used a compact but the posted image could be a little larger, and the placement of the butterfly is too far to the right.

Gwenhwyfar
Nice soft lighting on this meadow brown but it lacks something. I think the main problem is that the flower stem grows almost straight up the middle of the frame, and there's nothing at the bottom to balance the picture. Perhaps my large white entry could also be criticised in the same way...

Chris
Interesting shot, and technically very good, but I don't like the low wing angle much.

Fishee
This is probably one of the best shots this month, but I can't get it all in my screen so didn't vote for it. The right hand side is lost even if I set the screen resolution to its maximum 1280x1024. Pete has specified a maximum of 800 pixels along the longest side for the August competition, which hopefully should prevent this in future.

Paul Crook
A nice shot, with nice light and BG but the skipper is a bit soft.

Eccles - you tell me. I like it, although it may lack a little balance on the lower half.

Deano - Whoops, there's no image.

Roger Gibbons
A beautiful insect and a worthy picture just for that, but it's pretty much just a record shot.

Denise
The right hand side was cropped again on my screen but fortunately resetting the resolution allowed me to see the whole shot, and it's a beauty. A stunning butterfly caught well and nicely framed. My only question is why on earth did you set the iso to 800 with a shutter speed of 1/2000? I'm sure you could have got away with 1/500 second and got less noise with iso 200.

Polly
This female SWF is a lovely shot, almost comparable to Gruditch's effort. If I were to nit pick I would have trimmed a shade off the left hand side to balance it a little better.

Malcolm Farrow
A striking shot that almost pulls it off, but I'm not too keen on the dark stripe down the middle of the butterfly.

Brian H
A nice simple shot of a female meadow brown. Good and sharp and well exposed. Background is a little busy.

Paul Brock
Like Charle Nicol's shot, a purple emperor is always special but it's more a record shot than a good photo.

Roundwood123
You made just about the best you could here of your compact camera and the butterfly's location by putting the camera on the ground and using the screen to frame it. Ultimately though, grey on grey doesn't really do much.

Ian Pratt
Purple emperor shooters, learn from this shot. The butterfly is still on the ground but isn't this a nicer shot? I'd have liked to have seen a bigger image.

Deano
Ah, so that's where it got to! Nice shot Deano. Would improve by framing the skipper a little off centre.

Nick Patel
Always a difficult species to catch, particularly with the wings open so this purple hairstreak shot deserves credit but I can almost imagine this one pinned on a specimen tray - crop less and decentre for a more interesting composition.

Anneke
Potentially quite a nice shot, but I can't see the right of the picture on my screen because it's too big.

Rosy Rustic
An amazing shot of so many chalkhills. But I just can persuade myself to vote for it because of what they're feeding on. An interesting behavioural shot but not photogenic. Sorry.

Padfield
Like Antonym's shot, this one pushes itself forward by virtue of the discerable but still diffuse background. But it lacks that piece of grass that helps to frame the picture, and the butterflies are a little soft. I'm extremely jealous of your subject availability though.

Alex McClennan
Interesting shot of a strange looking insect. Decentre to improve composition.

Rogerdodge
This is a delightful shot, again, only just managed to catch it all in my monitor. The brown argus is such an unassuming little butterfly when the wings are open but a real jewel when they're closed. Some sharpening effects visible on the insect's legs detract slightly.

Sussex Kipper
This is an elusive species for me, so I'm a little envious of you. It's well exposed and sharp but a little nondescript. Good one for the records but not really a competition winner.

Keith Woonton
Holly blues are active butterflies and very difficult to capture well, so in that you've done a pretty respectable job. But it's a little soft and needs to be decentred for better composition.

JKT
I understand your frustration thinking that you had a winner last month. As it happens, I also thought that it was a winner, but enough others thought otherwise. You still got second placing so just enjoy what is, after all, only a bit of fun. On this particular entry, it's another highly competent shot. But there are some crackers to beat here. At this level it becomes highly subjective.

Simon C
I've never seen this species either. Your shot of it is a real delight too. Maybe a little lost in the other stuff though?

Annie
Oh dear. Where to begin. Decentre the subject so it looks into the picture. It's a little overexposed. The subject is rather the worse for wear and past his best after too many battles for territory. The image posted is much too small.

Darrel
This ringlet is a very nice and competently taken shot. Lots of detail in the butterfly, nice placement and pleasant background.

Web4160
Loads of detail here but it's overexposed and facing out of the picture. You could probably fix the levels with a photo program, and if you've cropped it, maybe the framing could be improved too.

Marcinklysewicz
This one was well worth the wait. If I don't get a single vote this month then I won't mind as this is a gorgeous photo. The soft evening/morning light, the fine grasses and the butterfly all set off what I feel to be the best image of the month.

I voted for Marcinlysewicz, Gruditch and Denise, but could easily have added another half dozen votes. At this level, it's very subjective. Fishee's entry only failed to get my vote because I couldn't see it all, but there's little doubt that it's a fine shot.

Mike.

[Gruditch]

Well done Fishiee, a fantastic image that got my vote, in fact you always seem to get my votes.

Gruditch

[Deano]

Thanks Denise and eccles for your comments on my Small Skipper July competition entry - much appreciated.Well done to everyone for a great selection of superb photos!
Regards
Deano

[roundwood123]

Thanks Mike/Denise for taking the time to offer your opinions on the pics, i really enyoy reading them. Steve

[Malcolm Farrow]

I just wanted to say that I thought there were some absolutely stunning entries this month, probably reflected in several pictures receiving a significant number of votes. To my eyes, the overall standard of the monthly competitions just gets better and better.

Thanks to Mike and Denise for the comments. Fascinating to read, particularly because it encourages a personal re-evaluation of what makes (or doesn't make) a good shot. One small point regarding Mike's comment on my own entry - the dark stripe you mentioned is, as you probably realised, where the two wings of the butterfly overlap and thus not a technical fault as such, just how it normally appears when back-lit.

Best wishes

Malc

[Pete Eeles]

Well done all - and my thanks also to Denise and Mike. I can only agree that the entries get better every month and I've learned one hell of a lot from them!

Cheers,

- Pete

[NickB]

Eccles wrote....
"NickB
I'm not sure about this one. The OOF background and foreground give interesting effects, and there's some nice backlighting bringing out the wings of the butterfly, but the insect is wrongly placed for good composition."

Not you too Eccles! My fiancée, who is also a photographer, and my friend, a TV editor, keep banging away about my cropping! "Fill the ******* frame" is a good summary of the advice my editor friend always gives me!

Blue_1a_Nilsia.jpg (73.94 KiB) Viewed 2721 times

I nearly entered this crop....but I like to give the subject room to breathe and allow it some space to "fly into" so to speak! However, I guess I will have to bow to the pressure from my peers, not just those close to me, and start to listen...
well, maybe!
Thanks for your constructive criticism anyway!
(And I have to agree with everyone else - the bar keeps getting raised each month and that makes us all have to try harder, which is what it is all about!)
N
BTW Denise, when I first saw yours, it certainly had that Wow factor! On closer examination, though, the stems etc behind are a bit distracting and the high ISO and speed do lead to a grainy feel - perhaps a smaller size would have negated these small defects and made it easier to see the whole image at one go. But I'm still jealous of the shot, as I'm sure most of those viewing it still are! Great shot of a fantastic butterfly!

[Denise]

Thank you so much Nick, and to all the people who have complimented me both publicly and privately.
It means a lot to me for my peers to give positive feedback.
I think that i'm getting there.... very slowly.

Cheers
Denise

[eccles]

Nick, I also agree that giving a subject room to breathe makes for a better photo, but using the rule of thirds here by placing the insect a little more to the right would have improved this entry. There's room to crop it to achieve this but your crop above doesn't do this.
It's academic now but I notice from the exif data that this shot was taken in August and therefore not admissible. Extra time is allowed into the following month to give time for people to process their shots, not to take them.
Regards,
Mike.

[NickB]

.....
It's academic now but I notice from the exif data that this shot was taken in August and therefore not admissible.......
Regards,
Mike.

Ah just because the bus has India on the tyres doesn't mean it is going to India, as my uncle used to say!

All I can say is that the ViewNX software that I use to view the NEF files must have set the time on the picture, or the HP Editor that I use to compress the images before I send them by email.... I have the original NEF file if you want to see it. ( It is 25.503 MB), That says 26/07/2008 16:47

I would hope that my peers expect more from me....if I had taken it in August it would be in this month's competition!
N

BTW Thanks for the cropping critique - I need to pay much more attention to that.....

[NickB]

Nick, I also agree that giving a subject room to breathe makes for a better photo, but using the rule of thirds here by placing the insect a little more to the right would have improved this entry.
Regards,
Mike.

I quite agree with you; however, the "rule-of-thirds" is just one such rule.
Another is to remove distracting clutter that may deflect the eye from the subject.
In my humble opinion, your July entry forgets this rule in favour of making the first rule apply;
that is why I didn't vote for something which was beautifully shot and well-light (if a tad over-exposed).

Eccles_LW_July_re-crop.jpg (54.85 KiB) Viewed 2536 times

The attached crop may not quite obey the rule of thirds (due to restrictions of size of image and angle of view),
but it does remove the distracting stems below the butterfly and the bright area to the right of the original
(Of course, Photoshop wizards could do some digital gardening and remove those things from the original ...
but somehow, that is not what we are trying to do with our photography, is it?)

I know that I now think more about these things as I compose my shots, than I did before joining this forum!
N

[NickB]

.....
It's academic now but I notice from the exif data that this shot was taken in August and therefore not admissible.......
Regards,
Mike.

Ah just because the bus has India on the tyres doesn't mean it is going to India, as my uncle used to say!

All I can say is that the ViewNX software that I use to view the NEF files must have set the time on the picture, or the HP Editor

Found the culprit! It is the HPI Album printing software that resets the date created on pics when I "Save as" a different file-name
N

[Gruditch]

In my humble opinion, Eccles is one of the best photographers on this site, and I personally loved that shot. Your new, and in your opinion, improved crop, does indeed show that you have a lot yet to learn Nick.

Gruditch

[marcinklysewicz]

Thank you all for comments and votes on my photo. And it's a real pleasure to see so many good photos here. Special thank you to Denise and eccles for very detaild comments on each photo - great job and very helpful. Can't wait for this month votes .

[eccles]

Gruditch, thanks for the compliments, but Nick is perfectly entitled to express his views, just as I would like to respond to them.
I'm rather curious about your crop of my entry, Nick. Your idea on where to crop the shot is perfectly valid - if you feel it looks better than the original, then that's fine. But I can't for the life of me figure out why you say that the shot is overexposed but then lighten it, blowing out the highlights still further with your modified version.
Regards,
Mike.

[NickB]

In my humble opinion, Eccles is one of the best photographers on this site, and I personally loved that shot. Your new, and in your opinion, improved crop, does indeed show that you have a lot yet to learn Nick.

Gruditch

As we ALL have, I'm sure you will agree! (Of course, there are those who do claim to know it all already...I don't include myself in that elevated brigade!)

And I also agree that Eccles always produces great entries for the Competition and other threads! (BTW _ I did no other processing other than crop! The editor I used was not sophisticated and obviously changed the other settings just by opening the file.)

I do not deny that the crop I did is not perfect (the original made other crops difficult, I can see) - but one can not deny either, on a technical point, that the original had distracting stems in the lower 1/3rd taking the eye away from the butterfly in the top 1/3rd. Should the original have been entered in any Photographic Club competition, the judges would jump on that, I can assure you! After all, we are not here to "pick holes" or "score points" but rather to exchange ideas and comments, on what is a very subjective topic!
Have fun
N