Regard's John.
Brown Argus
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john starkey
- Posts: 14
- Joined: Wed Jul 27, 2011 7:10 pm
- Location: worcestershire
- Contact:
Brown Argus
Hi everyone,i have just registered and i would like you to comment on this image of a Brown argus,i have been doing wildlife/bird photography for about 2 year's,last year i got myself the new canon 100mm 2.8 is L macro lens,since then i have found a real passion for macro photography especially butterflies,this summer has been my first real all out assault on the species,so i would be happy for some advice and crit were needed,many thank's John.
Regard's John.
Regard's John.
Re: Brown Argus
That's a very nice image, John, and welcome to the forums.
The exposure and detail in the butterfly wings is great, and I love the way the colours in the beautifully out-of-focus background echo the flower on which she is standing. The background is a tribute to the excellent bokeh of your Canon macro. Your exposure of 1/100s @ f/8, ISO400 indicates that the light levels were not too high and I think soft lighting, rather than direct sun, is an asset.
If I were looking to improve it, I would try to adjust your position so that the plane of sharp focus includes the forepeak of the wing. After the eyes, this is a critical point where the viewer's attention rests.
You could use a smaller aperture but, although the depth of field will increase, the absolute sharpness may be reduced by diffraction; you should be ok to at least f/11 or even f/16, and it would probably help with the antennae as well. I always find it is difficult to decide how to cope with the antennae, as they always stray outside the area of optimum focus!
All in all, it's a lovely picture and I'll look forward to seeing more in the forums.
Mike
The exposure and detail in the butterfly wings is great, and I love the way the colours in the beautifully out-of-focus background echo the flower on which she is standing. The background is a tribute to the excellent bokeh of your Canon macro. Your exposure of 1/100s @ f/8, ISO400 indicates that the light levels were not too high and I think soft lighting, rather than direct sun, is an asset.
If I were looking to improve it, I would try to adjust your position so that the plane of sharp focus includes the forepeak of the wing. After the eyes, this is a critical point where the viewer's attention rests.
You could use a smaller aperture but, although the depth of field will increase, the absolute sharpness may be reduced by diffraction; you should be ok to at least f/11 or even f/16, and it would probably help with the antennae as well. I always find it is difficult to decide how to cope with the antennae, as they always stray outside the area of optimum focus!
All in all, it's a lovely picture and I'll look forward to seeing more in the forums.
Mike
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john starkey
- Posts: 14
- Joined: Wed Jul 27, 2011 7:10 pm
- Location: worcestershire
- Contact:
Re: Brown Argus
Hi Mike,thank you for your advice,a very good in depth reply,i like to take my shot's hand held,(hate carrying a tripod about)but i will put your tip's to use and see what i can achieve,
Take care,
John.
Take care,
John.
Re: Brown Argus
I'm no fan of tripods either - especially for mobile subjects like butterflies. Many people consider you can't get sharp pics without them but I find that a monopod is a good compromise - less hassle than a tripod but a big improvement in stability over hand-holding.
Mike
Mike