My very delayed critique! I should waffle on much less I think!
Shirley Roulston – Of the wing closeups this one was my favourite. Not really much of a challenge just to crop a bit of a wing like this, but the resulting image is very eye catching, very colourful, and I do like it a lot…. except for the fact you’ve cropped off the right hand edge of the wing which is a major major no-no and really ruins the shot. Noise is a bit of a problem due to the heavy cropping if a compact camera image I suspect. Not much can be done about that unfortunately other than to be much closer so you don’t have to crop so heavily. I expect this will receive some comments
Gwenhwyfar – Like this head on angle a lot, very different. It just needs to be cropped much tighter. As it is it’s not much more than a regular shot with the ends of the wings chopped off. Love those droopy down antennae, though unfortunately the tips are out of focus. Much smaller aperture to get more depth of field would help. Also bring the point of focus a little further forward to the middle(in terms of length not separation) of the antennae to get them and the eyes fully sharp. It doesn’t matter so much if what’s behind the eyes is out of focus a little for this composition.
Padfield – An interesting shot, though probably more suited to a different competition. It’s not really all that close like above. Needs to be in much much tighter. Also the main interest, the spider, is for the most part out of focus.
Charles Nicol – I am envious of anyone who is in the position to be able to take a shot such as this having never seen a Purple Emperor myself. Unfortunately the image isn’t sharp (I can understand this if you’re shooting it on your own leg!) and it makes me cringe to see the tips of the antennae chopped off! I think a 90 degree clockwise rotation of this one might be more pleasing to the eye too.
JohnB – Now this is much more like it! Tight crop and bags of detail. But cropping of the edge of the antennae really is a shame. The one fully in the frame is out of focus but can’t do anything at all about that when you are this close. Noise is a bit of a problem but it looks like it should clean up not too bad in photoshop.
Birdy43 – This one I like a lot. Head on shot really works well, you’ve not cropped off any of the important bits and you have everything in focus. I think cropping tighter would improve this shot a lot to remove the distracting flower bud on the right and that white blob in the background on the left. Perhaps don’t fully crop off all of that on the left, maybe 2/3 of it and then clone out the rest to still give some space as the butterfly is looking a little that way. Maybe crop off a bit at the bottom too to keep the same format. Also I’d boost the colour contrast and saturation a little as the colours do look a bit washed out and muted.
Pete Eeles – From the thumbnail I thought ‘wow’ but unfortunately the full image isn’t sharp all over. Your eye is drawn straight to the red which for the most part is out of focus. Too close with too little depth of field for this shot I’m afraid. I am guessing a heavy crop from a shot of the whole butterfly where you probably get away with it not being all sharp. At the same time I am extremely envious as I’ve only ever seen one swallowtail and no way this close. To be in a position to take a shot like this would be a lifelong dream come true!
Geniculata – Fantastic detail all through, but oh the cropping! You’ve managed to chop off both the tip of the antennae and the tip of the wings. A truly stunning shot totally killed by the cropping I’m afraid
Twitcher – Great colours, great detail, but cropping off the left most antennae is criminal. Unfortunately due to the angle you shot this at it’s made the leftmost antennae appear twice as long (or more!) as the other. I think you could have been really sneaky here and cloned in the antennae much closer to the head to make it appear in the same proportion. It would have really improved the shot having it in and nobody would ever have known
Eccles – This one works really well. It’s really close, and having the antennae missing isn’t a problem for this shot. I don’t think it needs them. The diagonal lines of the antennae and proboscis work really well and the detail is superb. My only criticism is I can see that flash has been used and it’s a bit harsh and has killed the colours a little. I would take the flash power down by about 2/3-1 stop I think. Perhaps tone down that bright highlight in the bottom right too, though reduced flash would reduce that anyway. Got my 2nd place vote.
Denise – really like the composition of the butterfly in the frame, and like Eccles’ shot above the lack of antennae ends doesn’t really matter for this one. My two main concerns are the subject isn’t really all that sharp anywhere and the white sky in the background isn’t very exciting. A bit of fill flash would normally help to put some more light, colour and detail into the shadows doe to the bright sky behind but that white flower in the foreground will really blow out badly. If I were taking this shot I would try and alter my shooting position in such a way to get some of that green I can just see in the background to fill all or most of the background. It may only require a very tiny shift in shooting position but it would make a big difference.
Sussex Kipper – I do like this shot, but I think for a wing shot under a heading of ‘close up’ it needs to be much closer and to concentrate on just a small section of the wing rather than almost the whole wing pair in this case. I think either flash or very harsh sunlight has blown some of the highlights in this shot a little too. Funnily enough I took some similar shots last summer and flash did the same for me. The majority of the wing is dark so the camera exposes for this. Need to remember to either dial the flash down a bit or dial the exposure compensation down.
Dave McCormick – Well yes it is close, but it’s about the most un-interesting part of the butterfly you could find! Good for one of those competitions where you have to identify the object from the extreme macro image – is it a Ringlet?! The noise produced by this small sensor compact camera really does make a mess of the detail and the purple bit on the left is quite distracting and should be cropped off.
Markulous – Nothing much to say about this one really. Colours great, detail great, composition great! Just the tops of the antennae are a little soft. Perhaps I’d compose from a fraction lower to be looking up a little more at the subject another time. Got my 3rd place vote.
M_Galathea – Upright letterbox format is quite different and nearly works. Just make it a bit wider next time to keep in that other antennae – criminal cropping!! I might crop a little off the top too…
Gruditch – Love it! Maybe one or all of a touch over sharpened, touch over saturated, touch over contrasted(I dunno. Contrastified didn’t work!) but the composition is great, it’s up close and personal as the theme asks and it’s got bags of detail (shame about the ‘shoulder’ though). Got my vote for 1st!
Deano – Nice idea with the composition. I have tried similar shots myself. However I would ideally like the shot taken from a slightly lower or higher position to separate the antennae from the far wing as they are a little lost. Also it looks like flash or harsh sunlight has muted the colours a little so needs a bit more contrast and saturation as a result.
Keith Woonton – Like the composition but needs to be cropped a little tighter I feel. You’ve got both the antennae in however! Lacks a little sharpness and detail unfortunately and those two grass stems in the middle of the image and the bit of one bottom right are a distraction.
NickB – Another Purple Emperor on trousers shot? I REALLY love the angle this shot is taken at, and that curled up yellow proboscis and the eyes really make this shot, but you’ve done what many others and have cropped off a critical part – the right hand antennae! The left hand one is also very out of focus. I’d also recommend a bit of fill in flash to get rid of some of the near side shade. So nearly a great shot!
