Butterfly

[Capture-It]

Second post. Feedback on first photo really helped how I looked at the photo, thanks to all who commented on what it was not.

Would like some c/c on this Butterfly as well.

 

[Jaszek]

maybe try posting a bigger version. Post it in 800x600 if you want cc. You cant really see anything in the picture so small.

 

[Capture-It]

Thanks, took your advice!

 

[Samanax]

Composition is pretty good and good use of shallow DOF...but there is a lot of noise in the background.

Is that butterfly even alive?

 

[Jaszek]

Pretty good but maybe try using a shallower DOF to have the whole butterfly in focus. And also try running it through some noise reduction

 

[CraniumDesigns]

just blur it out a bit in photoshop to get rid of the noise in the background. i think the saturation could be bumped a bit. too bad the butterfly didnt have a full set of wings. looks like it's missing some on the left wing.

 

[jlykins]

What were your setting with this shot? I'm too lazy to look up the data. lol. That helps with feedback as well. It has been said already, but I would like to see a little more in focus. My guess is you were wide open to blur the background, try going up a stop or two next time to get everything in focus on the butterfly itself.

 

[Katier]

Looking at the EXIF it seems to have been taken at f4.5, ISO 1600 ( hence the noise ) 1/45th of a second.

It really is screaming for about f5.6 to put the whole butterfly in focus. If it was that dark then I really needed a flash to add light to the scene and allow you to take the shot at narrower aperture, faster shutter speed and much slower ISO.

 

[Overread]

hmm I don't know pentax cameras so I don't quite know what is and is not possible - so forgive me if what I advise is not possible.

Firstly I rather like that you have gone for a non- central composition - since its non-central I am assuming that you used manual foucings for this shot, if not then I would highly recomend it for macro work since its far more accurate than auto focusing at these distances.

Primarily you have got the foucs in the right place - righ on the eyes - turning your shooting position so that you were more directly over the butterfly would have helped get more of the wings in focus with the settings you were using at the time.

As for your settings I would advice using a smaller aperture ( bigger f number) to get more depth of field into the shot - so that you can cover more of the bug. F13 is where I do most of my macro work and at the range you are with that butterfly and its reletive size you could have got away (probably) with f8. Of course you ISO wants to be lower as well to avoide the noice - ISO 200 is usually good for this - now with a smaller aperture and lower ISO this means that to follow this line of thinking you need to make up for the lighting with flash. A popup camera flash can normally give enough light for a butterfly sized insect - if you start getting into higher magnifications then you will need a more powerfull flashgun. Oh and shutter speed wants to be faster as well - I use 1/200sec as a ballpark amount (fastest speed with my flash) but you can go lower if you need to - note that if you start getting too slow you will need more support otherwise you risk handshake - also remember you subject (when an inset) is also alive and can move in tiny amounts as well so you have to freeze that motion as well to avoid subject blur
If your using flash you will also need to diffuse the light from it to help lose its harsh effect on a subject. For a popup flash I have used folds of white toilet paper in the past to diffuse the lighting - for a flashgun type of flash I would use something like a lumiquest softbox (its what I use) to diffuse the lighting. I find this works very well at breaking up and giveing good lighting to a subject.

 

[Katier]

The 110D is more than capable of such things, this is a shot I took with mine.

Exposure: 0.003 sec (1/350)
Aperture: f/6.7
Focal Length: 220 mm
ISO Speed: 400

Ironically I made a mistake with the ISO ( probably had it on auto ), should have been 200 ( 110D doesn't go to 100 ) but as you can see the camera is eminantly capable.

The lens I used was a Sigma 70-300 Zoom.

 

[Capture-It]

Thanks to all of you who commented. It amazes me how much you people can help a person really see in a photo. Thanks to Katier for posting the butterfly, I obviously need to learn what my 110D is capable of!