Scales of a more pleasant kind

[Snakeguy101]

I usually like to photograph my reptilian friends but there is an awesome scale-winged insect (better known as butterfly) rainforest nearby that was allowing free admission for students this week. I decided to take advantage of it and bring my camera. Here are some of the shots.

1) This one I am not sure about, I really love the lighting and texture but I am not crazy about the composition and I would like some outside opinions on it.

2) This one was an experiment, I was trying to gain a different perspective than the usual photos that I see of butterflies (from the back or side showing the full wings). There was this image I had in my mind of the silhouette of a butterfly against a leaf that filled the frame but I could not find one that would pose for me that way so I grabbed this shot. I was wondering if you guys thought it was well executed or even liked the concept behind it...

3) This is what I thought was one of my best shots and I simply wanted to share it and see what you thought.

Thanks in advance for your time and comments!

 

[Snakeguy101]

Pretty Please!

 

[SCraig]

From an exposure and detail standpoint I think they are great. The first on has a vertical orientation that makes a portrait composition work pretty well, but I have to wonder what it would look like in landscape mode. I don't know what is to the sides, but maybe cropped below the leaf the butterfly is standing on and just above his wings, looking toward the center of the frame. It might not work but I would have tried it just to see.

The second is interesting because, as you said, it is an unusual perspective. It's hard to tell but it looks like it might be a tad soft on the face. Very slight though.

I love the texture in #3. Beautiful detail and another unusual perspective.

 

[rick93]

Just like Scraig said, I think the fist shot would have been better in landscape mode. IMO #2 is really nice + I like the different perspective. #3 is beautiful, love the eye!

 

[WesternGuy]

They all look good to me, maybe just a slight boost in the sharpness in #2, but it could be I need to recalibrate my monitor. I would like to see more if you have them - maybe another post?

WesternGuy

 

[Snakeguy101]

Okay thank you for the comments. I tried recropping the first image and did a bit of a curves adjustment and came out with this:



I agree with you guys that the images seem soft. I think that is because of the high ISO. I was pushing the limits of my old D80 at around 1600. I am attaching a few more photos for Westernguy. There are some more if you are really interested- Just click on the images and it will take you to my flickr account.

 

[Snakeguy101]

Anyone?

 

[WesternGuy]

I really like these, but then I have a lot of trouble getting good butterfly pictures. How do you get them to stay still long enough to grab an image? Were you using a macro lens here, if so, which one. Thanks for posting more of them - I am going to have to find a good butterfly exhibit and try me hand.

WesternGuy

 

[Snakeguy101]

Thanks, I used a Tokina 100mm f/2.8 with a Nikon R1 close up speedlight system. It takes a lot of patience to get the closer shots but in this exhibit if one butterfly would not cooperate then there was always another nearby.

 

[charlie76]

Neato