A Five Fritillary Flutter

Image Critiques Weekly Challenge
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A Five Fritillary Flutter copy.jpg
A Five Fritillary Flutter copy.jpg1702×1185 571 KB

Critique Style Requested: Standard

The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.

Description

It was a crazy day for butterflies. Between the Monarchs, Skippers and Gulf Fritillaries I would estimate well over 500 of the little fellas in a 200 sq yd area at St Andrew State Park in NW Florida so it made for easier pickings. This area is on the migration path, so once a year, they come in droves.

Specific Feedback

I think for this shot, any suggestions would be nice though honestly, I’m not sure what I could do to enhance the action. Shooting a butterfly head on is one, quite difficult and two doesn’t show the quality of the insect’s structure.

Technical Details

Nikon D800, 80-400 @ 180mm, f/10, 1/2500, ISO 200

Standard ACR color/tone correction and some contrast painting via TK to brighten the foreground flower buds and give a little more pop to the underwing areas.

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1 Like
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Chris, this must be quite the sight, with the myriads of butterflies. This is a fine capture of these five. If I want to be super picky, I’d say a bit more sky on the right and I do see a very slight halo along the darker right wings of the two on the left. I got lucky once and had 50 Tiger Swallowtails visiting my Joe Pye Weed, rather than the 5 or so normally visiting…

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Chris, I really like the frame filling shot here. The BFs are nicely spread throughout the frame and you got pretty good focus on all five of them. Looks like a really nice day in NW Florida. I do see a tiny bit of haloing around the ones that Mark has pointed out.