The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
The hairy Snow Apollo males appear at the start of May in Korea, and need to wait a few days for the females to show up (as is the case with many butterfly species). In the meantime, they fly around frantically, shooing off other males if they get too close, and descend for frequent sips at the flowers while the sun is out. I have to be quick, as they don’t stay long at a flower.
Specific Feedback
Maybe the BG needs taming?
Technical Details
OM1 + 60mm macro 1/6400 f5.6 ISO 3200
Basic toning in LR, Denoise, then fine-tuning of contrast in PS and some burning of BG.
Critique Template
Use of the template is optional, but it can help spark ideas.
Mike, this is a real beauty that we don’t see in these parts. Thanks for sharing and telling the story as well. I’m finding that little oof bug on the left is calling for attention. I’m wondering if removing it would help keep the attention on the main subject. A nice shot.
A fine image, Mike. I’ve never been fast enough for the dive a sip species. I love the wing spread and the hairy body of this butterfly. The transparent areas of the wings that let the background colors through are really nice and add to the image.
Excellent image, Mike - lovely butterfly and detail.
I actually LIKE the little bug - I enjoy unexpected “surprised” in images.
From here, the green seems a bit bright, and competes with the star of the show.
Sweet!
I tend to agree with Sandy’s thoughts on this fine capture. Well done. There’s the quick and the dead while photographing flitty flying insects. I was just struggling with getting honey bees working some flowers. I get it. Well done!
Wonderful capture, with the white flowers being the perfect perch!! I would experiment with toning down the BG a bit and maybe see if the whites can be pulled down just a tiny bit. The butterfly looks good but the flowers feel hot. Maybe just do the flowers.
Excellent rework!! For my tastes you could go further with the LL corner. This is such a lovely composition with the BF and the flowers, the BG could be as minimal as possible.
An interesting touch might be to bend the greens/yellows a little away from cyan , to make them more analogous to the blush of tan on the BF.
Mike: Great capture and the rework is a big improvement. I’m with @Shirley_Freeman regarding the party crasher but only because it’s OOF. If it was sharp I think it would be a plus but for me it caught my eye and kept pulling me away from the butterfly which is so superbly captured. >=))>
