There are lots of butterflies at the gardens here in Tucson now.
I want to keep the background soft but being a telephoto lens, how much should I stop down, Also I was wondering how to crop this photo as I like the extension of the flower. I think it adds to the photo image. Suggestions welcome
Canon 90D 100-400 ii f/4-5.6 This one f/10 400mm iso 1000 1/800 sec HH
Gorgeous, Dean! Love all the colors and the composition. Maybe crop a bit from the left to give more focus on the butterfly? Nicely seen and captured.
Dean, I’m so glad to hear that the butterflies are around your area. What fun getting out to shoot them. No bigger than the subject, I would think you could probably get by with f7.1 to make the BG a little softer and still have the BF and the flower he is on sharp. That’s just a guess. When something hangs around long enough to shoot extra shots that is a good time to play with different f-stops to see what works best. You just don’t know how many times I have been guilty of shooting a bunch with pretty much the same setting and later kick myself for not changing though. I get into the enjoying the moment and not thinking about maybe changing my angle, settings, etc. I hope when I get out to shoot again I remember my own advice! As for cropping, I too like the flowers, and consider it a nice environmental shot. What is a touch bothersome is the green oof spots of something that was probably closer to your lens than the BF. Maybe you can darken them to help make them less distracting. If you crop any, maybe just a touch from both sides and lose the orange oof flower in the top right corner. Just a thought. I do like this shot and the worn rough wing on the BF revealing he has been around and had some close calls possibly.
I took you suggestions @linda_mellor and @Shirley_Freeman and did a 8x10 ratio crop and also removed the OOF areas in the lower right area. I did not realized how odd that looked when I posted it so glad you said something about that area. It is interesting because the butterfly was the main subject but getting that flower in really adds to it. I think this crop is ok. I always crop in LRC as the last step so I can go back if needed to adjust that.
Dean, I like it! I think that improved it. I hate to sound nitpicky, but maybe now a little vignette to darken the edge so those partial blooms at the bottom and left edge aren’t as noticeable? Just a thought.
I do like it, Dean. I saw a Monarch in our yard this morning, but no camera in hand, just a phone and on call with my brother! I might nee to walk around the yard with my camera today. Only thing is, our flowers are not looking good at all if they were to get on them. Still a beautiful day here. I plan to get outside some more.
