First image - Painted lady

I am new to close-up/macro photography, but I have enjoyed the summer finding plants & animals in places that most people pass by. I have posted this image because whilst it lacks some sharpness and definition I like the overall content. I like the use of the butterfly’s camouflage against a man-made material, (concrete on an old WWII gun emplacement), and the contrast with the vivid green of the new blackberry leaves.
I looking at the other posts in the group I see that I have much to learn… but I think that I will enjoy the journey.

What technical feedback would you like if any?

How do I get a better overall sharpness

What artistic feedback would you like if any?

Any tips or comments will be welcomed

Pertinent technical details or techniques:

Lumix GX8 Panasonic 100-400 @160mm 1/400 f13 (not my chosen lens for this type of shot but it happened to be on the camera)

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Ryan, Welcome to NPN! This is an interesting idea. The match between the aged butterfly and the concrete is a point of interest as is the contrast with the green blackberry leaves. This view would be improved if that out of focus twig wasn’t there, but moving it without disturbing the would be a challenge. I think the softness of the butterfly is a result of your camera back not being parallel with the concrete. The blackerry is nicely sharp as are the stones in the concrete underneath the bf. In macro, the very limited depth-of-field plays a major role in how the images turn out.

Ryan, welcome to NPN! Marco is a wonderful new world of things we don’t see when we observe the universe we live in with just our eyes. I enjoy getting in close and just seeing the details of insects, plants, etc. I hope you enjoy it and look forward to seeing more of your images, both here in macro and in other galleries as well maybe. I believe Mark said it well, giving insight even for the next shot, that in macro, especially, the camera needs to be parallel with the subject as much as possible because we have limited depth-of-field. Looking forward to more of your images, and comments on others images as well.

Ryan: Welcome to NPN and thanks for a fine first post. I’ll pretty much echo what Mark and Shirley had to say about macro DOF but I think your capture is pretty solid. I messed around with some sharpening and content aware fill to get rid of the OOF stick. Great to have you aboard and looking forward to more. >=))>

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Thanks for the comments, all very helpful.
I love what you have done to get rid of the stick Bill, a great improvement, (need to learn that one!).