The photographer is looking for thoughtful feedback on the image as a whole, especially around the areas noted below.
Feedback Focus: Artistic + Technical
About This Image
The shot was an obvious comment on the state of our world and of Monarchs in particular, as habitat destruction is one of their main problems.
Feedback Requested
In editing, I had to decide how large to make the insect in the frame – chose to keep it small, signifying its vulnerability, emphasizing the tire tracks. Added a pale white vignette.
I really like the size of the butterfly in the frame, James, and the composition works very well. While centering the subject is unusual, I think it works in this case due to the color of the subject pulling the viewer’s eye in. Personally, I think the white vignette adds anything to the image and to my eye gives the immediate impression of the corners being out of focus. I could see something like a very narrow solid border on the image.
Glad you posted background. I cannot tell the butterfly is in distress. Not sure if increasing size of butterfly in frame would show it’s in distress.
It looked like it was finished George. The western species starts migrating west to the coastal wintering grounds in late summer and early fall. They’ve been seen at 11,000 feet, so they can fly (with the help of thermals and wind) over the Sierra. This was shot October 13; perhaps it was caught in cooler temps and had to call it quits. Or, as I like to believe, it died of old age.
James, you’ve got a good juxtaposition of the Monarch laying in the tire tracks…shows all too well the world that we live in! Like George, I can’t tell from the photo if the Monarch is alive or dead, although it clearly was not run over by the vehicles. I find the light vignette distracting, but am amazed at how long the length of the Monarch’s shadow. I agree that centering the BF works well at focusing attention on it.
Thanks Mark – now that you mention it that shadow could play a bigger role in the shot with a tighter composition. Tire tracks are vivid so the statement would be the same.
This is a powerful image, and it tells the story immediately. I might have put the butterfly a little more off center, cropping the lower left corner out, emphasizing the different tracks in the upper right. But that is totally personal.
I agree the image could be cropped differently and still have its impact.
Only thing I’ve found is the larger the butterfly in the frame, the smaller the impact! It needs to be overwhelmed by the symbolism of the tracks and appear totally vulnerable which unfortunately it is.
Hi James - I keep coming back to this as it’s a really strong story. The Monarch is bright enough IMHO to cope with your crop.
If this were a picture of a Monarch BF you could crop in - but the message /narrative that is being communicated, fragility, nature vs Man , etc etc it needs the BF to be tiny and overpowered.
It works because even if tiny, the beauty and colours balances the huge areas of drab gravel (I’d be tempted for even more gravel if you have it)
Beautifully seen, and well executed - needs printing A1 (large) on the wall!!
James, that makes total sense. And yes, this image does show how vulnerable these things are. I love seeing them up close, but when confronted with humans, they unfortunately do become small.
