Grizzled

Sony A77II
Sony 70-400G @ 400mm
ISO 200, 1/100 @ f11
Most of our images capture beautiful subjects in prime condition but occasionally the aging process presents a different opportunity. I was shooting in the garden this morning and was just finishing up on a white amaryllis (coming to a Flora Critique near you soon) when this old lady monarch landed a few feet away. I have preset settings on my camera and had been working in Illustration Mode. I got the first shot off (second image) and realized I needed to switch to standard RAW capture. My default starting setting is ISO 200 @ f11. I was hoping to work her a bit but after my first two shots she took off. Despite her damaged wing she didn’t seem to be having any difficulties flying. I thought the second image was like putting some makeup on her to make her look a little better. All comments welcome. >=))>

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Very cool, Bill. I do like the illustration one a lot. It seems to help her not look so old and damaged. Both shots are good, but I am drawn to the second one. Sometimes we are fortunate to get 2 shots, and in this case, you got 2 different kinds of shots. So glad you remembered the camera setting!

Bill; I was thinking the butterfly had some pollen from the oak trees that’s been floating around for the last month. I really like the “make up” you applied. . . still wishing it worked that well in real life. Great capture.

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Hi Bill, yes the 2nd shot is very interesting, almost cartoonish. Her age obviously shows in the 1st shot but glad to hear she’s still doing what butterflies do. Love the green BG and you caught her in take-off mode pointing in the right direction. Very pleasing overall with nice detail.

Very cool second image Bill. You captured the butterfly very well, very interesting the damage to the wing. I have seen damage wings but not like that. That happen to me once when shooting bees and this butterfly landed on the large flower perfect and was only there for a few seconds but I did get a good photo. The green background gave the photo a great contrast.

Bill, it seems that I missed this one. This is good look at a very beat up Monarch. I always enjoy a sighting like this because they show how resilient nature is. The doctored version looks very good and does a fine job of capturing the bf and her setting in an artistic way.