Hackberry Emporer

Description: There are always a lot of these butterflies around this time of year, but they seldom land somewhere that makes for a decent photo. I finally did manage to catch one on a hackberry, of all things!

Specific Feedback Requested: Any

Pertinent technical details or techniques: Canon 60D, Canon 70-300mm IS USM , f/11, 1/1000 sec., ISO 2000, Hand Held. Processed in ACR and PSE 2020 for exposure and cropping. Topaz De-noise applied.

Is this a composite? (focus stacks or exposure blends are not considered composites) No

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Terry, this is a fine look at this Hackberry Emperer, with good details in itā€™s body and only slight softness in the wing tips. The comp. works with the centered subject adding extra emphasis to the BF. It might be interesting to shift the camera view a bit right to move the BF to the left of center for a somewhat less static view using the long center leaf as an eye movement path. Alternatively, cropping this from the lower left corner, while maintaining frame shape might also accomplish that.

Beautiful butterfly, Terry! You could start a butterfly book! Nice details and it looks like heā€™s giving you the sidelook!

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Wonderful capture, Terry, with great detail in the butterfly. You do seems to have a nice collection of butterfly images. Since I have yet to get one to hold still for even 1/1000 of a second, Iā€™m curious, is there a certain time of day or weather patterns where the butterflies are less frantic?

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Terry, the colors and details are very nice in this shot. I like the 3 leaves included, and would hate for you to lose that in the composition. So for me, I think the composition works. I like the dark oof BG, which just makes the BF and the leaves pop. Very nice.

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@Mark_Seaver Thanks, Mark. Iā€™ll try that crop. Iā€™m not surprised his wing tips are a bit soft, as I was extended to 300mm. I wonder if an increased dof would have helped?

@Vanessa_Hill Thanks, Vanessa. The butterflies have been abundant this year!

@linda_mellor Thanks, Linda. Thatā€™s an interesting question. They can certainly be frustrating to photograph, at times. I guess I would say that I capture most of my images in early morning (before 10:00), or late evening. But that has more to do with the available light and the beastly hot and humid Oklahoma summers. The middle of the day here is unfit for man or beast. I do think those times of day they tend to nectar longer; after a long night of nothing to eat, and going into the night so they ā€œtank upā€ on nectar, so they sit still longer. Plus, the wind is less of a factor in early morning or late evening.

Thanks, @terryb. All sounds totally reasonable. Especially about being out in the mid day heat. . .while going for a walk this morning it was 78degrees and 95% humidity. . . .going up to 91 today and mid 95s by the weekend. Going to give really morning a shot.

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Another very nice butterfly! The DOF is quite acceptable,to me, given the angle of view.

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Another nice butterfly shot, Terry. Sounds like your summer is similar to ours. In Korea Iā€™m finding 4pm till 6 pm the best time now. And some of our butterflies are estivating, ie ā€œsummer hibernatingā€, especially most fritillaries; theyā€™ll show up again in September.

Thanks, Mike. I had never heard the term ā€œestivatingā€, and wasnā€™t aware butterflies anywhere underwent a summer hibernation period. Iā€™ll need to read more about that.