Imperial Tiling

Freyer’s Purple Emperor (Apatura metis) graced our garden with its presence for the first time ever this morning. It found something to its approval on my wife’s Gaudi-inspired terrace. I thought they complemented each other quite well.

Specific Feedback Requested

The central placement of His Majesty is intended to emphasize his eminence, while allowing one to admire the tiling too.

Technical Details

D500 + Tamron 150-600 1/640 f8 ISO 250

In PS, selected the butterfly and BG separately; treated both to Levels, Shadows/Highlights andCurves to taste. Some sharpening of the butterfly at the end.

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What a delicate, beautiful butterfly, Mike. I am quite certain I have never had the pleasure of seeing one of these little ladies. Lucky you. The pastel backdrop perfectly shows off the Tiling, allowing her all the attention. I do agree with you, the composition works very well also. Great shot!

I had to google this and wow…what purple! Even like this it’s quite striking. Glad you had one stop by. Seems the underside of the body along with the legs and the tongue are a bit soft compared to what I’d expect. Did you mask and sharpen maybe missing some? Could be the angle, not sure. The tiles make a good backdrop because they aren’t regular in alignment. Did it visit any of your flowers, too?

Thanks @_Kris - I didn’t take an open-winged shot as one forewing was badly chewed. But the forewings can glow a deep purple, hence the name. Well spotted about the soft bits - I did a selection with the Quick Selection tool, and the legs and tongue were omitted. When I see this species feeding, it’s always on something pretty yukky; in this case I think it found some old fish paste! I’ve yet to see it on a flower.

Thanks for your kind comments, @linda_mellor !

Mike, I’ve never seen one of these before so I’m enjoying this. Wonderful details and the down to her level shot really is nice. I could see cropping a touch off the right side to get her a bit more off center, but not a deal breaker. Very nice.

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@_Kris - I’ve redone the iffy parts of the photo and just replaced the original above. Hope it looks better now; thanks for your help.

Gorgeous butterfly! And lovely tiles , too! If you can select and then use the selection as a mask rather than a cutout, you can often paint back in (with a tiny brush) any small areas that were missed.

@Diane_Miller - thanks very much for your tip; have just redone it in my original way, but will use the masking approach next time. Glad you like the subjects.

Mike, the mix of subtle colors in both the bf and the tile is wonderfully inviting and gentle. Maybe you need to “spill” some salt water on those tiles to attract more ground feeders… :wink:

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awesome Photo Mike, everything came out very well. The tiles added a lot to this and the angle you took the photo was well place.

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