A butterfly with a landscape and beautiful light. I try to take advantage of such opportunities. In this case, I had to cross the ditch on the forest path to get closer.
Feedback Requests
I’m wondering which feedback category these types of photos belong in. Is it landscape, macro, or wildlife photography?
I’m also happy to receive any general feedback.
Welcome to NPN. I think the forum all depends on what you consider your subject to be, Kathrin. Since the background is out of focus and the subject is the butterfly, I’d say Macro is appropriate, but the moderator will let you know if they think otherwise. I love the pastel look of this image and the butterfly varies enough in color to stand out nicely. Detail in the thistle flower and the butterfly look good. The gone-to-seed thistle head in the lower right does pull my eye just a little, but not badly.
This is a fine image and I look forward to seeing more of your work and reading your comments on other people’s posts.
Hi Kathrin, welcome to NPN!
Wow this is really pretty.
I love the soft color palette, and you’ve done an excellent job with the sharpness on the butterfly.
I agree with @Dennis_Plank about the flower in the lower right corner. I don’t know if this is already cropped, but if you have a little more of that flower, you could show more of it, or experiment with cropping it out and or burning it down. It’s the only thing like that in the image in terms of texture, I think for me it’s the texture that draws the eye, so I feel like it either needs more attention or less. But if you crop it, you could crop the upper left corner as well, so get a bit more balance.
But it’s so pretty, it’s totally up to you!
Kathrin: Welcome to NPN and thanks for a really fine image. Since the butterfly and perch are the main subjects Macro is a good landing spot for this shot. I love your DOF management and the soft color palette of the BG. Your comp giving the butterfly a lot of space to fly into is spot on as well. As for the spent thistle I would not want to crop there but would certainly apply a little AI fill magic to homogenize the BG a bit more. Superbly crafted image in every way and looking forward to more of your work. >=))>
Kathrin, Welcome to NPN. I hope you find it a rich experience and fun place to learn and grow as well as to help others in their photographic journey. Yes, I think Macro is a good place for this shot. So much to look at in this image, with a nice BG and colors that make the butterfly stand out nicely. I’m looking forward to seeing more of your work. I’m hoping my photography will pick up as well and I will get to post some on here. Life has been a bit busy of late.
I like your image a lot, and it raises a point that often troubles me. I’m sometimes afraid of letting the habitat of an animal speak for itself. But your butterfly is part of an ecological system, and perhaps we should allow the system to be visible even if it’s photographically imperfect. Just a thought.
Hi Shirley,
Thank you for the welcome and the kind words.
I know what it’s like: There’s often a lot to do. I find photography a good way to unwind and very relaxing.
Russell,
I think about questions like this too. In my opinion, everyone is free to decide how realistic or dreamy a picture should be. I take a lot of documentary pictures, which I post on portals to report species. But I also like to experiment and play with depth of field, environment, colors, etc.
You say: an animal is part of an ecological system, and perhaps we should allow the system to be visible even if it’s photographically imperfect.
That’s a good goal, and an imperfect picture can be very exciting.
What an interesting answer. I also post images to a natural history portal (iNaturalist) but hanging out on NPN is rewarding. I do find myself wishing that the esteemed photographers who are posting on NPN would spend a little more time on the natural history of the animals in their images.
