This little skipper made its debut in the garden today. It obliged by posing in front of a bunch of fresh weeds (gotta love those weeds!). The mauve is a reflection of creeping phlox below - it went on to feed there.
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I often try to avoid a centred subject, but in this case I liked the extended reflection on the stem, so kept in the left side.
Technical Details
Is this a composite: No
D500 + 105mm macro 1/125 f16 ISO500
Mike, I’m so glad that he posed for you. Nice details in him, and the weeds paid off this time with a nice BG for him. I’m not sure I care for the red color casting up on the skipper. The perch I can deal with better than on him, but hey, that’s what happened. There may be a way to remove the color cast. For me, I think I would crop just a little bit off the left side, to get him more out of the center, and then I think it will feel more like he has more room to move as well. Just a thought. Still, a very nice look at this little guy. Hopefully we will have them here soon and I can point the camera at them.
You captured some fine details in this skipper. I would tweak down the saturation of the greens in the BG and selectively reduce the saturation of the reds in the shadow areas of the stem and skipper before printing. Comp is spot on and will make an excellent print…Jim
Mike, this is a fine look at this skipper. The reflected color is an interesting aspect that the camera picks up better than we humans do. How you handle the reflection depends on what you’re trying to show. If you want to push the reflection this view does that dramatically. If you want the skipper to dominate, with the reflected color as secondary interest, then some desaturation of the red is the way to go. It’s all about what “story” that you want the photo to tell.
Thank you @Jim_Zablotny@Shirley_Freeman@Dean_Salman and @Mark_Seaver for your comments, all absorbed. I did wish to emphasize the red reflections here, especially as I followed up with a shot of the skipper on the phlox. But I also agree that the green BG is a bit too bright.
Mike: Our skippers are notoriously skittish, so I envy you the positioning and plane of focus management. I kind of like the reflected light and think it adds interest. Very nicely done. >=))>
