Royal Birth + Time Lapse

Critique Style Requested: Standard

The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.

Description

I posted a series of Monarch caterpillars a couple weeks ago and this is one of them. Not sure if this is male or female because I couldn’t stick around to watch its wings open but she’s so pretty it must be a girl. The drops on the leaf are excess wing fluid that gets ejected after the wings inflate. I gently moved her onto this clematis flower by letting her crawl onto my finger and then onto the flower. One must be careful not to touch the wings as they are very fragile at this stage. There was a significant breeze so burst single capture was in order. Had to trash a bunch with motion blur but got several keepers. >=))>

Specific Feedback

I set up for a time lapse of the emergence. I set the interval for 40 seconds and went back inside and missed when the birthing process started or I would have decreased the interval significantly for a smoother and longer result. Still think it’s a pretty cool sequence.
Monarch-Time-lapse-small

Technical Details

Sony A7rIII
Sony FE 70-200 f2.8 BM-II, 2xTC @ 370mm
ISO 400, 1/20 @ f16


Critique Template

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  • Vision and Purpose:
  • Conceptual:
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  • Depth and Dimension:
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Bill - a lovely image of this beauty, and the video is excellent. I’d love to see more videos of the amazing hatching/drying process.
Well-done !

Wow, way too cool, Bill. That’s quite a shot of this newborn, and the video is a real bonus to watch as well. Thank you for the explanation of the drops below her. I had no idea.

Gorgeous portrait and a wonderful time lapse! I hope you get a chance to do more with shorter intervals. Maybe set up a shade and wind screen?

I don’t know how subdued the colors should be but I wonder about a bit more contrast or saturation.

A beautiful still and a very cool time-lapse, Bill. Well done.

So cool, Bill, and it looks great on the clematis. A minor point: I just wonder, if you uploaded the time lapse separately, could we then enlarge it and even pause it on the enlarged image shot?