The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
About 9cm across, it’s only small when compared with the other Nymphs in Thailand. When they fly they float beautifully through the woods, coming to rest in the evening like this one did.
Specific Feedback
The background was busy woodland, so I applied considerable blur. Do you find this too artificial-looking or over the top?
Technical Details
D500 + 105mm macro + 1.4TC 1/320 f13 ISO 4000
Minor cropping, Denoise. Selected branch and butterfly in PS, then applied a strong Blur Filter (I forget which) to the Inverse background.
Critique Template
Use of the template is optional, but it can help spark ideas.
A simple yet compelling subject and comp. Beautiful little moth with perfect detail. We`re finding some of this species in Brazil and they curl up their wings at night - maybe the Thai ones do too ?
The BG looks completely natural and perfect to set off the moth.
Really fine work!
Mike, he is a beauty, and you did a fine job capturing him. I like the way he is hanging there with wings spread so we can enjoy his beauty. The BG looks fine to me.
I agree with the other comments and add that I really like how delicate the wood nymph and its perch are. The background looks fine, but maybe tone down the upper right corner bright area a small bit. Maybe?
Wonderful catch with a lovely pose and excellent detail! I think you could do better with a different approach to the BG, as the blur looks very artificial. It looks like you have a good selection so I would first try some cloning at low opacity – the amount and brush size (therefore softness) should vary with each stroke as needed. You’re a painter now. Start with the areas that are worst and work down. It looks in this case like those were bright areas.
This looks great to me Mike. The detail in the BF is really nice. the colors are cool too. I can see toning down the URC a bit. I can also see what @Diane_Miller means with the BG looking a bit artificial, and may benefit from just a bit more contrast/detail if you can get that.
Thanks, everyone. @Diane_Miller I did have misgivings about hashing the BG, so I’ve followed your tips and placed a “variegated version” above, under the original. I also darkened the bright corner in the original.
Mike: I’ve only seen these in the butterfly house at the Houston Museum of Natural Sciences. They call them Rice Papers. I like both BG treatments but might have a slight preference for the variegated version. Really good plane of focus management and a perfect exposure. >=))>
Nice catch, I agree with Jim and the other commenters, the BG in the variegated edit is more eye catching brining out the individual colors adds to the shot.
