Found in the northern part of S Korea, it’s Neptis speyeri, a butterfly with a wingspan of about 5cm. This pupa was about 1.5 cm long. I really liked the way parts of the adult are mirrored in the pupa case, especially the wings. The pupa grew darker and hatched a few days later.
Specific Feedback Requested
It was hard to get the shot bright enough, especially as I used f32 to clearly include the details of the subject. I used diffused flash but still had to remove reflections from the pupa. Above all I wanted to show the colours of the pupa as accurately as possible. Does the shot show enough contrast?
Technical Details
Is this a composite: No
D500 + 105mm macro, f32, 1/60 ISO 1250 + flash.
Selectively sharpened the pupa and raised the contrast and brightness of the BG in PS.
Mike …i opened the larger version and felt like touching the pupa. Beautifully crafted and processed. I appreciate your brave f32 option. For my macro work am just about touching f 22
What a neat find. I think barring doing a focus stack, this is about as detailed as you’ll get. The lighting looks subdued, but bright enough to see. You did a good job removing reflections. You could bump the contrast a little, maybe play with curves a bit and see. Overall well presented.
Mike, what a neat find, and wonderful presentation of it. I don’t think I have ever tried using f32 on my Canon 100 mm lens. The colors and details in this is excellent. As @Balan_Vinod said, I feel like I can just touch it. Like @Kris_Smith said, outside of stacking, I don’t think it can get any better. I am enjoying looking at the shape and lines in this. Well done!
