I stepped outside awhile ago, and there was this Swallowtail on our Pink Coneflowers. First I have seen since I planted the flowers this spring. So I ran in and grabbed the 7D with the 100-400 mm lens, not wanting to take the time to change to the 180 mm macro. I think the lens worked fairly well for the job.
What technical feedback would you like if any?
Anything you might see.
What artistic feedback would you like if any?
Do you think veginetting works well to draw the eye into the BF and flower?
Pertinent technical details or techniques:
Handheld, 1/800, f5.6, ISO 800 (ISO on auto, rest manual).
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Shirley, a good look at what looks like a dark form, Tiger Swallowtail on a lovely purple coneflower. The background speaks well to this being a garden view. Both the BF and the coneflower are nice and fresh. Part of me thinks that getting all of the flower petals in might be nice, but it would make the BF smaller in the frame, so I’d need both (which I assume you don’t have) to see to make a choice. I think burning-in the flower bud in the LLC is important to keep it’s sharpness from competing for attention. There’s not much getting attention in the rest of the frame, so it vignette is less important.
Thank you, Mark. I looked at that bud in the LLC and that is why I even did the vignette to help tone it down. I was hoping that what do the trick, but if other eyes are drawn to it, it needs some serious toning down. This shot I thought was the best composition wise, it seems I zoomed it close to get the flower and butterfly, and didn’t notice that I was cutting off the tips of the flower to make sure all of the butterfly was in the photo. Hopefully more opportunities will happen with it in my garden. I do appreciate you viewing, and your helpful comments.
Shirley: Delightful combo of flower and butterfly. I would be tempted to crop this to a vertical and get the bud out of the frame. I’m OK with cutting off some of the petals. Nicely done. >=))>
