The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
The guy on the Rt. is a 1 week old Black Swallowtail caterpillar. He just got his stripes. The guy on the Lt. is a Monarch chrysalis 1 hour before he burst open with life (second shot).
Specific Feedback
All comments are welcome.
Technical Details
Canon 5DSR, 100 mm MACRO, f/5.6, 1/124sec, ISO 200
Topaz for noise and PS cropping and contrast
Critique Template
Use of the template is optional, but it can help spark ideas.
John, I can’t imagine experiencing this, much less getting to photograph it. Are these scenes contained? It looks like the new butterfly is on some kind of material like a netting.
Shirley, my wife and I spend time watching the butterflies (Monarchs and Black Swallowtails) in the garden. After the females lays her eggs, we collect them and put them in an enclosure for protection from the wasps, spiders and other bad bugs that will eat them. I took these two out of their protective enclosure for the photo shoot. After the Monarch came out of her chrysalis and started to move a little, I moved her back to a butterfly enclosure to finish filling out her wings and get some warm sun before I let her go.
I checked the milkweed in the yard today and found a bunch more Monarch eggs and a few that just hatched, (teeny tiny caterpillars).
The Monarchs are endangered and becoming extinct. So, we are trying to increase their chances. Starting Sept, the Monarchs will start to migrate from Canada to Mexico. Every Monarch I raise or catch from now thru Oct. will get a tag (sticker) on their wing so it can be tracked from here in Va. to wherever it ends up in Mexico.
To me the whole process is amazing, and I get to take some pretty cool pictures too.
The Black Swallowtail is not endangered but fun to raise and watch grow from egg to first flight.
These are really cool, John. You might want to put apiece of white cloth between your photographic setup and the sun to diffuse the light more-it would help get rid of the bright areas in the background which can be pretty distracting.
Cool image! A great look at 2 life stages of monarchs.
Skip -
The BG here is quite bright, and competes with the caterpillar and cocoon, and the cocoon is quite dark, so the developing butterfly inside is nearly unseen.
A re-work with some possible ideas :
Selected the subject in PS and used “shadow” slider to light up the cocoon. Added some red and yellow saturation to the subjects
Inverted the selection to select only the BG, and toned down the brightness and yellow saturation.
cloned out a few bright spots and distracting bits of stem
Re-sized the image to NPN guidelines - images show up much better when they are not so big
There are processing halos and outlinings around both the butterfly and cocoon, but I wont’ attempt a change
Great images of these new BFs John. I like the suggestions from @Dennis regarding the shade paper for future images like these. @Sandy did a nice job with her edits too. I love those colors, but I’m a sucker for bright colors.
John, how great to get both the Monarch crysalis and the Black Swallowtail cat. in the same frame. Both are very enjoyable to watch and now is a good time. Since the first post was staged, I’d suggest setting it up so that light is behind you or off to one side. That would let the color in the Monarch crysalis show more strongly, it might also eliminate the hot spots in the background.
My Milkweeds are just now in full bloom and I expect the Monarchs any day as I am already full of Gulf Fritillaries, Sulphur’s and even now, Swallowtails. I am curious about your enclosure. Could you shoot a pic of it and post it to this series. My son and I have turned our yard space into a butterfly haven.
Forgot to mention the love for this shot. I got too caught up in the idea of building an enclosure.
WOW Sandy, the rework looks great. I’m learning PS so I will take what you have said here and try these things out. I read what everyone has to say and try my best to absorb what I can. @Dennis_Plank, @Ed_Williams, @Chris_Calohan, @Shirley_Freeman, @Mark_Seaver. I have a lot of respect for the experience and photographic knowledge you all share. Although I don’t always critique a pic, I read what everyone has to say about them to learn. I spend a lot of time going over everyone’s pictures. Thanks a bunch.
Skip - That’s why we are all here - to learn and grow from each other.
PS, lightroom, and the others may seem overwhelming at first, but learning a few simple things to start can make a huge difference in editing results. I suggest getting a basic book on the program you choose, or looking online for basic tutorials, and just - START! practice and prctice more…
Yea, your SO right!! Although I am a guy, I still know how to ask and get help and I do read instructions. LOL. I have taken a few classes on PS, but that was a while ago and as you know, If you don’t use it , you lose it. It was overwhelming then!!! I have the latest edition, so with that, Time, Practice and a little help from my friends… I’ll do nothing but get better at working that shutter. Thanks
_A3A5894.CR2 (64.4 MB)
I have 3 of these enclosures . In this one I have 3 Black Swallowtail caterpillars feeding on Fennel and 1 Monarch chrysalis. My best advise is to grow a lot of Fennel for the Swallowtails and keep your Milkweed healthy. Both of these guys eat a lot in a short time. Good luck. Can’t wait to see your picks.
John: My wife and I have done the same thing to protect the caterpillars and newborns. One summer we released more than 500 monarchs! This year, despite a couple of stands of pristine milkweed we have had almost no action. We do get gulf fritillaries late in the summer but even those have been sparse this year. We find parsley is good for black swallowtails as well and have some citrus trees that attract giant swallowtails. Something you might consider the next time you get an emerging monarch is to set up a time lapse of the birthing process. I’m hoping to do that if we ever get any caterpillars. As for the image I don’t have anything to add to the other’s comments and I do like what Sandy has done. Keep up the good work. >=))>
Thanks Bill. @Bill_Fach , I could not imagine releasing that many. That must have been something… To Do, To See, To Capture, I would really be in AWE. Your right though, times have sure changed. I grew a lot of milkweed this year and it almost all went to the aphides and those red and black milkweed beetles. It’s hard keeping up with them. I finally got a female to lay eggs during the 3rd cycle and they only have 4. I ended up having to get more milkweed from the nursery for the habitats. I have two habitats with about 35 monarch caterpillars, Thats all I have found. I also have one habitat with 7 black swallowtails. I grew both parsley and fennel beside each other and watched the female swallowtail fly all-round both. But when she started laying eggs, she laid them all on the fennel. So, I just thought they preferred that even though I know they will eat it.
As you know, this time of year (Sept-Oct) is the last stage for the Monarchs this year. This batch I have now are the ones that I hope migrate south.
I tried to film a birthing, but things kept going wrong and I ended up with just bits and pieces, plus the Chrysis’s were not opening as I hoped. I did not think about time lapse. I will try it this time. Do you have any tips for that?
Thanks