Cabbage White on Echinacea

dragonfly · 10 Jul 2018

This was an impromptu macro. I was in the garden with the dog this morning and saw this resting butterfly. From seeing the scene to getting the camera and taking the shot was about a minute. This is not how I usually work but the backlighting, colours and shaded backdrop just screamed 'shoot me'. For a split second I considered using a fill-flash, but Mother Nature gave me all that I needed on this occasion. The strong backlight and the pale subject enabled me to underexpose the background to almost black. This was pretty much straight out of the camera, with a minor adjustment to the contrast. One of the two shots I took before it flew away.

Graham · 10 Jul 2018

That`s a lovely shot with the sun shinning thru the wings and showing its colour off well.
I also like the orange top of the plant and the pink petals, makes the shot really stand out nicely.
Maybe what I`d do is clone out the green leaf on the bottom left hand side, as its OOF it kinda draws the eyes to it.

dragonfly · 10 Jul 2018

Thanks for your thoughts, Graham, appreciate it. However, cloning a large part of the scene does not sit well with me.

chris malcolm · 10 Jul 2018

If you shot this quickly I assume you shot it handheld. In which case I'm envious of your macro focusing skills!

dragonfly · 11 Jul 2018

You're correct, Chris, it was handheld. Due to the light & subject, I was able to attain a fairly high shutter speed of 1/500th at base ISO, so it wasn't too hard to nail focus.

Graham · 11 Jul 2018

chris malcolm said:
If you shot this quickly I assume you shot it handheld. In which case I'm envious of your macro focusing skills!

dragonfly said:
You're correct, Chris, it was handheld. Due to the light & subject, I was able to attain a fairly high shutter speed of 1/500th at base ISO, so it wasn't too hard to nail focus.

I nearly always hand hold my macro shots, I can't do with lugging a tripod about. Only time I would use a tripod is to do a really slow shutter speed like 1/10 or less.

dragonfly · 12 Jul 2018

It really does depend on what you're photographing and the conditions. I almost always shoot with a tripod in Britain, but when I'm leading tours abroad, like shooting in the rainforest for example, I would normally handhold with the use of flash. Shooting with a tripod takes some getting used to if unfamiliar but in many situation essential. Equally, they are many circumstances where the deployment is not possible or practical. So one approach does not fit all criteria.