Phlox and Friend + Reposts

Barbara ..This is a beautiful frame. The setting is wonderful...the placement of the b'fly in the center too is fantastic. The frame itself needs to be brightened, and the b'fly lacks sharpness. May be some PS work could improve the frame.

Balan Vinod

Beautiful flowers!
The butterfly is a nice addition. You've lost detail in the dark areas, however.
Additional sharpening would help overall, and tweaking a bit to reclaim some of the dark details.
I might also move the butterfly off dead-center, to add some interest.
Nice!

Sandy r

Beautiful composition of color Barbara, and the Butterfly is a big plus. Well done.
John

Nice contrasts of tones Barbara, from the phlox to the butterfly. I would agree with the other suggestions about sharpness and getting some detail back into the blacks.

Nathan

Thanks for all the comments. I agree that the butterfly needs sharpening. I will see how best I can rework this image to sharpen the details and repost my changes. Thanks again for the comments.

I worked with the sharpen filter and here is my result and a repost of my original image. I tried cropping the image to move the butterfly offcenter, but I really like the butterfly in dead center. This is my first time using the sharpen filter and I can really see the difference in the two images. And again, thanks for all the comments. They help me to look at my images in different ways and to make my images the best they can be. Comments on this repost are greatly appreciated.

What a gorgeous scene! I think it would look better lighter, and perhaps some levels or curves adjustments may be able to bring out more details (not sure what photo editing software you use). I actually like the first version better than the second, because the sharpening was over-done. The flowers are actually not that blurry, so you don't need much sharpening there. The black swallowtail seems to be out of focus as well as underexposed, so you may want to try some local adjustments to just the butterfly.

If you tell us your camera settings, members may be able to give you some tips about avoiding problems like this when you re-shoot. I hope you keep finding more beautiful scenes like this.

Thanks for your comments Wayne. I'm sure my problem is with the butterfly as I can see it's out of focus. Unfortunately I was not using my tripod at the time; don't worry, I've already slapped my hand for that one. I use Photoshop CS4 but am still trying to learn it. For this particular shot my camera was set on autofocus. I will work on this image some more and try to repost. Thanks again.

The Phlox are beautiful. Some of the previous suggestions would make this image even stronger

Barbara: I like the centered comp and the butterfly upside down. The repost is definitely over-sharpened so I like the original. There's really nothing you can do with the OOF butterfly so I wouldn't put a lot of effort into this particular frame. I would increase the exposure about 1/2 stop in ACR.

About the only time I do any significant hand holding is when I'm chasing butterflies. A trick that works for me is to set the ISO at 400 or 800, trust the AF but try very hard to get my sensor parallel to the BF wings and then fire in burst mode. If you try to take individual frames you will tend to stab the shutter button and get camera shake. I almost always get several keepers this way although it does require more editing time on the computer.

As for your sharpening technique, consider using Smart Sharpen. My standard starting point is Amount 175%, Radius .6 pixels and check Remove Lens Blur. High detail shots like this will often require a bit less radius but you can see the effect pretty easily on the preview pane. Let me know if I can be of any more specific assistance. >=))>

Bill, thanks so much for your comments and sharpening technique suggestions. And yes, there is not much I can do with the butterfly being out of focus; I can only work on improving that part the next time. I do see that my repost is oversharpened so I tried again, taking your suggestions. I will also try your other suggestions about setting the ISO and to fire in burst mode. All of this is such great experience for me; I learn something everyday. Here is my repost of the original image. I am more pleased with this one and the lighter tones on the phlox. Thanks again to everyone for helping me see my images for what they are and guide me as I continue my quest to improve my craft.

Barbara: Three is the charm! Nicely done. >=))>