Black Swallowtail

Hi Barb,

Nice first post of this beautiful butterfly, although the background is a bit busy for my taste. You will get a more smooth background by using a smaller f-stop. Perhaps you can give it a try next time.

Hi Barb,

Welcome to the NPN Fauna Gallery - this is a very nice first post! I like the detail you captured on the swallowtail (tho' it DOES make me wish you posted a larger version). While the butterfly does stand out very nicely from the background (partly by the DOF and partly by colour), I do find the background a little bit on the busy side.

Cheers...and welcome again to the Fauna Gallery - I hope this is only the first of many contributions we get from you!

Brad

Very pretty butterfly. I like the angled stem and the exposure looks good too. I have been working on my butterfly shots too and depth of field can be tricky, since it is shallower at close range. It appears that there is some distance between the butterfly and the grass, so that helps. If you had used something in the f/5.6 to f/7.1 range, you would get a softer background. Plus you gain a faster SS, which really helps on HH shots. Hope this makes sense.

Nice job on the butterfly, and it co-operated with you by concentrating on the nectar.. I notice you used a telephoto, so I'd be careful with the F/stop. I take some test shots on something similar in size and detail and see how you depth of field acts. Telephotos lenses seem to act a little different than other lenses to me. For apetrure they seem to work best somewhere in the middle.

Paul

I agree that you did a nice job on the subject. I, too, think the background is a little busy, but not a deal breaker. Thanks for posting this one!