Milbert's Tortoiseshell (+ repost)

A fine image of this wonderful BF, and excellent work with the post processing, Roger. At first glance, I thought it was a little soft, but then I realized it was just the fuzzy fur. The larger view shows very good detail which is pretty remarkable given the ss, the total focal length, and use of the monopod. The BF is a beautiful specimen and nicely rendered. I also like the thistle. Excellent overall, Roger, and no nits from me.

Nice, Roger. Gorgeous BF. Such bright colors. Nicely positioned with a full wing spread. Good BG as well. Wish the thistles had all been openned like the one in back but what can you do?

Thanks Scott and Peter. I should have mentioned that this is the stabilized (OS) version of the lens and that I keep the stabilization switched on when using the monopod. If the weather holds up tonight, I plan on returning to the place for some more bison and butterfly shots.

Beautiful color & perch. I'm wondering if the right wingtip at the bottom is slightly out of focus in the larger view.. there is a single white spot top left corner which I would consider removing if it were mine. Nice work!

It's a beautiful butterfly with gorgeous colors. I didn't see any of these in my visit to Elk Island last week, but it was raining. The trailing edges of the wings, in particular, look soft. Is that the vignette? I see that you think it may have been the stabilization. I've seen tests saying that you should turn off stabilization for tripod work, but I think a monopod is likely to have enough gentle motion that stabilization may still be good. I'm more inclined to think that your softness may be a consequence of the relatively slow ss and the optical degradation of the TC. Were you working near the close focus limit of the lens combo? If so, you might find that using extension tubes will give you the extra magnification without reducing image quality. Of course, the trade off is having to get closer to the subject.

Beautifully framed, Roger, with the perfect dof for me and fine capture of the detail. I don't think this is a butterfly we have over here - lovely to see it !!

Hi Roger A superb capture of this fuzzy beauty the perspective, pose and color, are all delightful
Albert Darmo

Thanks all for your comments and support.

Attached is a repost. The white spot in the ULC is gone. Thanks for spotting it, Roger. Regarding the softness in the wing edges, Roger and Mark, it is present in the capture (prior to vignette). I think it is due to the slow SS and perhaps wing flutter - it was a fairly windy day. I did apply some localized sharpening in the repost, but not to much avail, I think. The lens seems to handle the 1.4 OK, as per my other photos.