I went up to Pismo Beach last weekend to see the monarch butterflies congregating on the eucalyptus trees, and to test out my new 5DmkII. It was pretty dark (around sunset), and I had to go up to iso 3200, f/5.6, 1/60th of second, and still couldn't freeze the critters. After much thought, I applied some orton processing and ended up liking the effect (I rarely do that much 'altering') - let me know what you think!
WOW, what an amazing sight. I had seen this collective gathering of the monarchs a few times on TV, but this image of the congregation really captures this so beautifully.
Posted by Steve Sieren on January 15, 2009 at 1:53 PM
Wow, it almost looks like folliage. I like the burning you did it emphasis the bright wings. Maybe trying it in more light with 1/500 sec or faster. Do you think you could get some shots with a 200mm lens? I have a 2x converter but the sharpness disappears once I use it. I was going to head up a little further up the coast Sunday & Monday. Is there a list of locations where I can find them between Morro Bay and Big Sur? It's always nice to have something like to fit into your schedule especially when your girlfriend has nothing to do but play with rocks or read a book in the car.
Posted by Greg Cope on January 15, 2009 at 1:54 PM
This is awesome Floris. I really like the tones that are conveyed and the final effect you produced.
Steve - This is actually a decent crop off the 5DmkII shot with an effective 700mm lens.. the trouble is that they're somewhat high in the trees (maybe like 10-15 feet or so, actually I think that was unusually low for them), so to get an intimate look like this you need some big glass. But, the 'colony' was very big, so you should still be able to get some interesting takes even limited to 200mm.
There's an awesome pdf online with all the spots (pismo is by far the biggest). Google this:
"where to see the monarchs in california"
And the first hit is a link to the pdf.
Posted by Rudy Ruberti on January 15, 2009 at 6:33 PM
Wow, butterflies. I didn't expect that. Very cool shot.
Posted by Joshua Hardin on January 15, 2009 at 7:03 PM
I've wandered over here from the RMNP forum, but had to comment on this shot. Well done! The Orton is very effective on this. Yes, I've also found from shooting at a butterfly house near Denver that they move a lot faster than you'd think. Nice way to bring an already colorful composition to another level in your post processing!
Posted by Steve Sieren on January 16, 2009 at 3:02 AM
Discussion
9 repliesCanon 5DmkII, 500mm f/4 + 1.4x tc, tripod/sidekick
So far the new camera is great, definitely worth the upgrade from my 5D/20D. Live view is surprisingly useful.. especially combined with DoF preview!
- Dan
Steve - This is actually a decent crop off the 5DmkII shot with an effective 700mm lens.. the trouble is that they're somewhat high in the trees (maybe like 10-15 feet or so, actually I think that was unusually low for them), so to get an intimate look like this you need some big glass. But, the 'colony' was very big, so you should still be able to get some interesting takes even limited to 200mm.
There's an awesome pdf online with all the spots (pismo is by far the biggest). Google this:
"where to see the monarchs in california"
And the first hit is a link to the pdf.