Very Blue Butterfly, a photo from Virginia, South

Photographer's Note

I took this picture of a butterfly sitting in the mulch in Meadowlark Botanical Gardens in Vienna, Virginia. I was about two feet away when I took this and I was at the full 200mm. I had set the ISO to 400 to help keep the shutter speed up higher as well. That's a sprinkler thing on the left I do believe. The butterfly was rather patient and let me take a whole slew of shots while it just sat there. It slowly flapped its wings up and down. I liked this pose the most. Taken last Sunday at around 2pm.

NellyD, cunejo200, trinko, ChrisJ, plimrn, papagolf21, feather, ramesh_lalwani, john_c, quantabeh, dragonslayero, Emile, sabyasachi1212, alford, Tue, repaulson, jhm, Scharan, Jeppe, jjbach, Didi, faganrodney has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

izmirli (3989) 2006-09-01 18:31

merhaba stephen
wonderful blue butterfly.wonderful lovely colours and composition.well done.
best regsrds.
gürkan akçakır.

NellyD (1874) 2006-09-01 18:49

Hi Stephen,

This butterfly looks very pretty, wonderful blue colours.
I like the way you took it so way up close.

Greetings, Nel

Geomancer (72) 2006-09-01 19:34

Hi Stephen
This really is a beautiful butterfly. I am fairly sure it is a Red Spotted Purple (family Nymphalidae), so called because of the red spots near the margin of the front wings. This blue color is awesome and you managed to get just the right exposure. Focus is excellent too, as antennae, body and the entire wings are very sharp. I also like the tilt you used in this composition.
Regards
Michel

Salma (1276) 2006-09-01 20:47

This is a very beautiful butterfly.... i always love butterflies and i love the details of it with its very delicate texture and colors... i love it...
Salma

Hasvelt (90) 2006-09-01 20:54

I like the Butterfly its the same colour with the bottom,brown colour surrounds around Butterfly,good focusing and light thanks also note that is informative,good week end :)

cam (9043) 2006-09-01 20:54

Hello Stephen
Good colors and details as everything is sharp on the body.
Good framing.
I like the DOF chosen.
But a tad too much sharpening.
Enjoy
Have a good WE
Charles

cunejo200 (7281) 2006-09-01 23:06

Hi Stephen,
You captured that huge buttefly beautifully - almost filled up your frame. Sharpness is good as I can see good details on the clublike antennae and powdery wings. And of course, the blues are lovely. Cheers.
Danilo

trinko (2950) 2006-09-01 23:09

very good color saturation

ChrisJ (171280) 2006-09-01 23:17

Hi Stephen

Wonderful macro shot of the butterfly, with excellent sharpness, color, & dof. The water meter gives an idea of scale & color symmetry, even if it does detract slightly from the image compo.

plimrn (21344) 2006-09-01 23:44

WoW Steve!!!!
You've captured awesome detail, the blue in the wings looks like iridescent velvet. I don't believe I've seen a better butterfly photo; the wonderful color and detail make the shot exceptional.
Regards, Pat

carper (96) 2006-09-02 3:42

a very nice capture Stephen,
the quick shot is nice but as a butterfly macro expert I can say this can be done better, but even I like the shot, good job.
gr. jaap

papagolf21 (152605) 2006-09-02 3:44

Bonjour Stephen,
Volà un papillon de toute beauté qui se laisse photographier ! C'est assez rare pour le signaler.
J'aime l'aspect plein cadre de cette macro.
Les couleurs et les détails sont superbes.
Amitiés.
Philippe

feather (51130) 2006-09-02 5:02

Beautiful shot Steve. I love how you managed to fill the fame without a macro lens. The blue irridescence of its wings has been captured perfectly and of course the shallow DOF works well. Good work
Kath

ramesh_lalwani (3213) 2006-09-02 10:33

Hi Steve
your changeover to macro is wecome .Butter fly presnts love colors and pose to you to get best shot
Ramesh

john_c (24666) 2006-09-02 11:29

Hi Steve,
A superb macro shot, well presented in the large format. The hues and tones here are extraordinary, with the blue and beige blending so well. Oddly enough, the sprinkler device really adds to the shot, with its spherical appearance and matching colours. An impressive capture. I like this one very much. Have a great weekend.
John

danyy (0) 2006-09-02 12:34

Bonjour Stephen,
Un cadrage rapproché très réussi mais un décor qui n'est pas des plus naturels et des plus jolis.
Les couleurs sont bien capturées et rendues. Les lumières parfaites.Une photo nette qui laisse apparaître tous les détails de ce bel hyménoptère.
Best regards from Belgium
Daniel

nwoehnl (122) 2006-09-02 14:49

Nice detail on the colorful butterfly, Steve, and also a good example of what the 18-200 can accomplish at its full zoom range. Impressive texture and color ranges in the wings. Not sure I like the sprinkler thingy at the left but it's obviously a case of having to go with what you got.

lasscor (7640) 2006-09-02 15:36

Hi Stephen,
Wonderful colorful composition.
Great contrast between the blue butterfly and the brown background.
TFS,
Corinne

quantabeh (5205) 2006-09-02 17:19

Hello Steve,
what a suprising and pleasant shot to add to your already colorful collection. The details of the shot are really impressive. I would suggest you post more shots of this butterfly to the workshop if in fact they are different.
nice work.
Behrang

dragonslayero (3592) 2006-09-02 20:24

Hello Stephen

You have cought a truly magnificent specimen of butterfly, I am far from an expert or even amateur on butterfly species so please don't ask. All I can say is that this butterfly and its lovely shiny colours, is one of the best I have seen...ever...

Composition looks magnificent, very nice diagonal feature with the butterfly wings. Good placing in the frame.

What does disturb me a little is the "thing" in the ground just to the left of the butterfly.
What is that thing?

Regards

Odd Jarle

Emile (20352) 2006-09-04 0:54

Hola Stephen.
Excellent macro photo of this beautiful blue butterfly, very good sharpness and DOF.
Well done. TFS.

poulinp (4528) 2006-09-04 2:02

Hi Stephen.

Beautiful close-up of this butterfly. The blue color is just wonderful. I don't really like the 'sprinker thing', however. Good shot.

cessy (13647) 2006-09-04 5:29

what a beautiful butterfly, the pattern and the blue color so stunningly beautiful
very nice capture, Steve

jemaflor (146330) 2006-09-04 13:56

Hi Stephen,
Great effect with a such colour and reflection, well taken, perfect focus.

alford (4063) 2006-09-04 15:03

Hi Stephen! Some of the blurs explain your 200mm experiment with this butterfly :) I think you did quite good, the butterfly is sharp while the rest is blurred. The POV is well done! rgds.

Tue (91612) 2006-09-04 15:06

Hej Stephen,
Such a fantastic capture of this butterfly! Very well done. I love all the beautiful blue tones of the little creature's wings. Very good work and thanks for sharing!
Hilsen,
Lars

PJE (20758) 2006-09-04 20:00

First I have to say I like how you framed this 800 by 800 in size. The Blue Monarch Butterfly is gorgous in this scene. Known for its determination to survive even though so very fragile. We have the orange monarchs up here and they fly down to Mexico every winter. I am sure the Blue one does the same. Incredible shot Stephen.

sabyasachi1212 (19779) 2006-09-05 4:13

Hi Stephen,
Just the perfect composition for the 6x6 format. Excellent sharpness and details. You sure were lucky with its patience.
With Greetings from India
Sabyasachi

capthaddock (28790) 2006-09-05 10:59

Hi Stephen - fantastic details, at this size, it is better than seeing it in real life, the mulch makes a great bg, I'm not so sure about the irrigation thing.

repaulson (607) 2006-09-05 18:33

Good job steve. Some of the background features seem a little blurry... Other than that looks great.
R

Kenny10pin (19301) 2006-09-05 19:17

that looks huge, very good take and full of beaut, very good macro shot here, well done

jhm (211734) 2006-09-06 7:59

Hi Stephen,

I'm no great specialist in butterflies, but this is us friend carper absolutely! This butterfly looks very pretty, wonderful blue colours, maybe the next time take the head of butterfly this is more attractive, but I like these so as this!
Thanks for sharing,
John

Scharan (14144) 2006-09-07 13:01

Lindíssima foto Stephen!
Cores excepcionais, lindo o brilho das asas da borboleta, bela composição, parabéns.
Grande abraço,
Vera.

Jeppe (18654) 2006-09-11 15:40

Hi Stephen
A wonderful butterfly indeed - You got the almost metalic reflections at the wings nicely at this capture.
I know a lady who owns a tray with those wings as decoration under a glassplate.

The spinkler gives a better perspective.

Regards
Jeppe

danielswalsh (13597) 2006-09-13 21:11

Appologies Steve...

Just realised I've missed quite a few of your shots.

Great colors... I like the butterfly, I like the wood chips- but not too sure about the sprinkler head (although it would have been quite funny if it had clicked on when you were trying to get the shot :-0
Hahahah

All the best Stephen,
- Dan

Steft (6109) 2006-11-05 18:45

Hi Stephen,
Very good photo of a beautiful blue butterfly. A pity that the surroundings are bit unsharp, but but the butterfly is very well visible.
Thanks for sharing,
Stef

rozy975 (3047) 2006-12-03 21:48

really shiny!
gorgeous colors.
especially the blue.
well done!

jjbach (9326) 2006-12-05 18:36

Hi Steve,
Excellent macro shot!! Very impressive. The colours of the butterfly are fantastic. Splendid work!

Regards John

Didi (61589) 2006-12-09 14:07

Hi Stephen
Very strange background, and your buterfly is fantastic with your selective setting on it.
Well done.
Cheers.

jak48 (0) 2009-07-14 5:27 [Comment]