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Stepping Lightly
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Stepping Lightly

by Bill Fach

Gallery: Macro & Close-upPosted July 7, 2012188 views8 comments
Sony A700
Minolta 200mm macro
ISO 400, 1/15 @ f8
Cockrell Butterfly Center, Houston Museum of Natural Sciences

Caught this malachite tiptoeing through the raindrops on my excursion to the center yesterday. All comments welcome. >=))>

I think this shot would have benefited from a polarizer but one cannot use a tripod in the center and the SS would have been too slow even for a monopod which I was using. So it goes.

Comments

8 comments
Comment posted by Mark Seaver on July 7, 2012 at 9:48 PM
Bill, the details in the water drops and the lower parts of the BF are great. I find the top third too dark, but a gradient lightening may fix that.
Registered on January 23, 2011, 1103 Posts, 17270 Comments
Comment posted by Toya Heatley on July 8, 2012 at 12:09 AM
Yep I too love the colours and light in the lower part of the shot, the upper part is a tad too dark, but nothing a bit of tweaking wouldn't fix.
Registered on June 13, 2012, 36 Posts, 98 Comments
Comment posted by Howard Cheek on July 8, 2012 at 6:15 AM
The perfect title for this one Bill, one can't step much lighter than a b-fly :wink:
I can't decide which I like better, the substrate or the BG..Beautiful B-fly, and it looks to be in great condition.
They keep things pretty moist there at the center, remember how much I loved being in a sauna when I was there :biggrin:
Well done! :toast:
Registered on July 24, 2008, 1201 Posts, 10758 Comments
Comment posted by Roger Leekam on July 8, 2012 at 6:32 AM
A beautiful & highly artistic composition. The mauve base & its droplets are a brilliant touch.
Registered on May 28, 2009, 83 Posts, 646 Comments
Comment posted by scott lanz on July 8, 2012 at 8:41 PM
Gorgeous, Bill. The butterfly is dazzling. One of the prettiest I've seen posted here, and the lavender base provides a great contrasting color for the greens in the butterfly and background. The drops are also a nice element, give this a real rain forest look. I was going to say that the butterfly looks a little soft, but acceptable, but I see where you shot this at 200mm and 1/15, so I am actually amazed you got it as sharp as you did even with the monopod.
Registered on November 14, 2003, 840 Posts, 12902 Comments
Comment posted by Bill Fach on July 9, 2012 at 12:42 AM
Scott: One thing I hate about not being able to use a tripod is that I have to use autofocus at these high mags and narrow DOF. It is a challenge to get the plane of focus parallel to the wings. I usually use the antennae as a yardstick. If I can get both pretty sharp then I feel fairly confident about my POF. I guess I could have bumped the ISO but I generally don't like shooting anything higher than ISO 400. When I finally pull the trigger on an A77 I might venture into the 800 and 1600 world. >=))>
Registered on November 1, 2003, 1805 Posts, 26981 Comments
Comment posted by Gary Yeoh on July 9, 2012 at 3:58 AM
Bill:
A very beautiful BF image. I like the color of the BF and the pink leaf with sprinkling of water droplets. The glare is not too strong so you might not be able to gain much with a CP.
Registered on September 1, 2009, 588 Posts, 8184 Comments
Comment posted by Albert Darmo on July 15, 2012 at 6:48 PM
Hi Bill :wavey: Looks like all you moderaters have very steady hands :eek: :jump: shooting at 1/15 sec using a 200mm macro lens is darn good :cool: :wink: you captured the patterns , lines and color of the butterfly wonderfully well :cool: :smile:
Albert Darmo
Registered on November 25, 2008, 1386 Posts, 11978 Comments