‹ Previous Macro & Close-up Gallery Next ›

Monarch in Pink

Gallery: Macro & Close-upPosted April 3, 2016223 views7 comments

Keeping with the butterfly theme.... This was taken yesterday at the Huntington Library and Gardens. They have an amazing collection of cactus and succulents along with all the blossoms and butterflies and hummingbirds that go with them. This monarch was feeding on aloe and was very nice to stick around while I tried to maneuver into place to capture the vibrant pink patch of ice plant behind it about 50 or 60 feet away.

Canon 40D, f6.3, 1/3200 sec, iso 400, -1 exp bias, 370 mm (100-400 ISL), handheld, about 85-90% of full frame.

Comments

7 comments

Comment posted by Daniel & Loana on April 3, 2016 at 3:22 PM

Wonderful shot, Ed. Plenty of colors.

D&L

Registered on October 7, 2008, 166 Posts, 3044 Comments

Comment posted by Balan Vinod on April 4, 2016 at 2:42 AM

Ed ..Thats a new butterfly image with the fine bg. and the gorgeous glow in the flowers ...nice work

Balan Vinod

Registered on March 20, 2006, 889 Posts, 2312 Comments

Comment posted by Mark Seaver on April 4, 2016 at 8:42 AM

That background is pretty amazing, Ed. You've also got excellent details in the bf and it's perch. For my tastes the background is so strongly colored that I see it as competing with the subject, might be worth some desat. there, but that my taste, not yours.

Registered on January 23, 2011, 1103 Posts, 17270 Comments

Comment posted by Ed Williams on April 4, 2016 at 10:08 PM

I see what you are saying Mark. My work monitor looks way different than my home monitor on this one. Here is an adjustment. Not sure it quite gets there, but it is a try. I selected the BG, took down the lighting level slider a few notches, took down the saturation six points in Color/Hue Adjustment and lightened the BG a couple points in Color/Hue. Hope it did some good. I appreciate your help with this.

Registered on December 28, 2010, 636 Posts, 3499 Comments

Comment posted by Ed Williams on April 4, 2016 at 11:48 PM

Here are the BG flowers as shot. Pretty intense.

Registered on December 28, 2010, 636 Posts, 3499 Comments

Comment posted by Yun Gao on April 5, 2016 at 8:18 AM

Excellent details in the butterfly and the perch. I like the repost. The background flowers are beautiful. Well done!

Registered on September 11, 2012, 267 Posts, 1621 Comments

Comment posted by Mark Seaver on April 6, 2016 at 10:10 AM

Yes, the repost lets the bf play a stronger role in the image. Those are some amazing flower colors, shows what selective breeding can do...

Registered on January 23, 2011, 1103 Posts, 17270 Comments