Well Ant, you certainly don't see too many Blurred Butt shots, I have to give you credit for being courageous (or foolhardy? enough to post 'em. But I like 'em in an abstract way; seeing them this early in the morning is like drinking a cup of Folger's Crystals, a caffeine jolt But getting to the still-life Butts, nice sharp focus, particularly #6, my fave of the lot. You're getting pretty creative, Ant, looks like that cam is loosening you up, and I think that's a good thing Wonder what you can do with those Big Morongo birds...
Anthony I generally don't like that artsy stuff but #2 is cool. How you do that? I really like #7 as well, nice exposure, colour and a nice sharp eye. Good job.
Anthony,
When I was looking at the butterflies and before I read the threads I thought, gosh, Anthony must have put a lot in of effort to get these shots and reading the post I see that you took over 300 shots to try and achieve the vision you had of trying to get something similar to the blurred wings effect of a hummer in flight. I think you were nearly there in number 2 and a full circle effect would have been even nicer.
The technical problem I see in achieving your vision is that the body of a hummer remains relatively still when his wings are going at high speed compared to a butterfly which I dont think have the physical construction to do this and so the body of the butterfly will move also thereby removing the chance of having the body in focus with the shutter speed necessary to capture the blurred wings. But I think you should be applauded for your efforts and vision and having the guts to post them.
I remember seeing a post recently of a hummer moth, not sure who posted it but it would be interesting to find out if there is such a thing as a hummer butterfly which could give the same effect as the hummer bird. Who knows you may have started a quest to find one now!
The shots of the birds and still butterflies are really great but I also think it may have been better to have stuck to butterfly shots only, in order to concentrate the viewers mind on the idea you wanted to present and to perhaps get a more teechnical feedback to try and achieve this.
Cheers and well done.
Martin
Wonderful series Anthony, I like your attempt at the artsy-fartsy side of life! I really do like #2, the sharp head and blurs work for me. Also like #6 a lot.
Anthony can't wait to see you trashed to pieces on DPR I did and I can tell ya that was nasty worst part is the thread goes till 150 then you can't reply to your enemies anymore
Anyway, back to your shots..getting artsy now huh the blurred ones are great IMO..i'd have to try that once!
Guys are givin' ya a hard time I see
The images look awesome to me....no noise, great detail
Then again maybe i'm still numbed from the flight and can't see really well
Nello....back home for 2 days..then packin' up for US
Hey Anthony, those blur shots are interesting, but I personally prefer the non-blurred ones. Those are really nice, colorful and sharp.
Chris
Thanks Chris. I really thought the Blurrd buttz would go off as a big hit. I guess they are definitely not for everyone. I really really liked them. Glad you liked the regular old perched versions
Ant, I LUV the blurred images!!! The detail in the eyes in just phenominal! The others ain't too shabby either! Well done.
Dan
Thanks Dan >> That means you have really good taste Appreciate the kind comments on teh blurred buttz. They are something I've never seen posted before, so I really felt special to capture them in a way I felt was unusual and beautiful.
Well Ant, you certainly don't see too many Blurred Butt shots, I have to give you credit for being courageous (or foolhardy? enough to post 'em. But I like 'em in an abstract way; seeing them this early in the morning is like drinking a cup of Folger's Crystals, a caffeine jolt But getting to the still-life Butts, nice sharp focus, particularly #6, my fave of the lot. You're getting pretty creative, Ant, looks like that cam is loosening you up, and I think that's a good thing Wonder what you can do with those Big Morongo birds... Best Wishes, Steve...Show more →
Well I like to think of it as original Steve But foolhardy might be closer to the truth. For the big morongo birds >> If I can do a job half as good as you did I'll be happy my friend, your posts were fantastic !!
Anthony I generally don't like that artsy stuff but #2 is cool. How you do that? I really like #7 as well, nice exposure, colour and a nice sharp eye. Good job.
HEY THANKS Rob !! Really glad someone liked them as much as I did I kept playing with the Flash and dragging the shutter speed to try to get the blur. The light wasn't very good as it was heavy fog cover (marine layer) but there were windows and some light coming in. If the buttz were in any natural light they weren't coming out how I liked them >> In fact all of the ones in natural light got deleted >> I never figured out a good blur combo. But if I could get them in a dark setting and dark BG a -2 on the Flash and a shutter speed of
1/25 to 1/50 of a sec would produce a good blur. But very few keepers due to the head moving too.......... Plus trying to track the butterfly and keep it in focus just ads more to the confusion and amount of missed shots.........
Anthony, When I was looking at the butterflies and before I read the threads I thought, gosh, Anthony must have put a lot in of effort to get these shots and reading the post I see that you took over 300 shots to try and achieve the vision you had of trying to get something similar to the blurred wings effect of a hummer in flight. I think you were nearly there in number 2 and a full circle effect would have been even nicer. The technical problem I see in achieving your vision is that the body of a hummer remains relatively still when his wings are going at high speed compared to a butterfly which I dont think have the physical construction to do this and so the body of the butterfly will move also thereby removing the chance of having the body in focus with the shutter speed necessary to capture the blurred wings. But I think you should be applauded for your efforts and vision and having the guts to post them. I remember seeing a post recently of a hummer moth, not sure who posted it but it would be interesting to find out if there is such a thing as a hummer butterfly which could give the same effect as the hummer bird. Who knows you may have started a quest to find one now! The shots of the birds and still butterflies are really great but I also think it may have been better to have stuck to butterfly shots only, in order to concentrate the viewers mind on the idea you wanted to present and to perhaps get a more teechnical feedback to try and achieve this. Cheers and well done. Martin...Show more →
Well you are exactly correct of the challenges Martin. The hummingbird doesn't move it's head and tail during flight like the Butterflies were. I had no idea they moved that much of their body until I viewed the first few captures. I wound up draggin the shutter down to 1/25 to 1/50 of a sec and I think -2 on the flash. Those were the settings I had on the keepers. I deleted probably 300 or more shots. My knowledge of flash is extremely limited > I'm sure there is a better way to get the results or better results. But it was a lot of fun and I did come out with a few shots I liked.
Wonderful series Anthony, I like your attempt at the artsy-fartsy side of life! I really do like #2, the sharp head and blurs work for me. Also like #6 a lot. Doug
thanks Doug. It's nice to try something different. I just wish my technical knowledge of the flash was better > I think I could have come out with a higher keeper rate or better final images. But I was happy with the few I got.
I like the first and last butterfly shots with black and orange beaks. The #2 – #5 hummer shots are nice. Jude PS: Anthony has become a hero at DP. Hey Chad, have some respect for our Floral/Butterfly KING.
I'm sure Chad will appreciate my play on words here
I think what I'm getting is: You didn't like the blurrzz ??
I guess one of us really really likes them (ME) 
enough to post 'em. But I like 'em in an abstract way; seeing them this early in the morning is like drinking a cup of Folger's Crystals, a caffeine jolt 
But getting to the still-life Butts, nice sharp focus, particularly #6, my fave of the lot. You're getting pretty creative, Ant, looks like that cam is loosening you up, and I think that's a good thing 
Wonder what you can do with those Big Morongo birds...
Hey Chad, have some respect for our Floral/Butterfly queen. 