Wow Anthony! Excellent shots and what detail! Fantasitc! Keep it up. Obviously there is no uppper limit for you. Now you are the butterfly King too. Martin
Hey thanks Martin > Kind of you to say. I've already passed my Upper Limit and I"m heading back DOWN
I'd say King >> Chad, Nello, and Tim would say Queen................. What the heck
Well my wife and daughter would say King >> So the heck with what they say
While looking at these I was wondering where your butt was, but I'm kinda glad I DIDN'T see it... These are good, Ant! They're not the easiest thing to get decent captures of, I know, I've tried and in the same conditions as you. But I"ve never tried using the 100-400 on 'em. Now I think I shall...My faves are #s 1,3,6 and 8. And glad to hear you're considerate towards these l'il Flutterbys, not using the monster Better Beamer on 'em. It would have been akin to going after an ant (not YOU Ant ) with a meat cleaver...Hope to see ya in Big Morongo come next Saturday!
Thanks Steve. I'm not sure the 1-400 is the best option for close up and buttz. I'm sure you hve a better option in your lens arsenal. The 300mm seems to be a popular choice. But since I dont' have one........ Hey the 300 has that within it's zoom range though ..........
Oh and I'm glad that you were glad you didn't get so see my buttz I feel much better with regards to Morongo now
Appreciate the kind words and glad you liked em Steve
OK, now I know your daughter brings out the 'softer' side in you I think what I like most about these is the fact that you took them! I know that comps and shots like these don't come easy on a subject like this, I know you spent time and worked hard to get these.............well I love them man Beautiful color, nice comps, great angles and well done on the flash without a diffuser or very good PP to tame the flash. I think these butterflies and the ones you have seen here posted (Socrate) brought a good creative 'Ant', I'm proud of you on these So what to do different next time, well I bet you have some ideas but now I think you know how difficult DOF is with subjects like this, some are perfect some need more and the same happens with flowers Subjective to what you like. So I would like to see a bit more next time and a diffuser for your flash will knock down the hard shadows, I fill mine diffuser with fishing line to help even more. Dang good shooting buddy in that climate Karl ...Show more →
Thanks Karl > Your comments are to kind (Or at least Chad will say so)
What kind of a diffuser to you use ? And fill it with fishing line ? HUH ?? Won't that melt with heat and make a mess out of your flash unit ?
I'm not sure what lens to use on my next attempt. I do have the 100 f/2.8 marco, the thing I liked was the working distance from the Buttz > with the 1-400 and ext tubes I had a working distance of (Guessing) 3 - 4 feet. Was kind of nice not having to get to close to them and scare them off. Working distance with the 100 would have to be in their face......... I'll have to find another garden of buttz somewhere soon. It was fun !! I didn't think I'd enjoy it that much >> but I did
Nice little birds Ant, see what happens when you use a smaller lens, smaller birds. Nice job on these some I like some I don't but that isn't the point, you shot something different, did a good job and posted it. Looks like you had fun doing it, well except for the heat! Tim
It was fun Tim. Didn't think I'd enjoy it that much but it was a challenge and something I was learning from. DOF was the battle. Indoors and little light. I wanted to keep my ISO down and my shutter speed was pretty low on some of these.
Ant, I love your defensive inrto: "...be gentle...first time shooting butterflies..."
YOU LIAR! Just kidding. What a good series. #4 is especially nice for its low angle and simplified mix of foreground subject. The flowers become an integral part of the shot. And where the heck did the background go!?! Nice bokeh my friend. Again, sweet series.
Beautiful photos, Anthony! The detail and colors are brilliant!! Why not post some of the the Tigers and Lions. With shallow depth-of-field shooting and some post processing to remove cage shadows you can get some fine photos. The 6-Flags in New Jersey has a Safari drive through park. Shooting through the car window (opened) at animals behind cages was no problem.
Great shots Been in one of those things, mine was a giant inflatable catterpillar with a butterfly garden inside, I think in Amsterdam... Tubes ? I have tubes...I've never used them.
Well the one I was in was all metal and a permanent structure. But the portable ones are just as nice (I guess) As long as they got some buttz in em that's all that counts. Funny I said the same thing >> Tubes I got em, but never used em<< I guess they came in handy this time........... Not sure when I will use them again though ...........
OK, Anthony. Let me give some good advices about shooting butterflies. The best camera/lens combo you can use is a....Camera-phone . If you use fishingline in your diffuser, use a lot of it. Bring some fishing hooks, so when you're done shooting you can go fishing. Don't forget your monopod to use as a fishing pole.
J/K of course. I found the 300f/4 invaluable to shoot butterflies, and I don't even feel the need to use extension tubes. The 70-200/f4 IS is also no bad, especially with big butterflies. My preference when I shoot butterflies is to get the wings in the shot as that to me is the most interesting part of the butterflies. As Terry says, butterflies are like flying flowers. So they shouldn't be a problem for a flower Qe...ooops, King like you
DOF is a problem, especially when you are shooting in low light and cannot stop down to much, so try to shoot the butterfly with the wings parallel to the sensor plane, that will take care of the small DOF. An high ISO and some flash will help your shots.
I believe you did a great job with these (except for #6). I do like the perspective in the second shot, with # 3 and 5 being my favorites. Detail and lighting are very good. There are no data embedded in your shots and I can't tell if you used the flash, and if you did that is a very good indication of a job well done.
Socrate
P.S. I live at the "Home" of the Blues Angels and I never missed one of their Airshows. I can show you tons of pics of those "big birds". Just don't say anything to Maggie.
Ant, I love your defensive inrto: "...be gentle...first time shooting butterflies..." YOU LIAR! Just kidding. What a good series. #4 is especially nice for its low angle and simplified mix of foreground subject. The flowers become an integral part of the shot. And where the heck did the background go!?! Nice bokeh my friend. Again, sweet series. Jason
Nope seriously my Jason. But I had good direction and a good idea what to do because of some of the posts here on FM.com
Thanks for the kind words and comment Jason. Glad you liked them
Beautiful photos, Anthony! The detail and colors are brilliant!! Why not post some of the the Tigers and Lions. With shallow depth-of-field shooting and some post processing to remove cage shadows you can get some fine photos. The 6-Flags in New Jersey has a Safari drive through park. Shooting through the car window (opened) at animals behind cages was no problem. GENE
Thanks a bunch Gene I appreciate the kind words. The Lion and Mountain lions sucked pretty bad...... They all have that grayish overcast from shooting through a tightly woven net or fence. I was very disappointed with the captures. I'm sure it was due to lack of technique in my part >> There's probably a right way and a wrong way to shoot through the fence >>> I chose the wrong way .......... Whatever that is
