Spring is in the Air

[sykotikgith]

This is my first time posting, though I've been a long-time lurker on these forums. I finally have a decent camera, and am now comfortable with my shots to start sharing them and opening myself up to critiques. This shot was taken last Saturday at Panola Mountain State Park in Georgia. I looked up in the tree, and saw a Zebra Swallowtail enjoying some of the first buds of spring. This is the shot I got:



I have already done a thorough PP workup in Lightroom, and I want to know what you all think of the shot. Is there anything I could have done differently with cropping, or did I over enhance the colors? Surprisingly, I didn't adjust the sky all that much, the vivid blue is almost untouched. I followed the rule of thirds, and only ended up cropping a little off of this shot. I still consider myself a Lightroom newbie, so any and all tips are quite welcome.

Camera: Canon EOS 60D
Exposure: 0.001 sec (1/2000)
Aperture: f/5.6
Focal Length: 250 mm
ISO Speed: 250
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: Off, Did not fire

[Nicole Hanna]

I know next to nothing about Lightroom, but I am shocked that sky color is relatively untouched. Not that I don't believe you, of course, but that is just a stunning shade of blue.

The colors are lovely, but because there is so much of it in the picture, I find it slightly overwhelming. I'm one of those black and white or spot-coloring nuts, though, so that's totally just my preference. The beautiful butterfly is almost lost in all those flowers, despite the difference in color and the rule of thirds. I would personally probably try to crop as much as possible while still maintaining a good composition but really making that butterfly take center stage.

Still, it's a lovely scene regardless, and I enjoy the photo no matter what my preferences might be.

[sykotikgith]

Nicole,

Thank you for your opinion. I can probably tone down the pink a bit, I see what you mean about the color being a bit overwhelming. I'm afraid to crop too much, mostly because of the rule of thirds. I wish I had had a slightly better lens to get a closer shot. This guy's at the top of the tree, well over my head.

As for the sky, all I did initially was adjust the white balance to "as shot" in Lightroom, and the sky went from a good blue to the vivid blue. I debated toning it back down, but decided that I really liked the color combination.

I've never tried spot-coloring. It's something I'm interested in, but I do not know how to go about it. I've only used Lightroom, never Photoshop, and Photoshop kinda intimidates me.

[Nicole Hanna]

I tried installing both Lightroom and Photoshop and both freeze my teeny little netbook lol. I'm stuck using Photoscape which is a dinky freebie but I'm kind of attached to it now.

I don't know that the Rule of Thirds is something to follow religiously (I'm a rules-are-meant-to-be-broken kind of girl) but cropping would also be dependent on what ratio, if any, you are trying to maintain. Regardless I'm a little jealous you have butterflies to take photos of. Poor little buggers would freeze to death here in Michigan.

[photo]

i really like the photo how it is, although toning town the saturation might me good

[bobajob]

How was the focus set, ie center or multi ? I have my camera's focus setting in the middle of the frame. That would isolate the butterfly more, because there is some foliage almost in focus on the right side of the butterfly. Really like the blue sky. What time of day was it shot?

[BexJarratt]

I love the colours, but I do think the poor little butterfly gets a bit swallowed (sorry for the bad pun) up by all the pink candyfloss blossom. I nearly didn't spot her, and might not have if you didn't mention it in the post.

I'm guessing F5.6 is as wide as this lens goes at 250mm, in which case because the other branch is roughly on the same plane (same distance from lens) it will be in focus, not much you can do but crop it out either by moving yourself when taking the photo or cropping in pp.

I hope you don't mind but I quickly had a look at what a portrait or tighter crop would achieve. I'll take them straight off of here if you want.

I personally much prefer a tighter landscape shot.