would anybody care to critique, please?

[ElizK]

I got to go to the Botanic Garden's butterfly exhibit today. Lots of photo ops there! It was pretty amazing. Anyway, I'm trying to figure out how to use Photoshop Elements 6, so I played with a picture, and this is the result. I would be grateful for some critiques. Thanks!

.

 

[fitzperry]

I like the colors and the translucency of the wings. The only thing I'd suggest is a different crop. One of the general "rules" of composition is that people (creatures?) should be looking into, not out of, the frame. You might try a vertical crop so that the butterfly is more centered and fills the frame (which of course would violate the rule of thirds, but rules are made to be broken, right?)

 

[DueyDooDah]

It would also help if you posted a larger image. The long side can be up to 800 pixels, so I would recommend using that as a guide. It really helps people see and issues you may have overlooked as well as any superior qualities that beg for attention.

As far as I can see, the comments above are pretty right on. I do like your DOF choice. Shows just enough background detail to add to the image.

 

[tinkergrumpybuns]

I agree with all the posters so far. Nice DOF, nice colors and translucency.
I think this thread should stay up and running!

 

[ElizK]

Thank you for your comments! I really appreciate them. Here is the pic larger, as requested:

.

ps.... i kind of hate to crop it, because I think the flower on the far left adds more interest. Thoughts?

 

[ElizK]

ok, I did try the crop. Here's the result:

 

[DVCRon]

I like the 2nd crop better. the other oof flower was distracting and competed against the subject for attention.

Also the colors look washed out, there is no pop.

 

[ElizK]

I like the 2nd crop better. the other oof flower was distracting and competed against the subject for attention.

Also the colors look washed out, there is no pop.

Hmmm. You might be right about the crop. I just still like the original, darn it!

 

[JR6ooo4]

The background is mostly black and white and the butterfly is black and white. Then you have the green of the plant struggeling to be the subject of the photo. Maybe desaturate the branch or something just to see what it looks like.

Mikeeee

 

[jann1033]

is this the real color of the butterfly or did you change it?
i like crop #2 better
you might want to select out the branch in the background and blur it a little more( might be rough with the antenna) since it kind of takes away from the subject. if you can you might want to select out most of the background and use the brightness/contrast just to knock it back a little..since the butterfly is mostly white i think the white in the background being the same brightness fights for your attention, especially that bottom rt corner. it might help the butterfly pop out more as well.

it's a nice photo, i'm just throwing out "what ifs"

could you post exactly what you did? did you convert to b&w and use selective coloring?

 

[ElizK]

The butterfly and flower he's sitting on are the actual colors. I did a layer of the original picture, added a black and white layer with 75% opacity, and another layer with the butterfly and flower only.

 

[IWAS]

I prefer the uncropped one gives it a 3d look

 

[Frantasmic]

Wasn't that a great exhibit?

Did your camera fog up like mine did when I went in? I went last Friday, when it was particularly cold outside just after our previous night snowfall and had a pretty fogged up camera. Thankfully, they had hair dryers to defog with.

Did you get a shot of the elusive, yet gorgeous, purple-backed butterfly that would fold its wings when landed and the outer coloring just wasn't as good as the inner coloring.

When I first opened this, I was thinking, hey, someone stole my pictures.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/14815647@N06/sets/72157604068960987

 

[ElizK]

Wasn't that a great exhibit?

Did your camera fog up like mine did when I went in? I went last Friday, when it was particularly cold outside just after our previous night snowfall and had a pretty fogged up camera. Thankfully, they had hair dryers to defog with.

Did you get a shot of the elusive, yet gorgeous, purple-backed butterfly that would fold its wings when landed and the outer coloring just wasn't as good as the inner coloring.

When I first opened this, I was thinking, hey, someone stole my pictures.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/14815647@N06/sets/72157604068960987

Yes!!! My dad had lens paper with him, so I kept wiping off the lens. After about the 6th time I didn't have any more problems.

Some of those little buggers wouldn't sit still to have their pictures taken! I deleted about 100 of my 175 pictures.

Your pictures are so pretty and delicate looking. The one looking up towards the roof... was that effect achieved because your lens was a little fogged? It's beautiful!

 

[ElizK]

Here's one of those purple-backed butterflies you were talking about. Not nearly as impressive like this!

 

[ElizK]

This little guy was gorgeous!

 

[Frantasmic]

Wow, you got the one I wanted. That one was very elusive.

My roof shot was one of my last ones. It was just the mist from the overhead fogger. With the sun shining in, I thought it looked kind of cool. My lens had recovered by then.

Looks like you got some really good shots yourself. Did you use a macro lens or just the macro/super macro function on your camera?

 

[ElizK]

Just the macro function on my camera. I really love my camera! It's not my "dream camera", but I'm really happy with the pictures it takes. It's a Fuji Finepix S5100.

 

[jann1033]

This little guy was gorgeous!

that might be a blue morpho...or i could be wrong since i am counting on the "go diego go" show for my information ( granddaughter's favorite)

 

[IWAS]

This little guy was gorgeous!

Awesome