Beautiful Butterfly
I Was walking around in the Botanical Gardens in Cairns, Australia and found the interesting butterfly just hiding in amongst one of the garden beds. I was clos...
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I Was walking around in the Botanical Gardens in Cairns, Australia and found the interesting butterfly just hiding in amongst one of the garden beds. I was close to nearly missing it.
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Mar, 2015Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
I live in Cairns, Queensland, Australia and I was exploring my hometown's beautiful Botanical Garden. I love coming a few times a month to capture anything new with my camera, I was walking around this very little hidden away patch of fauna when I came across this loverly Butterfly just hiding away behind a few plants. It was so still I nearly missed it.Time
This is by far one of my favorite butterfly images that I have taken. I decided to leave home about 7:30 AM so that I could get to the Botanical Gardens in time to arrive before all the tourists came. I had been walking around taking photo’s for at least an hour and a half when I spotted the Butterfly just staying so till on the plant. It didn't move at all as I stood there taking so many photos from as many angles as I could. This image was taken on March 18th, 2015 at 9:45 AM.Lighting
Since the butterfly was hiding away in the fauna there was not a lot of choice in lighting so I pretty much had to go with what I had. There was a small ray of light just shinning down on the butterfly, which highlighted the butterfly's beautiful colors and textured details. I made sure to capture the butterfly at eye level. Not only does photographing at eye level add depth and allow you to see things from the butterfly's perspective, but by putting the butterfly on the same visual plane as the sensor and focusing on its eyes, all of the butterfly will be in sharp focus.Equipment
This was shot on a Canon 1100D, with an 24-70mm f/2.8 lens. No other equipment was involved.Inspiration
Butterflies are perhaps the most conspicuous and colourful of insects. Ever since I was a kid, I’ve found butterflies fascinating. Their intricate details, intriguing behavior and amazing diversity are captivating. This gorgeous butterfly that I took with my camera was one I hadn’t seen before so I just had to take a photo!Editing
Firstly I always try and shoot in RAW as it gives me the choice of post-processing. Most of my processing is just simple editing done mostly in Lightroom. The image was a bit underexposed, so first I needed to increase the exposure a bit, and then I sharpened the image, masking the area where the sharpening is required and also decrease a bit of the noise. The final step I took was to render my image in Photoshop and give it some final retouch if needed.In my camera bag
I’ve always been a devoted Canon girl since fiddling around with my dad’s film cameras growing up, and it will take a lot for me to switch brands. My favorite piece of my kit is the Canon 24-70mm f/2.8; it is a powerful, kickass lens! I also carry around my Canon 10-22mm. This is a great lens for architecture and buildings or when I am shooting in an enclosed space like a Nightclub, and it’s really awesome at night for astrophotography because you can often get a huge part of the Milky Way visible in it. It’s not to everyone’s taste but I don’t know what I’d do without having a super wide-angle lens with me. I then pack my Canon 1100D, I’ve had this body from the start and for now it will do me okay until I upgrade in the future. Of course there are the necessities that I will always have in my bag like, a Tripod, microfiber cloth, remote trigger and of course spare batteries and memory cards. Without those two I might as well pack up my gear and go home.Feedback
When photographing butterflies, patience is important. As with all of nature’s creatures, butterflies cannot be forced to go somewhere they don’t want to, so you might have to wait for hours and hours for the right moment. Be observant and keep your camera equipment at the ready. The images that you obtain will be rewarding, striking, and will be ones to be proud of. Figuring out where a butterfly is going to fly or land is part anticipation, part luck, and part patience.
