butterfly
May, 2016Views
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Behind The Lens
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I had an American Bull Terrier dog for 13 years that passed away. I had removed her day kennel and planted some butterfly bushes in its place to remember her by. This photo was taken a year to the day after she had passed. Living in Washington State USA, my back yard grows like you wouldn't believe, but these butterfly bushes grew leaps and bounds over everything else. There were many butterflies around but this particular butterfly kept landing on the same limb and so I had to capture it.Time
The sun was starting to hide behind a 100 year old fur tree on a July afternoon at about 4:30.This provided just the right amount of lighting.Lighting
I tried to use the reduced sunlight to my advantage to keep my ISO speed a little higher and Shutter speed fast without bleaching out the photo with too much light or lens flare. I took about 50 shots before I was able to dial in on the correct settings I needed for a slightly grainy shot. I have to thank the butterfly for being so patient with me. :)Equipment
I started out with a Minolta 35mm film camera. My first digital camera was a 1.3 mp camera by Samsung. I graduated to a 5.0mp Olympus point and shoot camera that I was able to get a few really great shots out of. This inspired me to jump into a Canon EOS Rebel T2i with a 70-300 mm Tamron lens. The latter is what I used for this shot, nothing more and nothing less.Inspiration
I am naturally inspired when it comes to any form of art. I saw an opportunity to try and capture the vision I had at that very moment when the butterfly landed then unfolded it's wings. The composition of the photo depended on my vision and ability to maneuver the camera to capture it. Sharing this vision and getting feedback, well...simply put, is what inspired me to take the photo, and inspires me to take a million more.Editing
Considering that I started out with film cameras, I felt for a long time that any computerized photo editing is cheating and takes away from having to actually work with your camera to get the right shot, lighting, contrast, etc. . As I have become more aware and fluent in photo editing software, I realize that you still have to start out with a great shot before you can do any editing to make a great photo. With this being said, the only post editing performed on this photo is a little bit of contrast addition. This helped bring the background details in a little clearer.In my camera bag
I have a 28-50mm Tamron lens with a fisheye attachment for wide angle. This is not the best lens in the world but it works ok for now. I have a 70-300mm Tamron lens that I use the most. This lens has a lot of range and versatility. I have a Canon EOS Rebel T2i body with an attachment for quick release from my tripod. I have hoods and UV filters for both lenses. Last and fairly important, I have a wireless remote shutter clicker.Feedback
ISO speed, and shutter speed are the two most important settings on your camera. If your ISO speed is too high, your picture will turn out grainy. If your ISO speed is set low at 100, and there is not enough ambient light, your picture will be too dark. I try to balance my shutter speed with the ISO to achieve the clearest picture with the right amount of light. This shot, however, I wanted a little grainy texture to it so left my ISO on 1600 and turned the shutter speed up to 3200 to account for the extra ISO sensitivity.
