Monarch 9-2016
Sep, 2016Views
329
Likes
Awards
Top Shot Award 21
Fall Award 2020
Superb Composition
Outstanding Creativity
Top Choice
Absolute Masterpiece
Peer Award
Superior Skill
Top Ranks
Top 30 rank week 1
Top 10 rank
Top 30 rank
Top 30 rank week 1
Top 30 rank
Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Behind The Lens
Location
I was wandering through a local park, looking for good photo opportunities. I found some good subject matter in a plot of flowers and grasses, and after taking a couple of photos, I notice the monarch flitting around. Every time I managed to get reasonably close to him, he zipped off. Finally, having nearly given up, I stood there and watched him. He lit on this flower — and stayed put long enough for me to take the photo. Amazingly, it came out well, despite the fact that I was at least 10 or 15 feet away from him. The original photo included a whole lot of background, and the monarch was barely a dot in the center. I sort of held my breath hoping he would sit still, and he did. I did some major cropping, and was surprised to see that the flower and butterfly were fairly sharp.Time
Sometime between 1 and 3 p.m., if I remember right.Lighting
Nothing special. Bright sun and good luck!Equipment
Canon EOS Rebel T3-i. IOS 100, shutter speed 1/100. No tripod. Probably the kit lens.Inspiration
Great light, good subject.Editing
Tweaked the sharpness and cropped the original way down.In my camera bag
Most of the time I pick a lens, put it on, and head out — without my bag.Feedback
Don't give up — even if the subject seems impossibly far away. If you can get a fairly crisp focus, you can probably crop is down to a usable and pleasing view. A tripod can help, but I don't have one right now. Worried about focus, especially on something that may move in a breeze, or just walk around a bit on the flower (as the monarch was apt to do)? Set your camera in burst mode, and you may be surprised to find that at least one of the shots is good. I do that with my iPhone camera, and often manage to catch a good shot among several that are not in good focus at all.
