Wings of LIfe
Banded Orange Butterfly I believe with wings closed. Color corrected, converted to sRGB and cropped only. It stopped for a milisecond & I caught this shot. ...
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Banded Orange Butterfly I believe with wings closed. Color corrected, converted to sRGB and cropped only. It stopped for a milisecond & I caught this shot. Nikon D7100 and Sigma 105 macro lens mounted on a monpod. Larger version available. (Fille #201607-xx_sigmaMacro-hoffman)
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Mar, 2017Views
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Awards
2020 Choice Award
Superb Composition
Jaw Dropping
Absolute Masterpiece
Peer Award
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Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
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Behind The Lens
Location
Banded Orange Butterfly with wings closed. Shot at The Butterfly Place, Westford, MA It stopped for a milisecond & I caught this shot. Larger version available. (File #20160722_129)Time
Afternoon (July 22, at 2:41pm.)Lighting
I had no control over the lighting. The building has skylights, but I am not sure what other built-in lights are in that room.Equipment
Nikon D7100 and Sigma 105 ƒ2.8 macro lens mounted on a monopod. Aperture priority, 1/500 exposure, f 5.6, spot metering.Inspiration
I went to The Butterfly Place specifically to take photos of butterflies on the wing. The colors and patterns of this one intrigued me.Editing
This shot was almost perfect straight out of the camera. To post it online I color corrected it slightly and added a touch of sharpening for screen viewing and converted it to the sRGB color space. I also cropped the picture.In my camera bag
I always have my main camera (which is now a Nikon D7500, at least one spare battery, a couple of spare SD cards, and a towel of some kind on my person. I use a waist pack only when I am out shooting, so cannot carry a lot of gear. I always have a spare lens and a second camera (Nikon P900 or Sony RX100) in my backpack in the car. I usually mount a large zoom lens on the camera itself (Sigma 50-500mm), but keep a shorter zoom or a macro lens in the bag, in case I need it. Also in my car are a couple of monopods and tripods, which I choose based on how far I have to walk and the terrain where I am walking.Feedback
It is very difficult to get a good sharp photo of a butterfly because they are always moving and usually only stop for a second or two. While a tripod is preferred, you have to move a lot to follow their action, so I use a monopod that has retractable legs. Patience is key when shooting fast moving subjects like butterflies. They are best shot on sunny days, so that you do not have to raise the ISO, which can introduce noise into a shot.
