Monarch life
Feb, 2019Views
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Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Behind The Lens
Location
I remember this being the year when my then 9-year old daughter started to be interested in going bird watching. The Toronto islands, on a gorgeous summer day in the middle of August, was definitely the perfect spot to do so and, even though a butterfly wasn’t part of the original plan, this shot rounded up our day in a “monarch way”.Time
On August 12, 2018, after a very enjoyable morning watching all kinds of birds and recording our sightings on the bird encyclopedia, we came across this magnificent species at around 1:54pmLighting
Summer days in Toronto can be quite hot, especially on a cloudless day like this. These weather conditions allowed for some spectacular light in order to have such a neat shot where Mother Nature showed her true colours. I had the sun slightly at an angle behind me so it was very important to stand in a way where I could avoid my own shadow ruining the shot.Equipment
I try to always carry with me as much of my photography equipment as I can since you can never know what beautiful surprises might come along the way. In order to capture this beautiful moment I decided to use an EF75-300mm lens mounted on a Canon EOS-60D body, set at a focal length of 210mm, with a 1/500 shutter speed, ISO at 100 and f/5. Didn’t use a tripod and flash was definitely not required.Inspiration
The inspiration definitely came from a morning filled with nature-absorption moments watching birds and trying to understand their behaviour, while simultaneously doing my best to tap into forgotten corners of my memory to try and answer science-related questions from a 9-year old girl. Being an unplanned photograph is the fact that I find the most interesting thing about it; we were done for the day and on our way back to the ferry that takes us home, when we came across this beautiful moment. Missing the ferry and having to wait another hour for the next one, was so worthy. I truly believe that my intentional focus on the flower, leaving a bit of the wings out of focus was a consequence of being inspired by the perfections and imperfections that Mother Nature shows us on everything around us.Editing
I usually try to capture enough light in order to avoid the possibility of under exposure which gives me the opportunity to compensate in post processing in Lightroom by reducing the highlights, increasing the shadows and improving the contrast.In my camera bag
I usually bring with me as much equipment as I can pack when I go on what I call “my me and my camera time”. First is my Canon EOS-60D body and an EF Lens 50mm 1:1.8. i also pack a zoom EF LENS 75-300mm 1:4-5.6, an EF-S macro lens 60mm 1:2.8 which my favourite for macro photography and finally my tripod.Feedback
Capturing beautiful moments in my opinion is a mix of luck, awareness and preparation. Never leave home without your equipment, always remember that the best moments in life are the unplanned ones which includes photography; vibrate in a high level to attract the best things in the universe. Patience is probably the most important factor to capture that perfect shot you’ve always dreamed of ever since you realized photography was a passion of yours.
