"Woven Wings"
Monarch butterflies have a texture on their wings that can make it look like a finely woven cloth. I find this fascinating!...
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Monarch butterflies have a texture on their wings that can make it look like a finely woven cloth. I find this fascinating!
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NIKON D7100
Aperture f/11 ISO 800 Shutter 1/1600 Focal Length 5000/10 
Minooka, Illinois, US
Jan, 2021Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
I shot this in Chicagoland. I love Trumpet Vine. This specific butterfly was an illusive, unplanned, worthy target.Time
This was shot mid-day. I prefer early morning or late evening because of the harsh shadows on sunny days. But I'm so happy with the pattern of shadow stripes on the leaf to compliment the natural stripes of the Monarch.Lighting
Didn't use any flash. Seldom do because of harsh shadow management. This sunny day helped with a lower ISO (800) and a faster shutter speed 1/1600. Shooting F11 really didn't offer the depth of field I wanted but it works nicely on this shot. Recently I'm trying to shoot higher F stop and higher ISO with this 200-500mm lens. When I blow this way up on my computer I see lines of how the wing was built and the tiny polyp balls drop shadows on the wings. I'm thinking I probably would not have gotten this amount of detail latter in the day.Equipment
I seldom use a tripod. Ever. I try and look for things that I can use as a "tripod". Nikon D7100 with the Nikor 200-500mm VR is a very fun combo. I think the crop factor makes this shot at about 750mm. Most hikes I will have this camera with this lens and a D810 with a 16-35mm lens and a 70-200mm lens. Better safe than sorry and I really use the cell phone as a last resort for a camera.Inspiration
I love shooting anything and everything. No inspiration needed. Hindsight, it was luck that the color pallet worked between the butterfly and flower. I like tight color groupings and I'm always looking for opportunities to frame shots with strong composition of thirds and chase after the artful bokeh. Keeping things less busy whenever possible. I'm not that good at getting lucky with a single shot so I typically can take about 50 shots of this butterfly and try and pick the strongest shot later.Editing
PhotoShop is the go to for me. I enjoy RAW post processing as much as shooting. Being involved in commercial printing and book printing for 40 years has given me a unique perspective on the post processing decisions. My thinking was this shot demanded a delicate dance between background noise and the sharpness on the wings. Shooting RAW keeps me from wanting to work with layers, (most of my stuff is single layer), including this shot. I like to shoot underexposed and lighten in PS. I'm trying to be more careful not to oversaturate the greens.In my camera bag
I keep the 200-500mm VR on my D7100, (giving me a reach of 750mm never gets old!), all the time and have it in a backpack. Also in the backpack is the 2.8 70-200mm VR and a prime 50mm that I seldom use. Typically the backpack will be carried everywhere. The camera on my shoulder is D810 with 16-35mm. So normally hiking or paddling I'm shooting wide angle unless I pull the telephoto out of the backpack.Feedback
Be fearless and almost careless... Yes, shooting manual will teach you eventually to have a plan ahead of time of what you want out of the shot. Always try and think foreground, and background - not just subject matter. Making the butterfly's eye to fall in a rule of thirds is probably best whenever possible. Try to avoid white sky or excessive black distracting shadows. Pick your flower and wait for the butterfly to land on it. In post, try to keep greens less saturated and darker so as to be less visually competitive with your butterfly. Have FUN. I'm still learning, (I laugh at my mistakes on a regular basis). As always, all suggestions are welcome and encouraged. Thanks for your time! Terry Musclow.
