The entire production crew really like how this butterfly was setting on the cornflower. Whatever there was that drew him to the flower, he was determined that a Bollywood production crew was not going to get him to move. Every once in while he would fly around for short while and then come back to the same blossom.
Every time the butterfly would fly away, there was a discussion that went something like this:
Cole: "Chloe, you scared him away by putting the reflector too close to him."
Chloe: "No, I did not. You scared him away with your bright light."
Cole: "No, I did not. Grandpa, is he coming back?"
Butterfly would land again. Shooting would resume--to be followed by another take-off, discussion and landing.
Here we place the light behind the butterfly so the at we could get nice even lighting on his wings and we placed our reflector to the right side about even with the butterfly so that we could get some light on the backside of the flower he was setting on.
Enjoy.
Camera settings: Nikon D3, Nikon 300mm f/4, shot at ISO 200, f/9.5 and 1/250th with a SB-800 on a softbox and triggered by Nikon CLS.
Post Processing:
Lightroom—Set white and black points, added mid-tone contrast, clarity and changed hue and saturation of green.
Photoshop—ran nik Color Efex Pro tonal contrast filter on the butterfly and flower to add contrast to shadows, mid-tones and highlights.
The composition is outstanding, however, the color combination does not work. Green works with orange and magenta fine, but the orange and magenta do not play well together. Even with the color mismatch, the photo is a striking image.
ReplyDeleteAnne
I am somewhat amazed at how soft the flower in the background is when you used an aperture of f 9.5. It shows how little depth of field you have with a 300mm lens and focusing on something that close. I do like the composition. It seems balanced to my eye. Although the colors are not perfect together they do not bother me.
ReplyDeleteTed
This is a good image but I have liked some of your previous ones better. I don't know why I hesitate on this one? What I love is the background story. We need to get you a job with one of the local newspapers or have you write a book with pictures.
ReplyDeleteCole, Chloe, and Grandpa's Hotshoe Diaries. I'd buy a copy.
ReplyDeleteI always enjoy your stories, especially ones about your two little ones. I agree with Wayne, I like most of the other butterfly shots better than this one, but I do not know why. It maybe that there is just too much for the mind to comprehend.
ReplyDeleteDebbie