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GordonComment by e301: Hello from the Critique Club Gordon
I ... well, I don't quite know what to make of this image, certainly for this challenge. Ordinarily I wouldn't like the lighting at all - that harsh flash flattening everything - and my first reaction was to be perplexed about the negative space aspect.
What I see now is quite a mournful photograph - the darkness that surrounds the insect suggests the end of the day, and somehow one doesn't expect a butterly to survive the night (I've no idea of their actual lifespan, but I'm sure it's numbered in days rather than weeks). The broken stick adds weight to that impression. So in that sense it's almost an ideal photograph - the three elements combine perfectly to produce the impact of the picture, no wasted information, little complexity: a declarative statement.
But I do dislike the lighting: almost all texture has gone from the wings, they could almost be cut out of paper, and likewise for any depth to the twig/stick. Any improvement would be tricky to achieve for sure - what possibility of using a handheld flash in that situation? Something at least to get the light away from the plane of the camera, to give some light and shade to the subject?
Good work nevertheless - and for me a very good score for the image.
Ed
Photographer found comment helpful.