Butterfly Pics - DPChallenge Forums

Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS

07/11/2004 09:48:05 PM · #1

Hello All,

Here are some shots I took at the Detoit Zoo's Buttefly House. Please be as harsh (or as nice) as you feel you need to be... Is there anything I should consider to make these better next time? (Well, besides a faster shutter speed...)

Canon EOS-60D

07/11/2004 09:55:01 PM · #2

Those are so pretty...I wish I could tell you what to do to improve them but I can't...they have such beautiful, velvety colors and are so rich. They're such fast little flyers, I am amazed when people capture them at all! :o)

VisiBlanco

Canon EOS-5D

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

07/11/2004 10:00:35 PM · #3

Great job! I haven't too many butterflies around here to capture one yet.

The only thing I would say is that they all seem a bit underexposed.

Sigma 28-105mm f/2.8-4.0 Aspherical for Canon

07/11/2004 10:15:37 PM · #4

Underexposed?

Good thing I took them all RAW then. I can move them up a stop or two.

I will give that a go and post them when I get a chance.

Babygirl

Mustek DV3500

07/11/2004 11:09:52 PM · #5

i thnk their perdy n u did a gr8 job at capturing them!!!:)

Tikicharm

HP PhotoSmart 945

07/11/2004 11:16:43 PM · #6

Nice Little butterfly, it has been thru alot...

This is a Pluem Moth, so it's not quite a butterfly

This is a dragonfly I got today, I thought he was worth posting...

Rooster

Canon EOS-400D Rebel XTi

07/11/2004 11:57:31 PM · #7

really nice shots Nelzie! Some crips rich colours! Where did you take 'em?

Tamron SP AF 28-75mm f/2.8 XR Di for Canon

07/12/2004 06:28:56 AM · #8

Originally posted by Rooster:

really nice shots Nelzie! Some crips rich colours! Where did you take 'em?

I got them at the Detroit Zoo Butterfly House. It was quite difficult to snap these littel buggers as they were flitting this was and that, only landing for a few moments here and there.

I should have shot these at a faster shutterspeed in order to better freeze their wings better and bring those into sharper focus.

W.R.Miller

Canon EOS-50D

07/12/2004 07:06:14 AM · #9

Here is my most recent Butterfly pic:

undieyatch

Olympus E-10

Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM

07/12/2004 07:12:06 AM · #10

Canon EOS-60D

Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS

07/12/2004 09:00:48 AM · #11

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM

07/12/2004 09:13:06 AM · #12

Isn't anyone going to give me some harsh critique or strong suggestions for my next trip out there?

I can't improve withuot some good criticism. (I doubt I am that good, since I have only owned an SLR for about a month...)

Mick

Canon EOS-5D

07/12/2004 10:36:50 AM · #13

All of the photos appear a bit dark. You might try taking some shots with different backgrounds; perhaps lighter colored backgrounds since the subjects are so dark themselves. You might also try using more flash and/or longer exposures. Try bracketing the exposures, or just taking some shots with exposure compensation bumped up a stop or two. Try getting some shots from different angles and maybe some with multiple subjects in the frame. Just some uninformed suggestions.

--Mick

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM

07/12/2004 10:44:42 AM · #14

Originally posted by micknewton:

I wish that I could get away with longer exposure times. I spent a good 45 mintues in the Butterfly House and was able to take only 15 images and out of those 15, these are the only ones that came out decent enough to share. The rest had massive blur to the wings and the body all out of focus.

They just wouldn't sit still long enough for me to take shots from multiple angles, with longer exposures and such. Believe me, I did ask them...

There was/is a handful of butterflies in that hosue with the greatest looking blue hue on the inside of their wings. They look marvelous when flitting about, but when they land they keep their wings shut up good and all you see is something that mimics the eyes of an owl. Not necesarily ugly, but its also not a 'Wow' sort of picture to take.

Perhaps I will talk to the wife about getting that hammerhead flash sooner, rather then later and hopefully that will let me throw some more light into the images.

Mick

Canon EOS-5D

07/12/2004 11:00:05 AM · #15

This might be a good place to use one or two slaved remote flash units. Get a couple of inexpensive flash units and hook them up with Wein hot shoe slaves. Then have someone hold them in position while you shoot. The flash attached to your camera will fire the remotes.

Chefboz

Nikon D40

Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 ED

07/12/2004 11:02:43 AM · #16

Butterflies are SOOOO TOUGH! -- Your shots are great!

I tried to get a butterfly shot for "FREEDOM II" but to no avail! -- All I got was blurred wings and wierd angles -- they just don't cooperate. -- a half a day of shooting and all I got was this one shot

which I don't really like to well I really wanted to get a shot of one in flight.

07/12/2004 11:06:04 AM · #17

Originally posted by micknewton:

It's not very roomy in the Butterfly House and by the time it would take someone to position themselves for a good slave flash to work the butterfly will already be heading off somewhere else.

Live Butterflies are SOOOOO hard to capture because they almost never sit still.