Took this a few weeks ago. I sat out in a field for a while and watched butterflies. I got some other good ones, but I wonder: Is this kind of shot too overdone? I think I've seen this same image a million times. Any advice on a more interesting "pose"?
Shot with Elan 7N, Sigma 70-300, Provia 100F & lots of patience!

a good shot is a good shot. this photo is a good shot. nice DOF, colors, and clarity.

however, by overdone do you mean the composition? indeed, i do not find it very exciting-- the straight-on shot is not as interesting as it could be. a different pose could play on different angles of the butterfly, different perspective, introducing another element for the butterfly to 'interact' with, and/or zoom-in for a macro shot.

I just read this last night, and found it fascinating:

http://www.dpchallenge.com/how.php?HOW_ID=37

No photo is overdone if you haven't done it before yourself. Technically, this is a great photo. Sharp and colorful. But there's a lot of room for improvment. The biggest problem this photo has is the background. There's too much going on there. If you're much into digital manipulation you can improve the shot that way but learning too control the backgrounds pre shor is usually the preferable method.

Take a moment to look at the background yourself. Pay attention to all the distracting elements. I can count 7 different things that distract me from your beautiful subject. One thing that's not so obvious which I'll go ahead and state is green to black transition in the background right at the butterfly's head makes it so that I can't see the right antenna. This subject needs a brighter background. You might have tried moving the camera angle a bit to get more green in the background.....but that's usually easier said than done :)

Regarding the pose; I think if you had a background that better enhanced your subject the pose would be a little less important.

When chasing butterflies, you really don't have the luxury of controlling the backgrounds. But two things that you can focus on is DOF and perfect exposure. DOF will make the background matter less, as long as you do a quick, prefunctory check of your background as you move into position and do the best you can with the time you have. Perfect exposure will make the butterfly POP against pretty much any background. Then in your post processing you can make selective colors stand out more, for instance play with color and saturation to make the yellow and blue stand out and maybe blur out the green background more.

You'll probably end up taking rolls and rolls of butterflies to end up with ONE workable shot, but I think the patience is worth it.

When chasing butterflies, you really don't have the luxury of controlling the backgrounds.

I disagree, but I think maybe we're just misunderstanding each other. It takes 1/2 a second to move the camera left or right a few inches. That's the kind of change I was suggesting and the kind of change that can make a big difference on the background while having little change to the subject.

Let me give some examples photos just like the OP's but where the background is better controlled (note, I'm not sure if you need a user account to the forums I'm liking to)

http://www.naturephotographers.net/imagecritique/ic.cgi?a=vp&pr=14776&b=vg5&st=0&la=331&ph=31&sid=3359&u=3359
http://www.naturephotographers.net/imagecritique/ic.cgi?a=vp&pr=14106&b=vg5&st=120&la=331&ph=130&sid=3359&u=3667
http://www.naturephotographers.net/imagecritique/ic.cgi?a=vp&pr=13827&b=vg5&st=160&la=331&ph=176&sid=3359&u=3720
http://www.naturephotographers.net/imagecritique/ic.cgi?a=vp&pr=13696&b=vg5&st=200&la=331&ph=201&sid=3359&u=3983
http://www.naturephotographers.net/imagecritique/ic.cgi?a=vp&pr=13345&b=vg5&st=240&la=331&ph=264&sid=3359&u=4041

This one is a different angle, but represents perfect background control in it's simplicity. Not that a plain background is always the best but notice how powerful this subject stands out:
http://www.naturephotographers.net/imagecritique/ic.cgi?a=vp&pr=13726&b=vg5&st=160&la=331&ph=197&sid=3359&u=3720

Took this a few weeks ago. I sat out in a field for a while and watched butterflies. I got some other good ones, but I wonder: Is this kind of shot too overdone? I think I've seen this same image a million times. Any advice on a more interesting "pose"?
Shot with Elan 7N, Sigma 70-300, Provia 100F & lots of patience!

If you mean is it cliched, maybe. But who cares? Many people complain that most subjects are overdone: sunsets, nudes, children, flowers, and yes, butterflies. We shoot them 'cause they are interesting and beautiful. I shoot a lot of butterflies. My first goal is to get a clear documentary shot of one I haven't captured before. After that, I hope to get something interesting in terms of composition. I'd say you succeeded with the first goal, but not the second. I'll post some examples of my own to show you what I mean a little later.