Butterfly with 70-300VR lens

[Grandpaw]

I took this at 270mm with my Nikon D90 and Nikon 70-300mm VR lens, Jeff

NOTE: This was hand held and not on a tripod

[arne saknussen]

Nice! Maybe just a little crop off the top, but just a little.

[Don Schaeffer]

wow very sharp. Unusual detail in the wing texture.

[armando_m]

Amazing clarity!

wish there was a bit more space to the bottom, but probably not possible as there is a somewhat red/brown spot on the bottom wing, perhaps something out of focus between the lens and the butterfly ?

[mEasy27]

great shot...

[Grandpaw]

Here is another shot, not sure if it is the same butterfly or not. Does this work any better? Jeff

[LeeIs]

I prefer your first shot. really nice capture. vivid colours, nice composition and pose by the butterfly. the dof is also great, I like the colour splash around the butterfly's head also. well done.

[Grandpaw]

I prefer your first shot. really nice capture. vivid colours, nice composition and pose by the butterfly. the dof is also great, I like the colour splash around the butterfly's head also. well done.

Thanks, Don and Monty for your comments.

Leels, I prefer the first shot also.

Armando, the brown thing you are seeing in the bottom left is actually past the butterfly and is a stem or leaf of some kind. As far as more room at the bottom, there isn't any. These butterflies were jumping from one flower to another and I was taking them rather fast.

Arne, I did a crop as you suggested and added below, Jeff

[arne saknussen]

Yeah, I think its a better crop. And I just realized it was a hand held shot, really excellent then.

[NKP68]

I like #2, but am amazed about the results you were able to achieve with a hand held long lens. I've spent hours in the field with these little guys and they can be tough to capture just right, they can fly to places that are hard to get to. The texture of the wings in #1 is wonderful, they're usually smooth. Great shots.